Incremental Frictional Abrasion

Abstract

Three pairs of matched fabrics, 100% cotton broadcloth, 50% polyester/50% cotton broadcloth, and 65% polyester/ 35% cotton printcloth, were abraded in an Accelerotor. One fabric of each pair had a pure finish and one had a creaseresistant finish. Eight levels of abrasion were used in the study. Fiber length distributions and fiber tensile properties were analyzed before and after abrasion to determine the effect of the abrasion on these fiber properties and to determine the mechanism by which any damage occurred. The cotton fibers tended to break into shorter lengths as a result of abrasion. This tendency was most pronounced in the resin-finished polyester/cotton printcloth, which lost virtually all of its cotton fiber content. It appeared to be least pronounced in the resin-finished cotton broadcloth, which lost many of its shortest fibers but showed no significant decrease in the number of longer fibers. The polyester fibers in the blended broadcloths showed some reductions in fiber length as a result of abrasion, while those in the printcloths did not. There were progressively greater losses in strength of the remaining fibers for both polyester and cotton fibers as a result of increasing levels of abrasion. However, much of the abrasion damage sustained by the resin-finished blended fabrics appeared to be caused by cotton fiber fracture within the internal structure of the yarn because of the unequal elongation characteristics of the cotton and polyester fibers.