Artificial finger design for investigating the tactile friction of textile surfaces

In order to evaluate the mechanical characteristics of a surface, correlated to the tactile perception, the use of an artificial finger is very convenient. The goal of this paper was to determine, using friction tests between human fingers and fabrics with large pile or light hairiness, the major characteristics necessary to design an artificial finger for textile fabrics. The influence of the human finger shape and fingerprints and of the fingertip stiffness has been studied. The fingerprints have a huge effect for pile fabrics. The shape and stiffness are significant to a lesser extent. An artificial finger has been designed and validated.