Influence of Time, Temperature and Pressure on the Creasing of Wool/Polyester Blended Fibers

: Studies investigating the response of a natural/synthetic blended material to variations of time, temperature and pressure with respect to induced deformations have been carried out. Such a material is interesting due to its complexity of responses which are dependent on the nature of each fiber. The study’s sample was a wool/polyester blend with a 45/55 composition respectively. This combination is a common material and is resistant to deformations. The application of a quantitative systematic approach provides substantial correlation between combinations of conditions that would not be evident in a more common qualitative approach. Strict adherence to a quantitative method makes this investigation more informative than existing research literature. Pressure and temperature ranges corresponded to values associated with clothing presses. The deformations were evaluated by examining the crease formed and associating a corresponding crease value. Analysis of the crease values and parameters established a clear correlation between the conditions and the resulting crease values. This case study shows that time and temperature are key factors in the creasing of materials, with pressure slight less influential in determining the maximum deformation possible. A regression model was determined to predict the resulting “crease angle” as a function of these parameters, representing 87% of the variance of the results. This experimental methodology can be generalized and applied to alternate fabrics to adapt the corresponding model.