Numerical simulation of the area shrinkage mass for the waist of elastic pantyhose by using FEM

Purpose The area shrinkage of the body under pressure is very important to evaluate the comfort of pressure sense, and it is an important index that appraises compression garment. The purpose of this paper is to obtain the area shrinkage mass of the waist cross section by using the finite-element method (FEM), and the waist of women's pantyhose could be designed with a different degree of elasticity during the course of design based on clothing pressure comfort. Design/methodology/approach This study aimed at the problems existing in the wearing of women's elastic pantyhose, took the waist of pantyhose as the research object, and the contact between human body and pantyhose as elastic contact. The finite-element model of the waist cross section and elastic pantyhose fabric was acquired through CT scan and Mimics software. After simulating on the corresponding displacement distribution of the waist of sample elastic pantyhose during the process of dressing by using ANSYS, the authors divided the waist cross section into 24 equal regions according to angle (every 15 degrees as a region), and then the area shrinkage mass of each region was obtained by area calculation formula. According to the tendency of area shrinkage distribution, the waist of women's elastic pantyhose could be designed for different regions of tension considering the pressure comfort, so as to guarantee that the wearing comfort can be maintained on the premise of ensuring the functionality of the elastic pantyhose. Findings In this paper, the authors obtained the area shrinkage mass of elastic pantyhose at waist cross section, and this area shrinkage distribution could be used as an objective evaluation index for pressure comfort. All these solutions are of great significance to the optimization design of pantyhose and can provide theoretical basis for the structural improvement of functional pantyhose and the prediction of clothing pressure. Originality/value This paper simulated the area shrinkage mass for the waist of elastic pantyhose by using FEM, and the waist of women's elastic pantyhose could be designed for different regions of tension considering the pressure comfort according to the area shrinkage distribution tendency, so as to guarantee the wearing comfort during the wearing process.