Drop Impact on Textile Material: Effect of Fabric Properties

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental study of impact of water drop on a surface in a spreading regime with no splashing. Three surfaces were studied: virgin glass, coating film and woven cotton fabric at different construction parameters. All experiments were carried out using water drop with the same free fall high. Digidrop with high-resolution camera is used to measure the different parameters characterising this phenomenon. Results show an important effect of the height of the free fall on the drop profile and the spreading behaviour. An important drop deformation at the surface impact was observed. Then, fabric construction as the weft count deeply affects the drop impact. For plain weave, an increase of weft count causes a decrease in penetration and increase in the spreading rate. The same result was obtained for coated fabric. Therefore, the impact energy was modified and the drop shape was affected, which directly influenced the spreading rate.

Keywords

• contact angle
• drop impact
• woven fabric
• drying process
• coating