Definition of Mass Spring Parameters for Knitted Fabric Simulation Using the Imperialist Competitive Algorithm

The 3D simulation of fabrics is an interesting issue in many fields, such as computer engineering, textile engineering, cloth design and so on. Several methods have been presented for fabric simulation. The mass spring model, a typical physically-based method, is one of the methods for fabric simulation which is widely considered by researchers due to rapid simulation and being more consistent with reality. The aim of this paper is the optimization of mass spring parameters in the simulation of the drape behaviour of knitted fabric using the Imperialist Competitive Algorithm. First a mass spring model is proposed to simulate the drape behavior of knitted fabric. Then in order to reduce the error value between the simulated and actual result (reducing the simulation error value), parameters of the mass spring model such as the stiffness coefficient, damping coefficient, elongation rate, topology and natural length of the spring are optimized using the Imperialist Competitive Algorithm (ICA). The ICA parameters are specified using the Taguchi Design of Experiment. Finally fabrics drape shapes are simulated in other situations and compared with their actual results to validate the model parameters. Results show that the optimized model is able to predict the drape behavior of knitted fabric with an error value of 2.4 percent.