Eugenija Strazdien, Matas Gutauskas

Kaunas University of Technology Faculty of Design and Technologies Studentu str. 56, Kaunas LT-51424, Lithuania, E-mail: eugenija.strazdienija@ktu.lt

New Method for the Objective Evaluation of Textile Hand

Abstract The investigations presented show that pulling a disc-shaped specimen through the rounded hole can be considered as a perspective test method for textile hand evaluation. It was determined that the process of pulling a comparatively big specimen ( 113 mm) through a relatively small hole ( 20-40 mm) ends in the formation of a shell which has a complicated time-dependant shape. Under the stand of the test unit, the shell becomes cone-shaped, but above the stand it obtains the shape of a waved disc, the roughness of which increases with the decrease in its diameter. The aim of this research was therefore to reveal the application possibilities of pulling the material disc through the round hole for the objective evaluation of textiles hand, and to investigate the effect of fabric type, its anisotropy level, and the proper selection of testing regimes upon the character of the pulling process. Key words: hand, textile hand evaluation, pulling-through-the-hole-method, disk-shaped speciman, textile features.

investigations have been performed at the Kaunas University of Technology (Lithuania) [7]. A universal test unit (KTU-Griff-Tester), operating together with either the standard tensile testing machine or an individual drive, has been created there. It allowed a specimen pulling curve P-H (force-deflection) to be registered, and images of specimen shape variations to be captured. The KTU pulling test unit ensures even changes of distance between the limiting plates over the scale of 0-25 mm with the accuracy of 0.05 mm. It has a set of convertible pads and a digital camera, and can be used to evaluate the hand of almost all types of textiles, both traditional and technical (Figure 1). At the first stage of the research performed at the Kaunas University of Technology, theoretical investigations of the process of specimen pulling through a rounded hole were performed: three cases of specimen pulling through a rounded hole were analysed [8]; the conditions of specimen jamming in the hole of the pad or between the limiting plates were defined [9]; the regularities of the specimens outer contour roughness variations were determined [10]. At the second stage of the research, experimental investigations of the behaviour of different textile materials (woven, knitted and coated fabrics) were performed, and optimal testing con-

b h c

extile hand is related to such fabric properties as smoothness, softness, hardness, roughness, thickness, weight, warmth, sharpness, rigidity, etc. The most important of them are considered to be smoothness (28%), and softness (22%), while the importance of the rest properties (the total number of which is 21 [1]) gradually decrease, down to 0.3%. In the meantime, fabric handle and performance properties change after their finishing treatment [2,3]. The method of testing fabric by extracting it through the hole of a ring has been known from old times. Recently, new textile hand evaluation methods based on pulling a disc-shaped specimen through a rounded hole have appeared [4]. Special attention must be drawn to the works of the Denkendorf Institute of Textile Technology ITV (Germany) [5,6], which present the original ITV-Griff-Tester apparatus and describe investigations of the behaviour of socks and other garments under pulling test conditions. Analogous

g f

d e

Figure 1. Specimen KTU-Griff-Tester clamping device [12]; a - the attachment to the force sensor, b - the indentor guides, c - the indentor, d - the table of the pad, e - the window for specimen, f - the scale for pads height adjustement, g - the supporting plate, h - the needle.

the supporting plate

h

the pad

the hole the specimen the needle

Figure 2. Principal scheme of textile hand evaluation in the pulling process [7].

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ditions were selected. Additionally, the parameters of the pad hole and its edges were defined. Besides that, the effect of the materials anisotropy level upon the shape of the P-H curve and upon the variations of specimen outer contour roughness was determined [11]. In this presentation, the main results of the KTUs investigations in the field of the complex evaluation of textile hand are presented; they reveal the application possibilities of the method of pulling material through the round hole for the objective evaluation of textile hand.

Figure 3. The dependence between the thickness if the material and the value of intermediate specimens radius , when it starts to jam in the hole of the pad.

n Test Method
Almost all the parameters of KTU-GriffTester unit match those of other devices for analogous purposes. The stand is made of plexiglass while the supporting plate is made of antireflex glass. The technical characteristics of test unit are as follows (Figure 2): radius of specimen - 56.5 mm; number of pads - 5; radiuses of holes in pads - 7.5, 10, 12.5, 15, 20 mm; radius of the indentor - 5 mm; rate of deformation - 100 mm/min. The radius r of the pads hole and the distance h between the limiting plates were chosen in respect to the thickness of the tested material: (1) and (2) The above conditions do not allow the specimen to jam in either the hole of the stand (equation 1) or between the limiting plates (equation 2). The wavy shape of the specimens outer contour was defined and predicted, making the assumption that it can be described as a sine curve, the length of which is in close relation with the arc length of a certain ellipsis [10].

