A new test method to measure the compressibility of spacer fabrics

Spacer fabric is a three-dimensional structure that obtained by the connection of two parallel fabric surfaces with the connection threads. Spacer fabrics are widely used for their several functional advantages that they provide unlike conventional fabrics. Compressibility is one of the important functional parameters for these fabric structures. The compressibility values of the spacer fabrics are measured based on the ISO 3386-1 standard. However, this standard is used for structures that have non-axial shear during compression such as foam, sponge and so on. It is thought that this standard is not suitable for spacer fabric structures due to the shear deformation which occurs during the measurement of compressibility. For this purpose, as in accordance with spacer fabrics end-use area, a new test system been proposed to measure of compressibility that prevents shear during the test. Thus, it is aimed to prevent the shear deformation and the deviant results obtained during the test. Within the scope of the study, the compressibility properties of spacer fabric structures, which have undergone different thicknesses and different finishing processes, were measured according to both ISO 3386-1 and the new proposed test method. When the results were compared, it was observed that the results obtained in the new proposed test setup were higher and the difference between the measured results according to both test methods was statistically significant for α = 0.05.