Textile Research Journal
Negative Poisson’s Ratio Polyester Fibers
Abstract Auxetic materials are referred to as
those having negative Poisson’s ratio (ν). Initial
work at Bolton successfully fabricated auxetic
polypropylene fiber using a novel thermal melt-
spinning technique. This paper reports in detail
both the methods and principles involved in
screening polyester powder and also the manufac-
turing method for successful production of auxetic
polyester fibers. Videoextensometry along with
micro-tensile testing were used to measure the
Poisson’s ratio of the fiber. The Poisson’s ratio of
the polyester fiber was found to vary between –0.65
and –0.75.
Key words auxetic, negative Poisson’s ratio,
polyester fiber, videoextensometry
Auxetic materials when stretched axially expand instead of
contracting laterally. Following Lakes’s [1] successful pro-
duction of auxetic foams, a variety of auxetic products have
been fabricated including honeycombs [2], polymeric and
metallic foams [1] and microporous polymers [3, 4]. An
interesting feature of auxetic materials is that they are pre-
dicted [5], and have been found, to have enhanced proper-
ties. For example, it has been shown experimentally that
the indentation resistance [6] of auxetic materials has been
enhanced by up to four times when compared with the con-
ventional equivalent. Other enhanced properties include
plane strain fracture toughness [7], energy absorption [8],
and shear modulus [9].
The first synthetic auxetic microporous polymer was a
particular form of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) [10]. It
was found that the auxeticity in this case was solely because
of its complex microstructure [10]. This consisted of nodules
interconnected by fibrils that react co-operatively to pro-
duce a negative Poisson’s ratio. Similar microstructures have
also been engineered in polymers such as ultra-high-molecu-
lar-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) [3], polypropylene [4]
and nylon [11], which were all produced by a novel thermal
processing route consisting of three distinct stages; compac-
tion [12], sintering [13] and ram extrusion [14]. The entire
process takes place in a specially designed extrusion rig
with extrudates produced in the form of cylindrical rods.
Although having this special property, there were found to
Textile Research Journal Vol 76(7): 540–546 DOI: 10.1177/0040517506065255
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Article
Naveen Ravirala, Kim L. Alderson,
Philip J. Davies, Virginia R. Simkins and
Andrew Alderson1
Centre for Materials Research & Innovation, University of
Bolton, Deane Road, Bolton, BL3 5AB, UK
be limitations on the production of auxetic materials in the
form of cylinders. In particular, the cylinders (having diame-
ters varying between 9 and 15 mm) were found to be unsuit-
able for application-based research and were restricted to
laboratory-based testing. Moreover, the process involved
was not continuous and problems were envisaged in produc-
ing them on a large scale.1 2
More recently, a novel thermal processing technique-
involving melt spinning has been employed to produce an
auxetic product in a more useful and usable form, namely
as a fiber [15]. This has led to auxetic polypropylene (PP)
fibers being fabricated in a continuous process. Videoex-
tensometry analysis was used to show the auxetic nature of
the PP fiber. The processing route developed for auxetic
polypropylene fibers is, in principle, flexible enough to be
adapted to produce other polymeric fibers [15] and films
[16] in auxetic form.
This paper reports in detail the production of auxetic
polyester fiber, including the characterization by videoex-
tensometry.
1
Corresponding author: Tel: +44 1204 903513; fax: +44 1204
903088; e-mail: a.alderson@bolton.ac.uk
2
Part of this paper was presented at Second International
Conference on Materials for Advanced Technologies & IUMRS –
International Conference in Asia, Singapore, 2003.
www.trj.sagepub.com © 2006 SAGE Publications
 Negative Poisson’s Ratio Polyester Fibers N. Ravirala et al.
Experimental Methods
Preliminary Characterization of Polyester
Granules
The polyester resin used in the fabrication of auxetic polyes-
ter fiber was poly (trimethyleneterephthalate [17] or 3GT)
supplied by DuPont in the form of granules. In order to
establish the thermal processing window, it was necessary to
