EFFECT OF LOOP LENGTH ON STRUCTURAL PARAMETERS OF COTTON SINGLE FABRIC KNITTED ON SHIMA SEIKI FLAT KNITTING MACHINE

Abstract

Knitted loop is the most basic unit of a knitted fabric. The loop length is an important parameter, which could be set directly on the knitting machine in order to get the right fabric structural parameters as designed. Therefore, the research on the change of the fabric structural parameters according to the loop length is very necessary for the knitting technology design. The aim of this work is to determine the effect of loop length on some structural parameters of the Single fabric knitted from cotton yarn (Nm6) on the Shima Seiki flat knitting machine (machine gauge of 7). The results showed that when the loop length increased by 6.3% (from 7.25 to 7.71mm), the wale density of the grey fabric decreased by 5.6%, the course density of the grey fabric decreased by 7.1%, the wale density of the finished fabric decreased by 5.4% and the course density of the finished fabric decreased by 6.3%. Besides, the thickness of the grey fabric increased a little (2.7%) while the
thickness of the finished fabric was nearly unchanged. After the finishing process, the grey fabric shrunk in both the wale and the course directions, especially in the course direction (12.5 ÷ 13.3%). The thickness of fabric increased by 6 ÷ 8% after the finishing process.