STUDY OF RESISTANCE TO SHARP OBJECT PENETRATION AND SPREAD OF THE RESULTING RUPTURE IN WOVEN FABRICS

Abstract

Textiles designed to protect the wearer against damages caused by sharp objects have various applications in the workplace and sports. In this study, the resistance of woven fabrics against sharp object penetration was assessed. In this regard, three different fabric samples, including the Twill 2/2, Satin 1/7 weft, and Hopsack 4/4 weave patterns were prepared. Force and energy of penetration by a sharp object were measured in mentioned fabric structures. It was observed that weft density and yarn interlacement are prominent factors that determine the woven fabric resistance against sharp object penetration. Higher weft density leads to greater penetration force and energy since a higher number of yarns resist the sharp object penetration. Moreover, the weave pattern with more firmness restricts the yarn displacement in the fabric structure and consequently provides greater penetration resistance. In this regard, the Hopsack weave pattern, which has higher weft density than Twill fabric, and shorter yarn floats compared to Satin fabric, showed the best resistance among tested samples. In addition to the penetration test, the cut spread test was also performed to evaluate the fabric resistance against the expansion of the cut created in the fabric by sharp object penetration. According to the results, in the cut spread test, the Hopsack fabric provided the greatest resistance. The force and energy of spreading the cut region are much more than creating the cut in the fabric structure since the sharp object should cut the bunched yarn instead of the single yarn.

Keywords

• woven fabric
• weave pattern
• weft density
• penetration force
• sharp object