Cut resistance of textile fabrics — A theoretical and an experimental approach

Abstract

A simplified mathematical model to predict the cutting behaviour of textile fabrics has been developed. It has been tried to identify the forces involved in cutting a material with a reciprocating knife and also to derive an expression for the sliding distance, which is a measure of the cut resistance of the material. A series of 100% cotton woven fabrics with varying pick density and weave pattern (plain, matt, twill and honeycomb) and another series of fabrics with high performance fibres have been studied for their cut resistance properties. The plain weave has the maximum cut resistance, while the minimum cut resistance is exhibited by the honey comb weave. The cut resistance increases with the increase in picks/inch of the fabric. The study shows a very high cut resistance of the monofilament fabrics and the least cut resistance for para-aramid fabric along the warp direction, while the least cut resistance along the weft direction is exhibited by the HDPE fabric.