Kawabata Evaluation Centre

Objectives :
* Kes-F is a systematic method of measuring the mechanical and surface properties of
fabrics using very sensitive testing devices developed by Dr. Sueo Kawabata, Head of
Polymer Chemistry at Kyoto University.
Kes-F contains four machine :
*
Tensile & Shear Tester : This instrument measures tensile strength by pulling the
fabric in the direction of the yarn. It also measures shear strength by pulling on the
fabric at various angles to the direction of the yarn, causing the individual yarns to pull
against one another as they would under normal use of the finished garments.
*
Pure Bending Teste r : In the bending force test, a fabric sample is mounted through a
narrow slit and then the sample is bent, with which we can have precise values of
bending rigidity and bending moment.
*
Compression Tester : In this instrument, a probe exerts force on a fabric sample to
determine its energy of compression.
* Surface - Friction Tester : In this instrument, the co-efficient of friction is determined by
passing a metal probe over a mounted swatch of fabric. The second probe measures
geometrical roughness.
Evaluation :
After testing all the parameters on Kes-F instrument, the instrument measure 16
properties. For woven fabric that would include 16 properties for warp and weft for a
total of 32 properties.
End-Use :
We have different fabric-categories given below, we help of them we can evaluate the
sample depend upon the end use of the fabric.
 • Men’s Suiting for Winter and summer

• Men’s Jacket for Winter and summer

• Men’s Slacks for Winter and summer

• Women’s Suitings for Winter and summer

• Women’s Thin Dress Fabrics

• Lady Filament

• Men’s Dress Shirt for Winter and summer

• Knitted Fabrics for Outerwear for Winter and summer

• Knitted Fabrics for Underwear for Winter and summer

Conclusions :
After full set of testing, we put all value in above equations depend upon the end-use
of fabric and the calculation software automatically calculate fabric properties from the raw-
data given by the instrument and we can get primary handle values on 1 to 10 scale. 1 rating
indicates poor result and 10 rating indicates excellent result.
Primary Handle Value:
Japanese term English Equivalent
Koshi Stiffness
Shari Crispness
Fukurami Fullness & Softness
Numeri Smoothness
Hari Spreading / Antidrape

After corelating all the primary handle value by calculation software we can get one more
parameter namely, Total Handle Value (T.H.V), which is rated on 1 to 5 scale. 1 rating indicates
poor result and 5 rating indicates excellent result. So with the help of final parameter T.H.V we
could obtain the behavior of fabric in totality.

Use of Kawabata :
* To Engineer the Fabric

* Fabric Finishing

* Apparel Automation

* Quality Control
Thermo Lab-II :
These are additional instrument with Kes-F System to analyse
* Thermal Insulation
* Warm-cool Feeling
* Thermal Conductivity
Type of Services Provided :
We are testing the fabric samples on Kes-F Instruments, Thermolabo-II and shear and Tensile
Fatigue tester to evaluate different properties of fabric.
Contact Person :
C. S.Vora
Kawabata Laboratory
Any Specific Remarks :
* Minimum Fabric Length required for testing all the parameters is one square meter.

* Please send the samples with warp & weft marking.

* For Kawabata Evaluation, Please mention the end -use of fabric i.e. in which category
handle value should be evaluated, whether it is for winter -suiting/shirting, summer-
suiting/shirting or dress material or women's thin dress/suit/filament or knit
outerwear/innerwear.
* These information is required because the testing conditions have to be set up
differently as per the end-use.

* For Thermal Insulation, the sample size should be 25cm*25cm and Please specify the
testing condition if any i.e. hot plate temperature (normally 35°c), velocity of air
(normally 30 cm/s but we can set upto maximum air velocity 1.3 m/s).

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