A Study of Fabric-drape Behaviour with Image Analysis Part I: Measurement, Characterisation, and Instability

Abstract

An image-analysis method for drape measurement is investigated. The image-analysis method is rapid and precise and allows multiple measurements to be made. The drape-distance ratio is proposed as an alternative measure of drape. The repeatability of drape values is investigated. Drape values are influenced by the number of drape nodes, which is in turn influenced by the initial state of the fabric. Repeated measurements show that the distribution of the number of nodes is variable. In order to use the drape values as the factor describing the aesthetic appearance of a fabric, it is necessary to measure drape values many times. The drape value for the most frequent node distribution is suggested as the standard drape value to reduce the number of tests. With this method, the time-dependence of the drape behaviour of a fabric is also observed.