Textile Research Journal

http://trj.sagepub.com Hysteresis of Tensile load Strain Route of Knitted Fabrics under Extension and Recovery Processes Estimated by Strain History
Masaru Matsuo and Tomoko Yamada Textile Research Journal 2009; 79; 275 DOI: 10.1177/0040517507090504 The online version of this article can be found at: http://trj.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/79/3/275

Published by:
http://www.sagepublications.com

Additional services and information for Textile Research Journal can be found at: Email Alerts: http://trj.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts Subscriptions: http://trj.sagepub.com/subscriptions Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav Permissions: http://www.sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav Citations http://trj.sagepub.com/cgi/content/refs/79/3/275

Downloaded from http://trj.sagepub.com by Ngoc Nguyen Thi Thuy on October 28, 2009

Textile Research Journal

Article

Hysteresis of Tensile load Strain Route of Knitted Fabrics under Extension and Recovery Processes Estimated by Strain History
Hysteresis phenomenon of tensile load (stress) under extension and recovery processes were estimated in terms of time dependence of tensile load by using several kinds of knitted fabrics. The measurements were done under strip biaxial extension corresponding to uniaxial extension with a fixed dimension in the direction perpendicular to elongation. The present concept was based on tensile load (stress) relaxation in elongation and restricted sides. To attempt mathematical evaluation, a simple hypothesis described by hereditary integral was proposed to explain the hysteresis of tensile load (strain), strain routes under extension, and recovery processes, in which the extension and recovery routes were formulated as addition and subtraction of step function of strain history, respectively. The calculated curves were in good agreement with the experimental curves in the large deformation region. The theoretical calculation to give the best fit with experimental curve could be realized by using n adopted as an exponent to describe the linearizing method (F = Yen, where F is the tensile load and e is strain of a fabric) proposed by Kawabata et al. The present evaluation improved on their proposal, since the present theory can represent the hysteresis routes by using the same value of parameter n.

Abstract

Masaru Matsuo1 and Tomoko Yamada

Department of Textile and Apparel Science, Faculty of Human Life and Environment, Nara Womens University, Nara 630-8263, Japan

Key words extension and recovery processes, hysteresis of tensile load (strain)-strain routes, linearizing method, strain history

In [13], we studied the mechanical anisotropy and the non-linearity of the several knitted fabrics to study the origin of the fit of the fabrics to the human body. The analysis was carried out in terms of three categories. One was large deformation modes [1] under strip biaxial extension (corresponding to uniaxial extension, with the fixed dimension

in the direction perpendicular to stretching) using the lin1 earizing method proposed by Kawataba et al. [4, 5]. The second was the stress relaxation mechanism [2] using plain

Corresponding author: e-mail: m-matsuo@cc.nara-wu.ac.jp

Textile Research Journal Vol 79(3): 275284 DOI: 10.1177/0040517507090504

www.trj.sagepub.com 2009 SAGE Publications Los Angeles, London, New Delhi and Singapore

Downloaded from http://trj.sagepub.com by Ngoc Nguyen Thi Thuy on October 28, 2009

TRJ

276

Textile Research Journal 79(3)

Table 1 Characteristics of three kinds of knitted fabric, A, B, and C.

Specimen A B C Fiber Cotton 93.6% Polyurethane 6.4% Cotton 45% Polynosic 55% Cotton 100% Yarn Spun Continuous-filament Mixtured spun Spun Yarn count (tex) 1/14.8 1/ 2.2 1/14.8 1/14.8 Twist number (n/cm) 6.0 6.4 7.8 Structure Plain weave 1 1Rib Plain weave Mass (kg/m2) 0.215 0.106 0.110

knitted fabrics, in which the fabrics were treated as a twodimensional visco-elastic body and the corresponding principle between elasticity and visco-elasticity was used to analyze stress relaxation. The third was large expansion and contraction [3] of plain knitted fabrics containing polyurethane filaments on the basis of the changes of structural and mechanical properties of the cotton yarns as a double yarn. The hysteresis of fabrics has been analyzed by Kawabata et al. [4, 5] for the bending and shear processes of fabrics. In their work, the properties were estimated as a structural body and not as a continuum in terms of the displacement of individual yarns and fibers in the fabric by external applied load. In spite of a number of established works [615] concerning excellent fabric-deformation theory based on fabric structure mechanics, any theoretical methods of fabrics were out of the framework of their structural changes under extension and recovery processes. Certainly, the analysis of hysteresis under extension and recovery routes is a difficult problem and there is no fundamental concept in any material science fields. This paper deals with the tensile load and strain relationship under extension and recovery processes to analyze considerable hysteresis of knitted fabrics according to our previous studies [13]. To pursue the analysis, the hysteresis is simply analyzed as a hypothesis associated with stress relaxation and the estimation is carried out by using hereditary integrals.

