Figure 2 shows a typical honeycomb pattern (a) and a plain pattern (b), as well as their corresponding fabric geometries on the right-hand side. The yarn path in the honeycomb fabric contains an interwoven curve and straight float.
The length and altitude of the yarn float along the warp and weft directions are both increasing and then decreasing gradually and simultaneously, showing a periodicity and forming repeats of inverted pyramidal space on both sides of fabric.
The pyramidal space can accommodate balls, as shown in Figure 2(a). Without this periodicity of inverted pyramidal space, the plain weave exhibits a planar surface, as shown in Figure 2(b). In a honeycomb woven fabric, the part of the warp yarn underneath a weft float is a warp float. Two layers of floats form a closed internal space.