Carpet Performance Evaluation

Abstract

The Tetrapod Walker machine was evaluated as a device for the accelerated testing of carpets. Tufted carpets were prepared from wool, nylon, acrylic, and polypropylene yarns, in both cut-pile and loop-pile construction. Four levels of pile weight, obtained by varying the number of tufts per inch, were prepared for each carpet. The percentage loss in pile height resulting from exposure in the Tetrapod Walker was found to be a linear function of the logarithm of the number of revolutions of the Tetrapod Walker. This function was characteristic of each carpet. Specifications for a tentative test method were developed. The method involves measurement of the percentage decrease in pile height after exposure of the carpet sample to 50,000 revolutions (overnight operation) of the Tetrapod Walker. Studies on the compression and recovery properties of these carpets will be reported in a subsequent paper.