Investigations of the relation between fabric mechanical properties and behaviour

In transforming fabrics into garment it is necessary to know, besides the manner of processing, also the behaviour of the fabric in particular manufacturing processes. It is necessary to define why and how fabrics behave in a particular way when exposed to various strains. The answers to these questions are obtained by investigating fabric mechanics, as non-linear mechanical fabric properties at lower strains, which is the case in transforming fabrics into garments. The area to be investigated is quite wide and the investigations presented here deal only with the most important elastic strains occurring in processing fabrics into garments, such as tensile, pressure, shear and bending, as each individual type of strain bears specific importance in studying fabric behaviour, as well as in garment quality control. Strains impacting the fabric, i.e. the reaction of the fabric to these strains, are presented through the parameters of mechanical properties. A relation is also explained between characteristic histeresis curves and fabric behaviour in real garment manufacturing processes, obtained through recording fabric behaviour in particular garment manufacturing processes.. Results obtained through the investigations of mechanical properties of the fabrics analysed and their behaviour in garment manufacturing processes helped in determining so called critical, or border, values for particular parameters of mechanical properties.