Measurement of Multiple Mechanical Properties of Fabrics in One Test

Abstract

The compressibility, bending, weight, friction, tensile and shear properties of wool fabrics and yarns are of vital importance in the hung shape and virtual fitting of end-use textile products. A new apparatus has been developed for characterizing the above mechanical properties of wool fabrics and yarns through a single testing, and the corresponding modeling analysis for compressing, bending, weighting, friction, stretching and shearing properties were conducted and the corresponding characteristics were all measured just through one pulling out testing based on a three-point bending in principal. The compressing measurements for fabric and transversal cross-section yarn were conducted and could obtain the thickness under certain pressure and the low load and thickness curve. The bending modeling for small deflection was developed and adapted to the nonlinear relationship of bending moment and curvature, and the governing differential equation for bending rigidity was found. The weight of fabric in Gram per square meter and the linear density of yarn in Tex per unit length were both effectively and accurately calculated. The friction method was developed based on the Amonton’s Law, and the static and dynamic frictional coefficients were found. The tensile and shear properties under low stress were investigated and the corresponding characteristics, such as elastic modulus and shearing modulus, were obtained. Moreover, the fuzzy clustering analysis for handle of fabrics or yarns was utilized to classify and further verify the measured fabrics or yarns based on the mechanical properties mentioned above. Thereof, the comprehensive handle system for fabrics and yarns (briefly named CHS-FY) was necessarily self-designed and utilized to characterize the mechanical properties, which played a crucial role in quickly classifying the fabrics and yarns with different style. Meanwhile, the verifications of the comprehensive handle system for fabric and yarn was conducted, and indicated that there were in good agreement between theoretical and experimental results of mechanical properties of wool fabric and yarn, and showed that there existed high accuracy in classification with the fuzzy clustering analysis. Thereby, the comprehensive handle system for wool fabrics and yarns is effective and accurate in measuring the compressibility, bending, weight, friction, tensile and shear properties and fast classifying the handle of wool fabrics and yarns.