and recovery processes was obtained by using a strip biaxial tensile tester (KESG-2-SB1), according to the schematic diagram in Figure 1. As shown in Figure 1, the extension is carried out along one direction and the strain in the transverse direction is restricted to zero. That is, mode (a) is the extension and return processes in the warp direction (X1-axis) and mode (b), in the weft direction (X2-axis). The extension were done at 8.2%/s and fixed at a standard speed of KESG-2SB1. Hence the extended speed was fixed to be the same as the return speed. The compulsory return by automatic control was done immediately after the extension. To obtain accurate results, the measurements in one direction were taken five times by changing the fabric samples. The five

Experimental Details
Three kinds of knitted fabric were used as test specimens and their properties are listed in Table 1 [12]. Each fabric was cut into strips of 10 10 cm2. Among the three fabrics, two kinds of plain knitted fabric, which were termed as Specimen A and Specimen C, were of the same knitted structure. In Specimen A, polyurethane filaments were mixed as a double yarn together with a cotton yarn, while Specimen C was a single yarn fabric of cotton fibers. Specimen B had a 1 1 rib structure produced by mixed yarns of cotton and polynosic fibers. Using these three samples, the tensile load and strain relationship under extension

Figure 1 Schematic diagram of strip biaxial strain: mode (a) strain in the warp direction (X1-axis) and mode (b) strain in the weft direction (X2-axis).

Downloaded from http://trj.sagepub.com by Ngoc Nguyen Thi Thuy on October 28, 2009

Hysteresis of Tensile load Strain Route of Knitted Fabrics M. Matsuo and T. Yamada curves were confirmed to show mostly similar profiles. The inner stress within the knitted fabric changed from positive to negative and this tendency was considerable for Specimen B and Specimen C because of the compulsory return process of the tester. This mechanism will be discussed later in more detail. Incidentally, time dependence of tensile load, termed as load relaxation, was measured according to the previous method [2]. The instantaneous strain was applied along one direction and the strain in the transverse direction was restricted to zero.

277

TRJ

Results and Discussion

Time Dependence of Load by Instantaneous Constant Strain
In the previous paper [2], it may be concluded that when o an instantaneous constant strain e 11 along the X1 direction is applied to a knitted fabric at e22 = 0, as shown in mode (a) in Figure 1, the responded stress could be represented as a function of time. At e22 = 0: F 11 ( t ) = Y 11 ( t ) e 11 F 22 ( t ) = Y 21 ( t ) e 11
o o

Figure 2 Stress relaxation curves along warp direction, when instantaneous stress as shown in ode (a) in Figure is applied to Specimen A. The curve can be classified into two components. Upper side: experimental curve (1) a straight line (2), lower side: (1) to (2) becomes a straight line.

(1)

and at e11 = 0:
F 11 ( t ) = Y 12 ( t ) e 22 F 22 ( t ) = Y 22 ( t ) e 22
o o

(2)

where Yij are tensile load (stress) relaxation stiffness [2]. F11 and e11 are tensile load (stress) and strain, respectively, in the warp direction (X1-axis), while F22 and e22 are tensile load (stress) and strain in the weft direction (X2-axis). For fabrics, the tensile load is normalized by the fabric width, which is used as a special quantity instead of stress, because of the difficulty in measuring the cross-sectional area of fabrics. Figure 2 shows an example of the tensile load relaxation curve against time along the X1 direction, mode (a), measured for Specimen A. It is seen that the logarithmic curve of tensile load against time can be represented as the summation of two straight lines. Of course, the applied instantaneous strain must be limited to the regions assuring the linear relationship of the logarithmic plots of tensile load (stress) versus logarithmic values of strain, as discussed in terms of the application limit of the linearizing method

in [1, 2]. The similar tendency obtained for Specimen A was confirmed for the other fabrics (Specimens B and C). Such behavior suggests that the knitted fabrics were composed of two kinds of relaxation mechanism; the rapid mode and slow mode. If this is the case, the relaxation modulus is composed of rapid and slow relaxation mechanisms. Then the time dependence of load Yij(t) in equations (1) and (2) can be represented as Yij(t) = Aij exp(ij t) + Bij exp(ij t) (3)