obtain the thermal characteristics of the polyester granules
using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The DSC was
carried out by heating a small amount of polyester sample
(5.5 mg) under flowing nitrogen at 10 mL min–1. The heating
rate was maintained at 10°C/minute and the temperature
profile ranged from ambient (25°C) to 310°C. Figure 1
shows the DSC curve displaying the onset temperature (the
temperature at which the polymer just starts melting) at
205°C, and the peak melting point at 229°C. From previous
results [18] this indicated that the processing window would
occur at a particular temperature between the regions of
onset temperature and peak melting point. Therefore, the
processing temperature window was defined to be 210 and
230°C. Following the PP work, a flat profile across all the
zones of the extruder was employed.
Polyester Powder Production
The previously reported auxetic PP fibers were produced
from finely divided powder particles. Thus there was a
need to obtain powder particles from the supplied polyes-
ter granules prior to extrusion. The polyester granules
were subjected to in-house cryogenic grinding using liquid
nitrogen. Ground polyester particles of less than 150 µm
were collected to carry out the extrusion.
The 3GT granules and powder required pre-drying to
avoid hydrolysis during extrusion. Therefore, 3GT granules
(used during purging) along with 3GT powder were pre-
Figure 1 DSC curve of polyester powder.
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541 TRJ
dried under a partial vacuum oven at 108°C temperature
for 2 days before extrusion.
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was employed to
characterize the polyester powder derived from grinding.
Typically observations were made at approximately 200×
magnification. The micrographs of polyester powder were
studied in depth not only to analyse the size distributions
but also to understand the surface roughness and shape.
UTHSCSA Image Tool v3 [19] was employed to analyse
the powder size distribution and the aspect ratio (calcu-
lated as the ratio of the major axis to minor axis) using the
micrographs of polyester powder obtained from SEM.
Extrusion of 3GT Polyester Fibers
An initial extrusion experiment was carried out with 3GT
granules to observe the behavior of the polymer during
extrusion. The melt spinning process was performed using
an Emerson and Renwick Ltd Labline extruder which con-
sists of a 25.4 mm screw diameter, 3 : 1 compression ratio,
length/diameter 24 : 1, five temperature zones each having
individual thermostatic controls, and a die slot with 40-fila-
ment die having each hole size of 550 µm (Figure 2). The
processing temperatures investigated were based on ther-
mal analysis studies and were carried out at intervals of
5°C, leading to flat temperature profiles in the range of 230
to 210°C with screw speeds of 0.525 rad/s and take-up
speed 0.075 m/s. The extrusion was carried out at higher
temperature (230°C) profile and gradually decreased the
temperature to 210°C until the viscosity of the powder bulk
was too high to allow free flow through the die-zone. The
polyester powder was fed through a hopper into the barrel
and transferred through the barrel zones to the die zone,
thereby undergoing sintering due to the maintained tem-
peratures along the zones of the extruder. The fibers were
extruded from the die head and cooled before winding.
Characterization of Extruded Fibers
Figure 3 shows the load–elongation data of a typical fiber.
Samples were tested for auxeticity by deforming them to
1% strain, thus not exceeding the elastic limit of the fibers.
Characterization of the extruded fibers was carried out by
using videoextensometry and microtensile testing equip-
ment. Figure 4 shows a schematic of the videoextensometer
and microtensile testing stage. The camera of the videoex-
tensometer was mounted vertically above the microtensile
stage to capture the image of the fiber. The PC1 attached to
the microtensile unit processes the load–extension data
from the microtensile stage fitted with a 77 N load cell. The
PC2 attached to the videoextensometer records the changes
in length and width of the fiber during the test. Polyester
fibers cut to lengths of approximately 10 mm, marked with
two small markers at a distance of approximately 1 mm
apart along the length of the fiber, were mounted between
TRJ 542 Textile Research Journal 76(7)

