Instrumental evaluation of fabric shape retention by image analysis

Abstract

Fabric shape retention is an essential property for assessing fabric usability and easy-care properties, which needs to be evaluated frequently for quality improvement. At present, certain aspects of shape retention can be characterized by particular devices, such as the crease recovery tester, the fabric drape tester, etc. To effectively and accurately reflect fabric shape retention performance, we developed an automatic crease forming device to simulate fabric crease creation and the shape recovery process in daily life, and objectively assess the shape retention by an image processing method. A specified size specimen was laid flat on the device to create a sharp crease. Then, a video image of the fabric shape recovery is acquired for measuring the evaluation indexes, such as the vertex angle (VA), height (H) and shape retention area (SA). Finally, the results of this proposed method are compared with existing methods. When compared with the existing crease recovery tester, there is good consistency between the VA of the developed measurement system and the recovery angle of the fabric crease recovery tester, which indicates that the proposed method can be used to evaluate the crease recovery of fabrics. Compared with the drapability, there is linear function relationship between the H and SA of the developed measurement system and the draping coefficient of the fabric drape tester, which demonstrates that the proposed method can be used to evaluate the drapability. Therefore, experimental results indicate that the data calculated by our proposed method can be used to determine fabric shape retention.