ZUT-Testing: Introduction & Background 1

Textile Testing

Presented by

Mike Wilding The School of Materials

University of Manchester, UK

ZUT-Testing: Introduction & Background 2

General Introduction

• Reasons for Testing

• Historical Background

• Special Nature of Textile Materials

ZUT-Testing: Introduction & Background 3

Suggested Reading

• JE Booth

"Principles of Textile Testing” (1983) Newness-Butterworth ISBN: 0408014873 • BP Saville “Physical Testing of Textiles” (1999) Woodhead, Cambridge ISBN: 1855733676

ZUT-Testing: Introduction & Background 4

• Fibres

• Yarns

• Fabrics

• Finished products - fashion & everyday clothing

- protective clothing (fire protection etc)

- home furnishings (bed-linen, curtains …)

- industrial (tyres, filters, geotextiles …)

- etc

Testing of what?

ZUT-Testing: Introduction & Background 5

Testing for what?

“Fitness for purpose”

Performance properties

• Physical/mechanical

• Chemical

This usually means measuring …

ZUT-Testing: Introduction & Background 6

• Quality Control/Consistency You can’t control if you can’t measure

• Research & Development Is the new better than the old?

• Sales & Marketing

“Our product is 50% stronger than theirs!”

• Other

eg forensics & crime investigation

Why test?

Some reasons …

ZUT-Testing: Introduction & Background 7

Testing is normally

carried out according to a

“STANDARD”

What does that mean?

A standard is like a recipe (食食食食谱谱谱谱)

… a set of detailed instructions

• ensures consistency

• results can be communicated widely

• understood by any trained person

ZUT-Testing: Introduction & Background 9

• Test methods

• Specifications of construction

• Performance criteria

What do standards cover?

• Buyers (eg retailers)

• Manufacturers

• Government agencies

• Standards organisations BSI, ISO, ASTM ...

Who sets them?

ZUT-Testing: Introduction & Background 10

• Textile materials are very complicated - not much real understanding before ~1945

• Product applications were rarely critical - lives didn’t usually depend on them

• There were not many different products - 60 years ago, almost all workwear was cotton

Historical Background

Full testing of textile products was uncommon before the mid-20th Century because …

ZUT-Testing: Introduction & Background 11

• Huge range of products - Many more than 1000,000

• Many demanding applications

- lives often depend on them

• Value for money - assumed by customers as a right

• Mobile workforce - 50 years ago, expertise stayed in one place

• Computers & electronic communication - made testing easier … or even possible!

Testing in the 21st Century …

ZUT-Testing: Introduction & Background 12

The complexity of textile products

Molecular properties

(complex)

Arrangement of molecules (irregular) +

+

Yarn properties

(v. complex/variable)

Yarn structure

(more regular) +

Fabric Properties

(... ?)

Fibre properties

(complex/variable)

Arrangement of fibres

(fairly regular)

ZUT-Testing: Introduction & Background 13

Some Materials are Simple …

(compared to textiles!)

你好你好你好你好

ZUT-Testing: Introduction & Background 14

• Wide variety of properties

- rarely just one important

• Requirements often seem contradictory

strong but stretchy

stable at high temperatures but ironable

wear resistant but good handle, etc

• Over-design may cause problems

eg if too strong may also be too stiff

(tight safety margins)

• Very variable

- statistics greatly important

Some Further Points