Methods to better understand behaviour of seams in apparel fabrics

摘要

Many fabrics require cutting and joining in order to create a usable object (e.g. apparel, seat belts, upholstered furniture), and typically the failure of the seam precedes failure of the fabric. Early investigations of seam performance date back to the mid 20th century, and despite many developments in experimental design and analysis and the acknowledgement that straight tensile tests are likely to be relevant to a few products only, there has been little progress in better understanding the behaviour of seams.The objective of this work was to develop a method for examining seam behaviour in apparel fabrics which better reflects three-dimensional products in use. The method included a modified ball fitting (25.4mm diameter) on a tensile tester (Instron bench mounted, model 4464; load cell 1000 N), operating in the compression mode. Three fabrics representing work wear were selected (single jersey, light and heavy drill (woven)), and in a series of factorial experiments in which the complexity of the seam structure was increased, behaviours were examined. Stitch type ISO 401 (International Organization for Standardization, 1991a) was used throughout.Results showed the method to be suitable for examining seam behaviour prior to and at break, thus providing information relevant to seam specification.