Further Progress on the Abrasion Kinetic Modelling of Woven Fabrics Using the Martindale Abrasion Tester

Abstract

The abrasion behaviour of thirty-nine woven fabrics made of wool, polyester and cellulosic (viscose and flax) fibre blends has been measured using the Martindale wear and abrasion tester. The abrasion resistance has been assessed through the number of cycles needed to produce yarn breakage. The abradability has been measured by the rate of weight loss per 1000 abrasion cycle (kcy). A cumulative distribution of weight loss versus abrasion cycles has been plotted using the weight loss produced at 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of the number of cycles needed for yarn breakage. The plot shows the abrasion kinetic and a third degree polynomial model has been used to fit it. The first derivative at the origin gave the initial abradability or rate of mass loss (mg/kcy). A very high negative correlation between the number of abrasion cycles to produce yarn breakage and the mean abradability has been observed. The abrasion resistance depends on the fabric type, the woollen fabrics being the less abrasion-resistant while the worsted ones showed higher abrasion resistance. Abrasion kinetics depends on fabric sett, interlacing weave and composition. Closed fabrics with high sett levels, interlacing weaves and polyester content, showed a concave abrasion kinetic while open fabrics with higher content of wool and/or cellulosic fibres showed a convex abrasion kinetic. Using regression analysis, the most relevant fabric parameters related to the abrasion resistance were fabric composition, thickness and the weave interlacing coefficient.