Figure 2 Schematic diagram of

melt extruder used to produce
auxetic polyester fiber.

the two clamps of the microtensile tester. Figure 5 shows a

typical sample with the fiducial markers attached. Each of
the tests included mounting the sample between the jaws of
the microtensile stage and cyclically applying and removing
a load (up to four cycles). A strain rate of 0.1 mm/minute
was employed with load applied until a maximum strain of
1% was reached. The videoextensometer operates directly
as a strain meter by tracking the displacement of the edges
of the sample as defined by a contrast change in the video
image at the edges of the attached targets (length) or fiber
edges (width) caused by mechanical strain to the specimen.
During the test, the marked length was divided into ten
regions by the videoextensometer and the individual width
of each was recorded.
Figure 3 Single test load–elongation curve of polyester
fiber.

Figure 4 Videoextensometer set-

up.

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 Negative Poisson’s Ratio Polyester Fibers N. Ravirala et al.
Results
Polyester Powder Characterization
Figure 6 shows a SEM micrograph of the ground polyester
powder. The aspect ratio of the powdered particles was
found to vary between 1.5 and 2, with a typical particle
dimension of 50 µm in the minor axis and 100 µm in the
major axis. It was also observed that the particles had a
rough surface. Hence, this particular polyester powder
resembled the powder used in the successful production of
auxetic PP fibers and cylinders in terms of aspect ratio and
morphology. From previous results [20], the size of pow-
der particles was small enough to be processed in the
Figure 6 SEM micrograph of polyester powder.
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543 TRJ
Figure 5 Typical sample with fidu-
cial markers for videoextensome-
tery analysis.
extruder set up and was commensurate with the size distri-
bution required to form an optimum network microstruc-
ture.
Measurement of Poisson’s Ratio
Figure 7a shows four cycles of length and width data
obtained for a conventional (analogue) polyester fiber pro-
duced at 230°C with screw and take-up speeds at 0.525 rad/
second and 0.075 m/second, respectively. It was observed
that the length and width data were out of phase by 180°,
clearly showing that the width decreased as the length
increased in response to the applied force along the length
of the fiber. Similarly, the width increased as the length
decreased as the applied tensile load is removed. This
fiber, therefore behaved in a conventional (positive Pois-
son’s ratio) manner.
However, the fibers produced at 225°C with screw speed
0.525 rad/second and take-up 0.075 m/second were found to
have in-phase length–width data (see Figure 7b). It can be
observed that the width increased as the length increases in
response to the applied force along the length of the fiber.
Similarly, the width decreased as the length decreased on
removal of the tensile load. Thus the fiber was confirmed to
be auxetic.
The true axial and lateral strains were calculated from
the length–width data obtained from the videoextensome-
ter. The true axial strain (εx) and true lateral strains (εy) are
given by
 l
ε x = ln  --- (1)
 l 0
 w
ε y = ln  ------ (2)
 w 0
TRJ 544 Textile Research Journal 76(7)
Figure 7 Width–length data for polyester fibers proc-
essed with screw speed of 0.525 rad/second, take-up
speed of 0.075 m/second and flat temperature profiles of
(a) 230°C and (b) 225°C.
where, l0 and w0 are the original length and width of the
fiber, respectively, and l and w are the deformed length
and width of the fiber, respectively.
Figure 8 shows the true lateral strain against the true
axial strain from the third extension phase for both the
auxetic and conventional polyester fibers. The auxetic pol-
yester fibers, produced at 225°C with screw speed 0.525
rad/s and take-up 0.075 m/s, were found to possess Pois-
son’s ratio = –0.72 ± 0.05. However, the average Poisson’s
ratio of the conventional fibers was found to vary between
+0.18 and +0.25, which is typical for an engineering mate-
rial.
Table 1 Extrusion matrix for the production of auxetic polyester fiber.
Sample Temperature
Die used
no. (°C)
1 4-hole mono filament (dia = 1 mm) 230
2 40-hole filament (dia = 550 µm) 225
3 40-hole filament (dia = 550 µm) 220
4 40-hole filament (dia = 550 µm) 215
5 40-hole filament (dia = 550 µm) 212
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Figure 8 True lateral vs true axial strain data or auxetic