Equation (3) is similar to the tensile load (stress) relaxation mode of visco-elastic bodies [2]. However, we must emphasize that equation (3) is a way of representing tensile load (stress) and the origin of time dependence is attributed to a number of unknown factors such as plastic deformation, slippage, and friction between yarns due to the complicated structure of knitted fabrics. Such a simple analysis has been successfully used to analyze tensile load (stress) relaxation mechanism of knitted fabrics [2]. Based on this concept, the hysteresis of tensile load (stress), the strain curves under extension, and recovery processes is estimated for the three knitted fabrics. In this paper, the

Downloaded from http://trj.sagepub.com by Ngoc Nguyen Thi Thuy on October 28, 2009

TRJ

278

Textile Research Journal 79(3) In equation (7), is the strain rate (speed) and t1 is the elapsing time up to strain 0. Thus: F(t) = (1 e
t

theoretical analysis is performed by using four parameters, Aij, Bij, ij, and ij, obtained experimentally by assuming the two relaxation modes of tensile load. The method was described elsewhere [2] in detail.

A B 0 - + ( 1 e t ) --- ---) -- t1

(8)

Tensile Load Relaxation Under Extension and Recovery Processes

The tensile load-strain curves under extension and recovery processes provided largely different routes with considerable hysteresis. The large difference is analyzed on the basis of the concept that the drastic decrease of tensile load is attributed to the tensile load (stress) relaxation mode. If the strain is due to time dependence described as a summation of step functions concerning strain history, tensile load (stress) under extension process can be represented by using the hereditary integral according to the Boltzmann superposition principle [16]. That is, the load (stress) at t may be described as the summation of load (stress) by step at t < t, since the load (stress) added at the arbitrary time must be dependent upon the strain history (t) at t < t. Thus, we have F ( t ) = 0 Y ( t ) + -dt Y ( t t ) ------dt
0
+

When t reached t1, the strain became 0 and the strain immediately decreased with the same constant speed . Such compulsory return process of the tester occurred beyond t > t1 and the strain became zero at 2t1. Accordingly, we have t t = 2 --- 0 1 where 0 t 1 = --- or t = 2 t 1 --- (10) or t t t 1 = 1 --- 0 1 (9)

= 0 Y ( t ) + [ Y ( t t ) ( t ) ]
t

t 0
+

-dt ( t ) ---------------------dt
0
+

dY(t t)

The parameters described in equations (9) and (10) can be obtained quantitatively by stress relaxation measurements. If the decrease of strain is described as a subtraction of step functions concerning strain history under compulsory recovery process of the tester (2t1 > t > t1), tensile load (stress) of the knitted fabric under the recovery process can be represented by using the hereditary integral. Then under the recovery process at t > t1, we have 0 t t - A e ( t t ) B e ( t t ) d t F ( t ) = ( A + B ) 0 --- + ------t1 0 t1
t1

= ( t )Y( 0 ) +

dY(t t) - dt ( t ) ---------------------d(t t) +

(4)

where d Y ( t t ) d t = d Y ( t t ) d ( t t ) The tensile load (stress) relaxation modulus for all the present knitted fabrics under the extension process was found to be represented by two relaxation modes (as shown in Figure 2) and then equation (3) can be given simply by omitting the suffix: Y ( t ) = A exp ( t ) + B exp ( t ) Substituting equation (5) into equation (4), we have 0 t 0 t - A e ( t t ) + B e ( t t ) d t (6) ( A + B ) ------F ( t ) = -----t1 t1 (5)

0 ( t t ) ( t t ) ---( t t1 ) + 0 A e Be d t (11) t 1 t1

After integration, equation (11) can be rewritten as A- ( t t ) ( t t ) e F(t) = (A + B) + Ae + ------ t1 A t B ( t t ) B t - e B e ( t t ) + ------e -e ------ ----- t1 t1 t1 A 1 1 - t --- e ( t t ) t 1 - --- t1 B 1 ( t t ) 1 - e --- t -- t 1 -t 1 ( t t ) ( t t ) + 2A1 e + 2B1 e 0

where t 1 = --v (7) (12)

Downloaded from http://trj.sagepub.com by Ngoc Nguyen Thi Thuy on October 28, 2009

