From Rigidity to Adaptability: Intelligent Support Structures Enabled by Shape Memory Polyurethane in Functional Clothing 


Vol. 27,  No. 4, pp. 1611-1622, Apr.  2026
10.1007/s12221-026-01321-y


PDF
  Abstract

Traditional garment support materials such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) suffer from plastic deformation and poor fatigue resistance, limiting their durability and comfort in long-term use. To address these issues, this study developed shape memory polyurethane (SMPU)-based intelligent support components and systematically evaluated their mechanical and shape memory performance through tensile, bending, compression, and cyclic fatigue tests. Experimental data from SMPU‑45, SMPU‑65, and SMPU‑95 were compared with PET, ABS, and polyamide (PA) as a ductile reference material, to assess stress retention, flexural strength, and recoverability under repeated deformation. The results showed that SMPU‑95 retained over 90% of its initial stress after 50 bending cycles, exhibited a compressive strength of 5.19 MPa, and achieved shape fixity and recovery ratios of 99.9% and 79.1%, respectively, indicating substantially higher cyclic stability than conventional materials, including PA. These findings demonstrate that SMPU‑based supports can maintain garment silhouette, conform to human body contours and joint curvature, and recover shape through thermal activation, offering a new pathway toward reconfigurable, durable, and ergonomic intelligent apparel systems.

  Statistics
Cumulative Counts from November, 2022
Multiple requests among the same browser session are counted as one view. If you mouse over a chart, the values of data points will be shown.


  Cite this article

[IEEE Style]

X. Yuan, H. Zhang, X. Zhu, G. Lu, X. Liang, W. Xie, M. Hu, Z. Wang, J. Diao, X. Guan, "From Rigidity to Adaptability: Intelligent Support Structures Enabled by Shape Memory Polyurethane in Functional Clothing," Fibers and Polymers, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 1611-1622, 2026. DOI: 10.1007/s12221-026-01321-y.

[ACM Style]

Xueran Yuan, Heng Zhang, Xiaochun Zhu, Guoqian Lu, Xue Liang, Weiyi Xie, Mingjie Hu, Zihan Wang, Jie Diao, and Xiaoyu Guan. 2026. From Rigidity to Adaptability: Intelligent Support Structures Enabled by Shape Memory Polyurethane in Functional Clothing. Fibers and Polymers, 27, 4, (2026), 1611-1622. DOI: 10.1007/s12221-026-01321-y.

Search
(IN TITLE, AUTHOR, ABSTRACT,KEYWORDS)

Advanced Search ▼

POPULAR KEYWORDS
(TOP 10 KEYWORDS)

Recent Publications
(LAST 3 YEARS)

pISSN : 1229 - 9197
eISSN : 1875 - 0052

Impact Factor(2024): 2.3