ABSTRACT

Tactile behavior of fabric may be described by two main categories of parameters: surface parameters and mechanical (or low deformation) parameters. This paper deals primarily with fabric surface characteristics. It represents a small part of a larger study titled “Developing Design-Oriented Model of Fabric Comfort” directed by Dr. Yehia El Mogahzy. This study was conducted over three year period from 2000 to 2003 and involved top scientists from three major U.S. Universities: Auburn University, Georgia Tech, and North Carolina State University. Some International assistance was also provided. The primary objective of this study was twofold:

1. To establish a clear characterization of fabric and garment comfort using three independent but coordinated approaches: (a) structural modeling of the fabric/skin interaction phenomena, (b) experimental analysis of specially-designed fabrics and garments, and (c) empirical modeling of the fabric comfort phenomenon using a combination of physical, neural-network, and fuzzy logic analysis.
2. To develop a comfort design/manufacturing program to assist spinners, weavers, knitters, and garment manufacturers in producing fabrics of desirable levels of comfort suitable for different modes of applications including: normal/relaxing modes, high physical activity modes, and special task modes.

In this part of the study, the focus is on fabric surface analysis. The driving force of this analysis is the comfort model developed by El Mogahzy et al [1, 2] in which the comfort phenomenon was described by a single index representing the ratio between the true area of fabric/human skin contact and the corresponding apparent area. This ratio was found to be directly related to fabric surface characteristics including surface geometry, number of asperities in contact, surface hardness, and fabric friction. Accordingly, two main categories of parameters are evaluated: (1) surface friction characterized by inter-fabric frictional force at different levels of lateral pressure, coefficient of friction, and frictional parameters ‘a’ and ‘n’ and (2) fabric porous structure characterized by pore size and pore size distribution. These parameters are tested using a specially designed set of single-jersey knit fabrics.