Texture Retention After Fabric-to-Fabric Abrasion

Abstract

Changes in appearance brought about by mechanical abrasion may be evaluated with respect to changes in image texture properties, e.g., periodicity. This paper discusses the application of gray-scale image analysis to texture periodicity measurements in fabrics. The techniques described are appropriate for "ordered" textures with relatively well defined features such as the Miratec® class of fabrics. Our samples consist of three sets, a woven twill, a Miratec (nonwoven) twill, and a loosely bonded herringbone hydroentangled nonwoven. In general, our data show that mechanical wear may result in a decrease in texture definition and a tendency toward randomness. The Miratec fabric shows that at the same level of wear, the structure retains its appearance and exhibits no loss of texture.