The kinetic model of pilling revisited

摘要

The current paper revisits the simplified two step kinetic model of pilling and identifies an implicit assumption made bynprevious workers in the application of the model to experimental data. Relaxing this assumption potentially allows anparadigm shift in the understanding of the pilling process with quite different interpretations and conclusions drawn fromnthe analysis of experimental pilling data. In the case of wool knitwear, the original implicit assumption is tested experimentallynand found to be invalid. A reanalysis of the pilling behavior of wool knitwear reveals new insights into thenprocess. First, the mass of fiber associated with pilling is approximately twenty times larger than previously thought andnpilling is the primary mechanism associated with fiber loss during the pilling test, compared to Williams’ conclusion thatnpilling accounted for only approximately 4% of the mass loss. Secondly, the non-pillable fiber loss fraction is bothnrelatively small and is limited to the early stages of the pilling test, indicative of this being associated with a relativelynsmall percentage of fiber that is not securely held in the structure (e.g. perhaps predominately a short fiber fraction).nMore generally, this reinterpretation significantly changes the relative importance of the two conceptual steps in thenpilling process and so gives new insights regarding likely beneficial approaches for managing pilling.