A new approach to de‐curling force of single jersey weft‐knitted fabric

In this work, the curling behavior of cotton single jersey weft‐knitted fabric was studied using a new non‐destructive test method. Eighteen series of dry‐relaxed weft‐knitted fabric samples were produced with three different yarn twist levels (724.5 tpm, 807 tpm, and 890 tpm), two yarn twist directions (Z and S), and three different loop lengths (2.7 mm, 2.85 mm, and 3.2 mm). Curling behavior was characterized in terms of curling distance (CD), de‐curling force, and de‐curling energy. The results show that weft‐knitted fabric samples with a lower loop length and higher yarn twist level exhibited higher de‐curling force and de‐curling energy. It is indicated that the de‐curling force of weft‐knitted fabric samples produced from the Z‐twist cotton ring‐spun yarn is higher than that of the samples produced from the S‐twist cotton ring‐spun yarn. The regression analysis results also illustrate that de‐curling force and de‐curling energy are non‐linearly correlated with edge CD, and variation trends follow polynomial equations. The result of this research suggests that the curling behavior of weft‐knitted fabric can be predicted in terms of de‐curling properties.