Mechanism of Failure in Women's Hosiery

Abstract

Analysis of failure in women's hosiery reveals that hose durability is strongly related to the amount of stretch in the hose as well as to yarn strength. Although snagging is the major cause of hose failure, only about 1% of the total snags result in failure because the snagging force is usually removed or reduced prior to yarn breakage. At equivalent yarn breaking strength, hose from stretch yarns are more durable than nonstretch hose because longer snags develop and reduce the probability of the snagged yarn exceeding its breaking strength. Long snags occur when the hosiery structure collapses easily and there is low resistance to yarn withdrawal. A high propensity for snagging, irrespective of snag length, does not necessarily result in poor durability and evidence is presented to show this. The analysis of the above mechanism of failure is supported by wear test data with both stretch and conventional hose.