Hysteresis of Tensile load Strain Route of Knitted Fabrics M. Matsuo and T. Yamada Substituting equations (9) and (10) into equation (12), we have F(t ) = F = ( KK 1 + KK 2 KK 3 + KK 4 + KK 5 + KK 6 ) 0 where A v 2 0 1 - ------- --- A ---- KK 1 = ------- 0 v 0 0 - 1 ---- exp ----------KK 2 = A 1 ------- v 0 0 B v 2 0 1 KK 3 = -------- -- B ---- ------ 0 v 0 0 v - 1 ---- exp ---------KK 4 = B 1 ------ 0 v 0 0 - 1 ---KK 5 = 2 A 1 exp ---------- v 0 0 - 1 ---KK 6 = 2 B 1 exp --------- v 0 F ( ) = ( KKK 1 + KKK 2 KKK 3 + KKK 4 + KKK 5 + KKK 6) 0 A v 2 0 1 - ------- --- A ---- KKK 1 = ------- 0 v 0
n

279

TRJ

(15)

(13)

(15-1)
n

(14-1)

0 - 1 ---- - exp ----------KKK 2 = A 1 ------- 0 v 0 B v 2 0 1 KKK 3 = -------- -- B ---- ------ 0 v 0

n

(15-2)

(15-3)
n

(14-2)

(14-3)

0 v - 1 ---- - exp ---------KKK 4 = B 1 ------v 0 0 0 - 1 ---- KKK 5 = 2 A 1 exp ----------v 0

n

(15-4)

(15-5)

(14-4) 0 - 1 ---- KKK 6 = 2 B 1 exp --------- v 0 (14-5) Figures 4(a), (b), and (c) show tensile load-strain curves for Specimen A, in which is the tilting angle from the X1 direction shown in Figure 1 and modes (a) and (b) in Figure 1 correspond to = 0 and 90, respectively. The calculations were carried out up to ca. 50 N/m, corresponding to small deformation and up to ca. 250 N/m, corresponding to large deformation. The theoretical curves are in good agreement with the experimental curves in the elongation and restricted sides, when a suitable value of n is selected. But there is no statistical rule for n-value to give the best fit. The same tendency can be observed for Specimen B elongated up to 250 N/cm, as shown in Figure 5. The negative load is thought to be due to the difference between the inner load (stress) relaxation speed within the knitted fabrics and the standard return speed of 8.2%/s of the tester (KESG-2-SB1). Namely the return speed of the tester is faster than the load (stress) relaxation within the knitted fabric. The negative load, however, cannot be estimated experimentally by a strip biaxial tensile tester (KESG-2-SB1). Even so, it was confirmed that in the later stages of the recovery process, the excess shrinkage of the knitted fabrics by the faster return speed of the tester makes waves perpendicular to the return direction of the tester, indicating occurrence of compression under the recovery process. The best fitting value of n at large deformation becomes larger than that at small deformation. There is obviously considerable plastic deformation with no elastic property leading to the slippage of filaments in the knitted
n

(15-6)

(14-6)

Figure 3 shows the experimental and theoretical curves estimated for Specimen A. The measurements were done in accordance with mode (a) in Figure 1. The experimental curves (solid curves) show considerable hysteresis under extension and return processes, even in small deformation processes but the theoretical curves (dotted curve) show that slight linearity and the hysteresis of the predicted curves were not significant. Even so, the theoretical curves indicate the possibility that the hysteresis can be realized by hereditary integral under extension and recovery processes. To give the best fit between experimental and theoretical curves, the modified linearizing method is used in this paper. Namely, as discussed elsewhere [1, 17, 18], the load-strain curve of woven and knitted fabrics showed a similarly shaped nonlinear curve regardless of the magnitude of extension. It has been found empirically that the n tensile curves can be approximated as F = Y e [1, 17, 18]. In this paper, the same concept is adopted as in the present system. If this is the case, equations (13) and (14) may be rewritten as

Downloaded from http://trj.sagepub.com by Ngoc Nguyen Thi Thuy on October 28, 2009

TRJ

280

Textile Research Journal 79(3)

Figure 3 Experimental (solid) and theoretical (dotted) tensile loadstrain curves in the small and large deformation regions estimated for Specimen A. The measurement was done in accordance with mode (a) in Figure 1 and theoretical calculation was carried out by using equation (13).