Figure 4. The dependence between the /h and the value of intermediate specimens radius , when it starts to jam between the limiting plates.

n Results and Discussion

On the basis of equations 1 and 2 optimal testing conditions were chosen. According to these equations, the relationship between the two parameters and on one hand and specimens thickness and ratio /h on the other were determined by showing the limits where the specimen (R=56.5 mm) does not jam in either the hole of the pad (Figure 3) or between the limiting plates (Figure 4). The optimal radiuses (in millimetres) of the pads hole for the material not to be jammed are as follows:

Figure 5. The dependency between the pulling height H and the calculated value of radius Rz.

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a)

b)

Figure 7. Dependence between ratio h/ and the maximum value Hmax of the specimens pulling height.

Figure 6. Typical pulling curves of knitted materials: a) when h=5.5; b) h=const=2 mm.

r = 7.5 mm, when 0.0< <0.4 r =10.0 mm, when 0.5< <0.9 r =12.5 mm, when 1.0< <1.4 r =15.0 mm, when 1.5< <2.0 r =20.0 mm, when 2.1< <3.5.

The typical curves (Figure 6) of five underwear knitted fabrics pulled through a rounded hole (Table 1) prove that reliable characteristics of the materials resistance to such types of deformation can be obtained by strictly maintaining the values of the h/ ratio constant. It is evident that the shape of the curves and their main parameters (the slope angle tg of the curves initial part, the maximum pulling force Pmax and the maximum deflection height Hmax) significantly differs, i.e. the different materials withstand the pulling process in a different way. It may seem from the first view that the softest material is V and the hardest is G-1, but this is not enough data to fully characterise textile hand. In this research seven criteria were chosen to describe fabric hand. They were as follows: tg the slope angle of the H-P curves initial zone; Pmax the maximum value of force (N); H the deflection value, which corresponds to Pmax (mm); the variation of material thickness (%) due to the changes of measurement loading, e.g., from 1 up to 5 N;

H = Hmax - H* the difference between the maximum deflection value and its idealised (theoretical) value H* (H*=52 mm, when r=10 mm); h the distance between limiting plates (mm); m the surface weight of the specimen (g/m2). Of all these criteria, the H criterion is of exclusive importance, because it depends greatly upon the anisotropy level of the tested material (Figure 7). Knitted fabrics V and R (Table 1) are highly anisotropic. In the pulling process their rounded shape turns into an oval (Figure 8) and the values of their pulling height are significantly higher than that of fabric G-2. The latter material, being stiff and almost isotropic, is pulled through the hole of the pad without even reaching the level of H*. On the other hand, the oval-shaped specimen is pulled more easily than the disc-shaped one, but it does not mean that the low value of Pmax indicates that the tested material is soft. That may be the result of fabric anisotropy, which is significantly well assessed by the parameter H.

The distance between the limiting plates h also depends upon the fabric thickness . The optimal values of ratio h/ for different sets of pads are: 7.5 mm, when r =7.5 mm; 5.6 mm, when r =10.0 mm; 4.5 mm, when r =12.5 mm; 3.8 mm, when r =15.0 mm; 2.8 mm, when r =20.0 mm. When the specimen R is pulled through the hole r, the value of deflection H increases but the radius Rz decreases (Figure 5). The process will end when Rz=r. For idealised materials, which do not experience any type of deformation, this will happen when H is 52 mm (r=10 mm); 53 mm (r=15 mm) and 54 mm (r=20 mm), respectively. However, for real materials H>H*.

