How Does Textile Abrasion Resistance To Be Tested?

Contents

Abrasion resistance is a key indicator of material performance in a variety of industries. Whether it’s coatings, plastics, automotive components or textiles, the wear resistance of a material is directly related to the durability and quality of the product. In the plastics and coatings industries, for example, wear resistance tests are essential to ensure that products meet the required quality standards. These tests are used to determine the abrasion resistance of a material or coating and damage caused by friction or scratching.

Across industries, the abrasion resistance of a material has a direct impact on the durability and quality of a product. For example, in the automotive industry, body coatings and interior materials need to be able to withstand prolonged friction and wear, and abrasion resistance becomes an important criterion for assessing their performance. Similarly, in the plastics and textiles industries, the durability and appearance quality of a product are closely linked to the wear resistance of the material.

In order to accurately assess the abrasion resistance of materials, Zhanlin Instruments recommends Smartindale Martindale Abrasion & Pilling Tester. As indispensable testing tools for abrasion resistance, this article will show you how to test fabric’s abrasion.

Smartindale Martindale Abrasion & Pilling Tester is an abrasion resistance testing device that is widely used in various industries. It can accurately assess properties such as abrasion and friction resistance of materials by simulating the wear of materials in contact with different surfaces.

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Common test standards

There are various methods for testing the abrasion resistance of textile products, such as the flat grinding method, the curved grinding method, the folded edge grinding method and the composite grinding method. The Martindale method is a type of flat abrasion method, which is widely used in the abrasion resistance testing of garments, home textiles, decorative fabrics, and furnishing fabrics, and the following standards are common standards that use the Martindale method.

Overview of the testing process

Take ISOI2947.1 abrasion resistance test standard method as an example.

01Test principle

Under the condition of known pressure and abrasion method, the specimen is abraded according to a geometrical trajectory, which starts out as a straight line, then becomes wider and wider and forms an oval, then narrows down and finally forms a straight line along the relative direction of the original straight line. Repeatedly rub the specimen along the above trajectory until the specified number of turns for evaluation.

02 Test Procedure

I. Specimen preparation

From the sample cut 3 pieces of 38mm diameter circular specimen, the specimen will be pre-wetting and wetting, the test should be the specimen in the standard environment, wetting balance, wetting balance of the end point is generally considered to be when the specimen in the 2 hours of the weight of the change of no more than 0.1% as the end point. Before the test, the specimen should be humidified in a standard environment with a temperature of 21±1℃ and a relative humidity of 65±2% for at least 4 hours.

II. Placement

Place a piece of standard wool felt on each test platform, with a diameter of about 140mm, followed by a piece of standard wear-resistant cloth of the same size, press the sample loading weight on the platform to make the standard wear-resistant cloth and wool felt flatter, clamp the wool felt and standard cloth, then remove the sample loading weight and check whether the wool cloth is curled and not clamped tightly, if necessary, reload the sample. For Option 3 (see Section 4 “Evaluation” for details), the sample should be weighed to the nearest milligram in order to evaluate the test results. Place the specimen frontally on the holding ring, and for specimens with a fabric weight of less than 500g/m2, place a 38mm diameter sponge on top of the specimen, insert the metal insert, and load the holding sample according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Place the loaded holding sample on the abrasion-resistant platform and add the weight of the required pressure to the clamped sample: 9Kpa (594g) for garment fabrics and 12Kpa (795g) for decorative fabrics.

III Running

Set the number of laps of the instrument and start running, if it is option 1 and 2 (see Part IV “Evaluation”), check the specimen during and at the end of the test. When the end of the test is approaching, at each check, reduce the number of laps between them, and if the specimen is balled up, cut it off with curved scissors. For option 3, after reaching the end of the run, weigh the specimen and be accurate to the nearest millimetre.

IV. Assessment

Option 1: For woven fabrics, the end point of the test is when two or more yarns are broken, and for knitted fabrics, the end point is when a hole is created.

Option 2: The end point of the test is when the change in colour or appearance is sufficient to cause a complaint by the consumer.

Note: 1) Colour change can be caused by different reasons, e.g. shedding or feathering on the surface of the specimen or feathering in loops to form a fancy yarn pattern. 2) Colour change can be caused by different types of fibres, e.g. hair loss or feathering on the surface of the specimen. By different types of fibers by dyeing and blending, the yarn or fibers of different degrees of wear and tear, will cause changes in colour or appearance, for this case, the end of the test is generally used in the discoloration of grey card assessment. ②The end point of the test is generally the end of the test when the discolouration reaches the grey card level 3 or below.

Option 3: The change in weight of the specimen before and after abrasion is evaluated, and the reduction in weight can be expressed as a percentage based on the weight before the test.