Textile Research Journal

In the first part of this paper, the fabric buckling model proposed by Grosberg and Swani was modified by incorporating Huang's bilinear bending rule. This buckling theory is further extended to model the recovery behavior by incorporating the bilinear bending rule. This model removes the obvious inconsistency of earlier approaches. The recovery behavior computed from the proposed theory appears realistic and consistent with typical experimental results. The experimental validation of both buckling and recovery models is compared with similar models proposed by Grosberg and Swani. The agreement between experimental and theoretical behavior is fairly good and mostly consistent. Possible reasons for certain observed discrepancies are summarized.

This study aimed to establish the effect on comfort of introducing the DOW XLA™ fiber in woven polyester/cotton fabrics used for professional wear end use. The comfort elements analyzed in this study were thermal and moisture sensations, tactile sensations, and pressure sensations. A fabric elasticized with the elastic fiber polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) was also included in the study for comparative purposes. This study was also devoted to establishing how the fabric mechanical and comfort properties change with repeated laundry washes (which is denoted here as the maintenance study). The results indicated that the use of DOW XLA™ fiber inside a core spun yarn to elasticize fabrics for professional wear provided additional comfort over non-elasticized fabrics by adding stretch and an improved hand feel. These fabrics showed a thermophysiological and sensorial comfort that remained constant with washing cycles. The differences in performance found when compared against traditional non-elasticized and PBT-elasticized fabrics were explained as a result of having an elastic fiber in the core of the core spun yarn that had moderated elastic response after yarn and fabric finishing processes.

In the textile and clothing industry, much research has been conducted on fabric defect automatic detection. However, few have been specifically designed for evaluating fabric stitches or seams of semi-finished and finished garments. In this paper, a fabric stitching inspection method is proposed for knitted fabric in which a segmented window technique is developed to segment images into three classes using a monochrome single-loop ribwork of knitted fabric: (1) seams without sewing defects; (2) seams with pleated defects; and (3) seams with puckering defects caused by stitching faults. Nine characteristic variables were obtained from the segmented images and input into a Back Propagation (BP) neural network for classification and object recognition. The classification results demonstrate that the inspection method developed is effective in identifying the three classes of knitted-fabric stitching. It is proved that the classifier with nine characteristic variables outperformed those with five and seven variables and the neural network technique using either BP or radial basis (RB) is effective for classifying the fabric stitching defects. By using the BP neural network, the recognition rate was 100%.

This paper presents a stereo vision system for reconstructing the three-dimensional (3-D) surface of a wrinkled fabric and for detecting and characterizing wrinkles to evaluate the severity of wrinkling. The system captures a pair of images through two 10.2-megapixel digital cameras, performs subpixel stereo matching based on correlation gradients, and yields a depth resolution under 0.1 mm. The matching algorithm is realized in a regularization framework and implemented by the finite-element method, in which the disparity map is parameterized by dense bicubic B-splines. The outputs of the system include a wrinkle map that depicts the locations of the ridges of individual wrinkles and quantitative data on wrinkle density, amplitude, and sharpness for a tested sample.

The automotive industry is a major customer of the technical textiles market. In this industry, seat covers are the most important application area of technical textiles. As the customer demands increase and competition among original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) becomes more intense, the test standards for technical textiles are gradually being raised and becoming more thorough. Higher breaking and tearing strengths and breaking elongation are specifications required for advanced seat covers. It is a fact that deficiencies in these specifications have some effect on field returns (the return of failed cars to field service), raising costs and loss of confidence in the product and the producer. This paper investigates breaking and tearing strengths, and breaking elongation performances of the technical textiles used for automobile seat covers. The fabrics used in this research were supplied from seat cover fabric manufacturers who produce these fabrics for multinational automotive companies. The data obtained from the tests are evaluated statistically. The results indicate that flat woven and woven velour seat cover fabrics are the best in terms of breaking and tearing strength performances. Circular knitted automobile seat cover fabrics give the greatest elongation measures.