Table 1. Characteristics of investigated materials (s - deformation of a strip specimen (100 mm 20 mm) in longitudinal direction, when P=1.2 N; i - the same in longitudinal direction). Type of material: knitted fabrics (G-1, G-2, M, V, R); woven fabric (A).
Sign G-1 G-2 M V R A Stitch or weave plain knit warp-knit tricot weft-knit 1x1 rib weft-knit 2x2 rib interlock 1x1 rib hopsack weave Content 100% cotton 50% cotton, 50% PA 100% cotton 100% cotton 100% cotton 50% wool, 50% PA Thickness , Surface weight, mm g/m2 0.53 0.39 0.75 0.79 0.87 0.70 153.6 96.8 175.6 142.7 213.5 254.4 s/i 1.93 0.65 7.58 12.5 -

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a)

b)

the thickness of specimen, i.e. the r and h values must be chosen according to the value, e.g., and h/ = const. A more qualitative evaluation of textile hand can be made on the basis of the complex of criteria, the majority of which are obtained in the pulling process.

References
1. Bishop D. P., Fabrics: Sensory and Mechanical Properties, Textile Progress, 1996, vol. 29, no.3, pp. 62. 2. Frydrych I., Matusiak K., Changes in Fabric Handle Resulting from Different Fabric Finishing, Fibres and Textiles in Eastern Europe, ISSN 1230-3666, 2003, vol.11, no.2 (41), pp. 42-47. 3. Frontczak-Wasiak I., Snycerski M., Use Properties of Terry Woven Fabrics, Fibres and Textiles in Eastern Europe, ISSN 1230-3666, 2004, vol.12, no.1 (45), pp. 40-44. 4. Grover G., Sultan M.A., Spivak S.M., Screening Technique for Fabric Handle, Journal of the Textile Institute, ISSN 00405167, 1993, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 486-494. 5. Hennrich L., Seidel A., Reider O. Griffprfung au Maschenwaren, Maschen - Industrie, 7/1999, pp. 46-47. 6. Seidel A., Griffgewertung von Strumpfwaren mit dem ITV-Griff-Tester, Melliand Textilberichte, 6/2001, pp. 491-494. 7. Daukantiene V., Papreckiene L., Gutauskas M., Simulation and Application of the Behaviour of a Textile Fabric while Pulling through a Round Hole, Fibres and Textiles in Eastern Europe, ISSN 12303666, 2003, vol. 11, no. 2 (41), pp. 38-42. 8. Martiit G., Gutauskas M., Pulling of a Knitted Material through a Hole: Analysis of Geometry, Proc. of the Conf. Technology and Design of Consumer Goods, Technologija, 2001, pp. 78-83. 9. Martiit G., Gutauskas M., A New Approach to the Evaluation of Fabric Handle, Mediagotyra (Materials Science), ISSN 1392-1320, 2001, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 186-190. 10. Martiit G., Gutauskas M., On the Optimization of the Conditions for the Establishment of the Textile Handle, International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology, ISSN 0955-6222 (in press). 11. Strazdien E., Martiit G., Gutauskas M., Papreckien L., Textile Hand: New Method for Textile Objective Evaluation, Journal of the Textile Institute, ISSN 0040-5167, 2003, vol. 94, no. 3/4, pp. 245-255. 12. E. Strazdiene, L. Papreckiene, M. Gutauskas, New Method for the Objective Evaluation of Technical Textile Behaviour, 6th Dresden Textile Conference 2002, CD-ROM, pp. 1-8. Received 10.08.2004 Reviewed 01.02.2005

Figure 8. Typical shapes of specimens pulled through a rounded hole; a) knitted material, b) woven material .

Figure 9. Optimisation diagram of six different materials on the basis of the complex hand criterion.

The sum of the above-mentioned criteria (Figure 9) sufficiently well characterises those material properties (smoothness, softness, hardness, roughness, thickness, weight, etc.), which are considered to be related to fabric hand. For the determination of these criteria, a thickness gauge, scales and a KTU-Griff-Tester test unit are needed. The analysis of criteria and the optimisation of their quantity and structure is still ongoing. In the future the quantity of criteria may be different. The test data has proved that all the mentioned criteria are reliable. This data states that all six materials have a range of hand degradation as follows: V (1.0) - M(1.8) - R(2.4) - G-2(2.5) - G-1(3.4).

A comparative analysis of diagram areas has shown that fabric V is better than the rest by 1.8-3.4 times.

n Conclusions
The absolute values of the measured P and H parameters are significantly affected by the quality of the holes edges (chamfer angle and cleanness). The anisotropy level of the material tested greatly influences not only the shape of the HP curve but also the geometry of the deformed (i.e. pulled) specimen. The selection of optimal testing conditions must be carried out in respect to

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FIBRES & TEXTILES in Eastern Europe April / June 2005, Vol. 13, No. 2 (50)