fabric. Incidentally, the negative load of the theoretical curve for Specimen B due to the compression under recovery process was shown to be zero. Figures 6 shows tensile load-strain curves observed for Specimen C elongated up to 250 N/cm along = 0, 45, and 90, in which the negative tensile load of the theoretical curve was shown as zero to compare with the corresponding experimental curve. Surprisingly, for Specimen C, the calculated curves in the extension and recovery processes gave the best fit with the experimental curves, when the calculations were done by using n = 2.8. The value of n in the elongation side was also equal to those in the restricted sides. This means that plain knitted fabric (with no polyurethane

filament) takes a simple systematic deformation mode concerning yarn friction and compression and then the hypothesis represented by hereditary integral satisfies the hysteresis behavior under extension and recovery processes. Returning to Figure 5, the best fit did not realize at the same value of n for Specimen B with 1 1 rib structure produced by mixed yarns of cotton and polynosic fibers and the range of n to give the best fit was 1.8 to 3 except for the curves at 90. This means that the region of the fitting values is narrower than that for Specimen A with polyurethane filaments mixed as a double yarn together with a cotton yarn, as shown in Figure 4. The values of n under the recovery process are mostly higher than those under

Downloaded from http://trj.sagepub.com by Ngoc Nguyen Thi Thuy on October 28, 2009

Hysteresis of Tensile load Strain Route of Knitted Fabrics M. Matsuo and T. Yamada

281

TRJ

Figure 4 Tensile load-strain curves in the extended and recovery sides along (a) = 0, (b) 45, and (c) 90 directions measured for Specimen A, in which experimental and theoretical curves are shown as solid and dotted curves, respectively. Theoretical calculation was done by equation (15).

Downloaded from http://trj.sagepub.com by Ngoc Nguyen Thi Thuy on October 28, 2009

TRJ

282

Textile Research Journal 79(3)

Figure 5 Tensile load-strain curves in the extended and restricted sides along = 0, 45, and 90 directions measured for Specimen B, in which experimental and theoretical curves are shown as solid and dotted curves, respectively. Theoretical calculation was done by equation (15).

Downloaded from http://trj.sagepub.com by Ngoc Nguyen Thi Thuy on October 28, 2009

Hysteresis of Tensile load Strain Route of Knitted Fabrics M. Matsuo and T. Yamada

283

TRJ

Figure 6 Tensile load-strain curves in the extended and restricted sides along = 0, 45, and 90 directions measured for Specimen C, in which experimental and theoretical curves are shown as solid and dotted curves, respectively. Theoretical calculation was done by equation (15).

the extension process for Specimens A and B. The difference is thought to be due to an increase of plastic deforma-

tion under extension process. Hence the load corresponding to the strain under the recovery process becomes much

Downloaded from http://trj.sagepub.com by Ngoc Nguyen Thi Thuy on October 28, 2009

TRJ

284

Textile Research Journal 79(3)

lower than the load at the same strain under the extension process. That is, the value of n becomes larger to realize the drastic decrease in load by small recovery strain. Even so, the present hypothesis represented by the hereditary integral was useful to explain the hysteresis phenomenon of knitted fabrics under extended and recovery processes, since the theoretical curve gave the good fit to the experimental curve in the elongation and restricted sides. The further merit of the present hypothesis gave the better fitting curve up to high extension in comparison with the simple linearizing method discussed elsewhere [1, 17, 18]. Namely, the calculated curves represented by a n simple formulation F = Y e , were in good agreement with the experimental ones in the small deformation region, but the deviation became considerable with increasing strain. In this paper, the four parameters, Aij, Bij, ij, and ij, among five parameters can be obtained experimentally and only one parameter, n, is determined by parameter fitting.

