Analysis of the Physical Fundamentals of an Objective Integral Measuring System for the Determination of the Handle of Knitted Fabrics

Abstract

In this paper, an objective measuring method was devised to determine the handle of knitted fabrics. A test was performed using a special pulling device consisting of two horizontal plates: a base plate with a hole in the centre and a distance plate placed at a specified distance from the base plate. The device is mounted on a tensile testing machine. Since there is no standard method of assessing the handle of summer T-shirt knits, a mathematical method (Weighted Euclidean Distance method) was applied which highly correlates with the results of the KES-F system. The correlation analysis revealed that the features of the pull-through curve corresponded to the result of the Weighted Euclidean Distance method (WD-values). The pulling-through method with a distance plate could be a useful quantitative method of determining fabric handle during product development, quality control and consumer preference studies.