The drape and bending of woven fabrics with a plain seam

The existing theoretical and experimental work on fabric drape and bending has been mainly restricted to fabric without seam. Practically, investigation of fabric drape and its relation to fabric mechanical properties could be more realistic with the consideration of seams. The drape study with the aid of seam effect can better approach the end-use materials in adaptation of the needs in the real world. Presently, only a few papers have been found and have contributed limited findings in this area. From this scatter information, it has been found that the drape of fabric decreases when a vertical seam is introduced on a fabric. This paper is further the investigation on the drape of Peirce's cantilever with a vertical seam. Various woven fabrics with different seam allowances are adopted in the experiments. Experimental results are verified and compared in terms of bending moments. A physical model is established to demonstrate the drape and bending properties of a fabric stripe with a vertical seam. The drape and bending effects of a fabric stripe with a vertical seam can be explained by the mechanical theory of the second moment area.