The Influence of Constructional Parameters on Deformability of Elastic Cotton Fabrics

This research is focused on the influence of constructional parameters such as the type of weave and density on deformability of pure cotton and cotton/elastane fabrics. In the research, two basic weaves were used: the plain and twill weave without (pure cotton) and with 6.2 percent of elastane in the weft direction. The density of the warp yarns was before bleaching 22yarns/cm and after end treatment (bleaching) from 24 to 31 yarns/cm. The chosen densities in the weft direction were 17 and 20 yarns/cm. The fabrics were cyclically loaded with maximum load 17.66 N. The non-recoverable deformation was measured after 30 seconds of relaxation after the fourth cycle of loading, according to ASTM D 3107–75. The research results show that elastane incorporation significantly decreased the non-recoverable deformation after loading. In the case of the twill weave, the decrease of non-recoverable deformation was from around 20% – twill without elastane to around 5% – twill with elastane – fabrics 7B and 8B. The non-recoverable deformation level decrease with fabrics in plain weave was also significant (from around 24% – plain without elastane to around 12% – plain with elastane). From the results of non-recoverable deformation, it is clearly seen that the chosen type of weave, plain and twill, significantly influenced the non-recoverable deformation level. The increase of density in the weft direction from 17 yarns/cm to 20 yarns/cm for pure cotton and cotton/elastane fabrics insignificantly influenced the non-recoverable deformation level. This means that the density increase of 3 yarns/cm is too low to significantly influence the deformability of pure cotton and cotton/elastane fabrics.