Abstract

Weaving is the most versatile means of fabric formation. During the weaving process, it is essential to maintain a stationary cloth fell to ensure fabric quality despite cyclic variation in warp tension due to shedding, beat-up, take-up and let-off actions. Though many attempts have been made by researchers to model cloth-fell movement, these attempts were made under assumptions that may not be realistic due to the complex tension profile of the warp and hence could not provide high accuracy. A mathematical model explaining the relationship between the initial warp tension and the cloth-fell movement with a high level of accuracy has been developed by considering material properties such as elastic moduli, shed parameters, shed geometry, loom parameters and slay-mechanism parameters. The model has been validated using experimental results obtained with an accuracy of ± 0.15 mm that statistically demonstrated that no difference exists between the experimental and theoretical results at a 95% confidence level. The model developed can help even an inexperienced loom operator set the initial warp tension to acceptably control cloth-fell movement, which determines the quality of the woven fabric; hence, these findings have significant industrial implications.