The Effect of Felting on the Bending and Shear Properties of Knitted Wool Fabrics

Abstract

The principal aim of this work is to study quantitatively the changes in fabric bending and shear properties which occur when a plain-knitted wool fabric is laundered. Fabric relaxatiori causes a reduction in the numerical values of the fabric bending and shear parameters used to specify the fabric stiffness and degree of hysteresis; felting, however, produces a marked increase in the value of these same parameters. The anisotropic nature of knitted fabric deformation in both bending and shear is maintained even after severe felting. A relatively small change in fabric tightness had a marked effect on the rate at which the fabric mechanical properties changed during felting.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Australian Wool Board , Standard Requirements for Machine Washable Wools, OSS, A. Weft-Knitted Garments, 1969.

Baird, K. and Foulds, R.A. , Knitted Wool Fabrics of Different Structures: Tightness and Felting Shrinkage , Textile Res. J. 38, 1146-1148 (1968 ).

Baird, K. and Foulds, R.A. , Felting Shrinkage of Plain-Knitted Wool Fabrics: Its Dependence on Fabric Structure, Wash Action and Processing Oils for Chlorine-Hercosett Treatments , J. Textile Inst. 64, 328-345 (1973).

Carnaby, G.A. and Postle, R. , The Shear Properties of Basic Weft-nitted Structures, J. Textile Inst., in press.

Chapman, B.M. , An Apparatus for Measuring Bending and Torsional Stress-Strain-Time Relations of Single Fibers, Textile Res. J. 41, 705-707 (1971).

Fibre Institute T. N. O. Delft, Netherlands, "Shearing Standards for Testing."

Hamilton, R.J. and Postle, R. , Bending and Recovery Properties of Wool Plain-Knitted Fabrics, Textile Res. J. 44, in press (1974).

Knapton, J.J.F. , Fong, W. and Slinger, R.I. , Felting Behaviour of Untreated Plain-Knit All-Wool Fabrics, Textile Res. J. 40, 571-573 (1970).

Makinson, K.R. , Studies of the Movement of Wool Fibres in Fabrics during Felting. Part IV; Textile Res. J. 32, 364-374 (1962).

10.

Postle, R. and Munden, D.L. , Analysis of the Dry-Relaxed Knitted Loop Configuration. Part II: Three Dimensional Analysis, J. Text. Inst. 58, T352-T365 ( 1967).