Biomimetic Stab‐Resistant Textiles With Flexible‐Rigid Coupling via Integral Knitting Technology

ABSTRACT Existing stab‐resistant garments still suffer from a pronounced trade‐off between protection and flexibility. Inspired by the mechanism of Cordylus cataphractus scales, this study designs a multilayer cavity heterogeneous fabric (SKF), which fully exploits the large deformation capability of knitted cavity structures. By further coupling SKF with an array of rigid blocks, a composite stab‐resistant fabric (PSKF) with both high protective performance and excellent flexibility is constructed. The effects of overlap ratio and block size on the stab resistance of PSKF were systematically investigated. Moreover, quasi‐static puncture tests at different puncture locations were conducted to elucidate the damage mechanisms during puncture, thereby clarifying the synergistic protective mechanism between the bionic cavity structures and the rigid blocks. Flexibility characterization revealed that PSKF exhibits pronounced anisotropic bending behavior, and the optimal combination of structural parameters for flexible stab‐resistant fabrics was determined using a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method. On this basis, a stab‐resistant vest with a protective area of 0.29 m ² , a double‐layer protective block coverage of 40.8%, and a total mass of 1.66 kg was fabricated, which satisfies the requirements of the police stab‐resistant garment standard while maintaining good wearing flexibility.