Literature Cited
1. Yamada, T., Ito, N., and Matsuo, M., Mechanical Properties of Knitted Fabrics under Uniaxial and Strip Biaxial Extension as Estimated by a Linearizing Method, Text. Res. J., 73, 985 (2003). Matsuo, M., Yamada, T., and Ito, N., Stress Relaxation behavior of Knitted Fabrics under Uniaxial and Strip Excitation as Estimated by Corresponding Principle between Elastic and Visco-Elastic Bodies. Text. Res. J., 76, 465 (2006). Yamada, T., and Matsuo, M., Effect of a Polyurethane Filament on Mechanical Properties of Plain Stitch Fabrics. Text, Res. J. (in press). Kawabata, S., Nonlinear Mechanics of Woven and Knitted Materials Textile Structural Composites, Chou, T.-W., and Ko, F. K. eds, Elsevier, 1090, 67116. Kawabata, S., Inoue, M., and Niwa, M., Theoretical Analysis of the Non-Linear Deformation Properties of a Triaxial Weave under Biaxial Stress Fields. Composite Sci. Tech., 5, 261 (1996). Bassett, R., and Postle, R., Experimental Methods for Measuring Fabric Mechanical Properties: A Review and analysis, Text. Res. J., 69, 866 (1999). Choi, M.-S., and Ashdown, S. P., Effect of Changes in Knit Structure and Density on the Mechanical and Hand Properties of Weft-Knitted Fabrics for Outwear. Text. Res. J., 70, 1033 (2000). Grosberg, P., The Mechanical Properties of Woven Fabrics, Part 2: The Bending of Woven Fabrics, Text. Res. J., 36, 205 (1966). Hearle, J. W. S., Grosberg, P., and Backer, S., Structural Mechanics of Fabrics, Yarns and Fibers, Vol. 1, Wiley-Interscience, New York, 1969. Hong, H, de Araujo, M. D., Fangueiro, R., and Ciobanu, O., Theoretical Analysis of Load-Extension Properties of Plain Weft Knits Made from High Performance Yarns for Composite Reinforcement, Text. Res. J., 72, 991 (2002). Siomeri, A., and Drean, J. Y., Mechanical Behavior on the Plain Weave Structure Using Energy Methods Fabric Uniaxial Extension. Text. Res. J., 67, 370 (1997). Jeon, B. S., and Chun, S. Y., Structural and Mechanical Properties of Woven Fabrics Employing Peirces Model. Text. Res. J., 73, 929 (2003). Hui, C. L., and Ng, S. F., Theoretical Analysis of Tension and Pressure Decay of a Tubular Elastic Fabrics, Text. Res. J., 73, 268 (2003). Sajn, D., Gersak, J., and Flajs, R., Prediction of Stress Relaxation of Fabrics with Increased Elasticity. Text. Res. J., 76, 742 (2006). Choi, K. F., and Lo, T. Y., The Shape and Dimensions of Plain Knitted Fabric: A Fabric Mechanical Model. Text. Res. J., 76, 777 (2006) Flugge, W., Viscoelesticity, Blaisdell Publishing Company, A division of Grinn and Company, (1967). Kageyama, M., Kawabata, S., and Niwa, M., The Validity of a Linearizing Method for Predicting the Biaxial Extension Properties of fabrics. J. Text. Inst. 79, 543 (1988). Kawabata, S., Niwa, M., Imamura, A., Inoue, M., and Yamashita, Y., Validity of the Linearizing Method for Describing the Biaxial Stress-Strain Relationship of Textiles, in Proceedings of the UMIST International Conference of Textiles, Engineered for Performance. Manchester, U.K., 1998, pp. 111.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Conclusion
We have analyzed tensile load-strain route showing hysteresis at elongation and restricted sides by using a new linearizing method in terms of tensile load (stress) relaxation as a function of time. In the present theory, the strains under extension and recovery processes were assumed to be described as an addition and subtraction of step functions concerning strain history under extension and recovery processes, respectively. Accordingly, tensile load was represented by using the hereditary integral on the basis of the Boltmann superposition principle. The experiment was done by strip biaxial extension corresponding to uniaxial extension with the fixed dimension in the direction perpendicular to stretching. The measurements were done in the weft (0), warp (90), and shear (45) directions. When the numerical calculation was done by using n = 2.8, the theoretical curves gave the best fit with the experimental ones for Specimen C with the simple systematic knitted structure in three directions ( = 0, 45, and 90) and the best fit could be realized in elongation and restricted sides. On the other hand, the good fit between theoretical and experimental curves for Specimens A and B with complicated knitted structures could be realized up to a large deformation region by selecting a suitable value of n. This means that in comparison with the simple linearizing method by Kawabata et al., the present linearizing method provided a very good fit up to the large deformation region. This indicated that the present hypothesis represented by the hereditary integral plays an important role in explaining the hysteresis phenomenon of knitted fabrics under extended and recovery processes. However, the proposed concept is, at present, only a hypothesis and further studies must be taken into consideration.

7.

8. 9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16. 17.

18.

Downloaded from http://trj.sagepub.com by Ngoc Nguyen Thi Thuy on October 28, 2009