In this study, diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI), 2,2-bis(hydroxymethy)-propionic acid (DMPA), and polytetramethyleneglycol (PTMG) were employed to polymerize the low molecular weight polyurethane (LMWPU). The mole ratios for the LMWPUs were 4.0:1.5:0.5, 4.0:1.0:1.0, and 4.0:0.5:1.5, respectively. The three LMWPUs were dissolved in lithium chloride/tetrahydrofuran (UCV THF) to prepare the finishing solutions. The water retaining values of the treated non-woven fabrics with the solutions increased by the increase of the component of the PTMG contained in LMWPU. This higher content of PTMG in LMWPU resulted in a lower add-on value and a lower degree of the blocking deposited in the gaps among fibers. Both of these could significantly improve the water retaining property. The water retaining values for the LMWPU solutions were dramatically higher than those for commercial water soluble polyurethane and LMWPU emulsions. The functional groups of LMWPU were confirmed with the analyses of the spectra of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The average molecular weights of the three LMMTUs ranged from 2000 to 3800 g/mole and the average particle sizes ranged from 140 to 1140 nm. The degree of polymer crystals obtained from LMWPU solutions is lower, which could also significantly improve the water retaining property.

During the last several years, the demand of animal natural fibers for the production of high-quality textiles has increased worldwide, especially in Europe, Japan and North America. Due to the restricted availability and the high prices, adulteration and false declaration are common. Usually, fiber analysis is done by scanning electron microscopy, but this method is very time-consuming and expensive, and results strongly depend on processing stage and expertise of the microscopist. For these reasons, reliable methods are required to determine the composition and the proportion of distinct animal fibers in yarns, fabrics and garments, irrespective of their processing conditions. In this study, a DNA-analytical method is presented to unequivocally identify cashmere/cashgora, fine wool, yak and camel hair (Bactrian camel, dromedary) in untreated and treated (washed, bleached, dyed) fibers samples, as well as in fiber blends.

Cotton fabric was alkaline scoured with sodium hydroxide and bioscoured with acid or alkaline pectinases. In addition, the scoured fabrics were bleached with hydrogen peroxide (HP) or peracetic acid (PAA). The cotton fabric was treated simultaneously with pectinases and PAA in a one-bath process. The CIE whiteness, water absorbency, weight loss, tenacity at maximum load, and dyeability with a reactive dye were evaluated on differently pretreated samples. The remaining scouring and bleaching baths were analyzed for ecological parameters including pH, total organic carbon (TOC), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and biological oxygen demand (BOD₅). The quantity of water and energy used for different processes was estimated. The water absorbency of all scoured fabrics was satisfactory. The degree of whiteness of all bleached fabrics was improved. The highest degrees of whiteness were from HP bleached samples. Less whiteness was achieved in PAA bleached samples. The whiteness was greater in the alkaline scoured fabrics relative to the enzymatic scoured fabrics. One-bath processes produced whiteness values comparable to alkaline scouring and bleaching with PAA. Neither of the processes had little effect on the tenacity at maximum load. All samples were evenly dyed with reactive dye. There was a remarkable color difference between samples that were alkaline or enzymatically scoured before dyeing and between differently bleached samples. On the other hand, there was no noticeable color difference between samples that were scoured and bleached in two-bath or one-bath processes before dyeing. In comparison to conventional pretreatment, less energy and water is used in enzymatic and/or PAA treatments since they proceed at 60°C and at a pH between 6 and 8. Therefore, neutralization is unnecessary. The remaining baths are biodegradable. During the one-bath scouring/bleaching process, the consumption of water and energy was even lower and the production time was shorter.

Film morphology, surface compositions and hydrophobic properties of N-β-aminoethyl-γ-aminopropyl polysiloxane (ASO-1) coated on regenerated cellulose (cel) substrate surface (ASO-1/cel) were investigated and studied by atomic force microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and other techniques. Influenced by the irregularities of cel substrate, ASO-1/cel showed a very similar microscopic morphology to the cel. In addition, the ASO-1/cel surface was hydrophobic. There were strongly hydrogen-bonded linkages at the interface between ASO-1 and cel. All the data indicate that ASO-1 molecules interact with the regenerated cellulose in such a way that the hydrophobic silicon methyl (Si-CH₃) groups are oriented towards the air, while the Si—O dipole bonds as well as the polar amino groups are aligned towards the interface of the cellulose substrate.