Tactile Sensing Evaluation of Fabrics by Human Forefinger

Using a versatile friction tester, a human forefinger was slid against six kinds of plain weave fabrics. The fabric materials were cotton, cupra, nylon, silk, polyester and wool. Fifteen student men cooperated as an examinee in this test. Main aim of the test is to study the relationship between the characteristics feature of tactile sensing based on semantic differential method and the frictional characteristics. To this end, multivariate analysis method was employed. The results are summarized as follows : 1) In the range of the finger press force of 0.5 - 2N, the mean frictional coefficient was independent of the finger press force, of which Amonton-Coulomb's law of friction held. 2) The mean friction coefficient of silk averaged over 15 examinees was as high as 1.05, while that of nylon was as low as 0.70. 3) The human factor was appreciable for the frictional behavior ; i.e., for almost half of the examinees, the frictional signals of both cotton and cupra showed the stick-slip phenomena, but the rests were not. The mean friction coefficient of the finger/fabrics depended on the difference of finger characteristics of individuals. For some of the examinees, the friction coefficient was independent of the kind of fabrics. 4) The lower friction coefficient of the fabrics was recoded in the lower room temperature. 5) Based on the multivariate analysis of the touch sensory test results, the stick-slip type frictional characteristics of cotton and cupra is discussed in relation to the human factor.