Prediction of Dimensional Changes in Circular Knitted Cotton Fabrics

Cotton fiber continues to be the most important textile fiber in the world; however, in contrast to its excellent attributes of comfort, knit fabrics produced in cotton have a high degree of dimensional instability. In this study, a knowledge database of the relaxation process of cotton knit fabrics, during all phases of their production up to the finished textile, has been developed. To obtain cotton knit fabrics with dimensional stability, apart from controlling the manufacturing process, a development system is required which simulates all of the process variables. This can be used to select the characteristics of the raw material, machines and processes which best attend to the quality needs of the client. This procedure allows the final quality of the product to be determined in advance without the need to generate costs and wastages with experimental lots.