Dynamic Drape Behavior of Textile Fabric: Part I - Development of an Instrument and Its Implications

There are instruments available to measure the drape coefficient of fabric. The most widely accepted method (IS 8357:1977) is hang a circular fabric sample and measure the drape coefficient. This measurement technique gives quite a bit of fair idea about drape coefficient of a fabric in static condition. But when it’s static condition is disturbed as the case in practical application of fabric in the form of using as garment or in the form of any domestic application like using it as curtain or table cloth, it’s shape of fabric fall pattern i.e nodes in term of drape terminology changes. Therefore, to get some idea about the effect of above mentioned static condition to dynamic condition of the fabric, a need was felt to have some sort of simulation. Here simulation might not be possible exactly to the practical condition, but one can think of some sort of simulation, similar to it and find out the effect of the same on drape properties of fabric. Therefore, it was thought that some simple, inexpensive, easy to handle instrument would be developed to measure the dynamic drape coefficient of fabric. The present work is the result of the same. Keyword:drape, drape coefficient, instrument, dynamic drape, simulation