Investigation of fabric drape-flexural rigidity relation: modified fabric drape coefficient

The drape is an important characteristic of textile fabrics. Several studies have been concerned with the mechanism of fabric drapability and the methods of its measurements. In this study, a new drape coefficient ‘DCM’, evaluating the shape of the fabric drape, is defined in terms of the drape projection, the shape and the number of the folds and the drape angle. The drape of fabric samples with different weft densities and weaves structures was tested. The new formula to express the drape coefficient, taking into consideration the fabric flexural rigidity, was developed. The analysis of the experimental results indicated that the modified drape coefficient is highly correlated with fabric flexure rigidity and other fabric structure properties than the other known formulas.