and conventional polyester fibers.
Discussion
Herein the successful extension of the range of polymers
that can be made in auxetic fiber form to include polyester
is reported.
During the course of polyester extrusion, work was car-
ried out with screw speed and take-up values that were pre-
viously employed for the successful production of auxetic
PP fibers. However, the viscosity of the extruded fibers was
too low to wind them with the take-up speed of 0.03 m/sec-
ond while maintaining the same screw speed of 1.05 rad/
second. The main approach for the production of auxetic
fibers lies in maintaining the minimum draw ratio. The
minimum take-up speed maintained in the course of extru-
sion was found to have direct impact on screw speed. It was
found that the optimum processing conditions for extru-
sion could be obtained by reducing the screw speed to
0.525 rad/second. Further reductions in the screw speed
were found to be inappropriate to the production of auxe-
tic polyester fibers. By extensive experimentation, it was
found that the minimum take-up speed with which the
extrusion of fibers would be successful was 0.075 m/second.
Table 1 describes the processing conditions of 3GT powder
to obtain the processing window for auxetic polyester fib-
ers. It can be observed from the table that processing tem-
perature plays a critical role in governing the Poisson’s
ratio of polyester fibers. Although few traces of auxeticity
Extruder speed Take-up speed Auxetic
(rad/second) (m/second) behavior
0.525 0.075 NO
0.525 0.075 YES
0.525 0.075 YES
0.525 0.075 NO
0.525 0.075 NO
 Negative Poisson’s Ratio Polyester Fibers N. Ravirala et al.
have been detected in the fibers processed at 220°C, the
auxeticity of the polyester fibers is significantly increased in
the fibers processed at a processing temperature of 225°C.
Although auxetic and conventional (analogue) polyester
fibers have shown to have a similar range of initial Young’s
moduli, varying between 1.1 and 1.2 GPa, compared with
the previous auxetic PP fiber that ranged between 1.34 and
1.5 GPa, the potential applications for auxetic polyester fib-
ers are much greater in comparison with previous auxetic
PP fibers. For example, auxetic fibers have potential in per-
sonal and sports protective clothing [21], such as bullet-
proof vests, helmets and shin pads; biomedical applications
[22, 23], such as smart wound-healing bandages, ligaments
and sutures; and as self-cleaning filters. These fibers could
also play a significant role in the enhancement of fiber-rein-
forced composite toughness [24]; that is, more resistance to
pull the fiber out from the composites. Currently, compos-
ites comprising conventional fiber and matrix material
undergo lateral contraction in both the matrix and fibrous
materials when loaded in tension axially, leading to failure
at the fiber–matrix interface. On the other hand, a compos-
ite that employs auxetic fibers should allow the possibility of
maintaining this interface to higher tensile loads by careful
matching of the radial expansion of the auxetic fibers to the
radial contraction of the conventional matrix.
However, in order to use auxetic fibers in these and
other applications it will be necessary to produce auxetic
fibers with other mechanical properties (e.g. strength and
very high modulus) equivalent to the conventional fibers
currently used in the application. This will require further
work to increase the range of the materials that can be
made in auxetic fiber form, and the development of predic-
tive models to understand the deformation mechanisms
leading to auxetic behavior in fibers.
Conclusions
The range of polymers that can be made in auxetic fiber
form has been extended to include polyester. The fibers
produced using thermal melt extrusion with a processing
temperature of 225°C (flat profile across all the zones of
the extruder), with screw speed 0.525 rad/second and take-
up 0.075 m/second have been shown to be auxetic. Auxetic
extruded products in the form of fibers have potential in a
variety of applications, including fiber reinforcements in
composite materials, protective clothing, fibrous filters and
biomedical materials.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Dr Arun Pal Aneja
(DuPont) for supplying polyester granules. Special thanks
to Mrs Stella Peel (University of Bolton) for her assistance
in the in-house grinding work on polyester granules.
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545 TRJ
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