Textile Testing and Quality Control in Knitting

This chapter summarizes the quality aspects of knitted fabrics and their testing methods. The knitted fabrics can be produced by a variety of methods. They are suitable for consumer as well as technical applications. Accordingly, their suitability and end-use performance parameters are determined. The chapter gives an overview of the various methods of characterization used for the evaluation of performance parameters in weft- and warp-knitted fabrics. Knitted textile fabrics have superior thermal and acoustic characteristics compared to conventional woven structures, foams, or nonwoven structures due to their wonderful pattern and porous nature. Hence, this chapter describes the influence of different structural parameters of knitted fabrics, e.g., areal density, porosity, thickness, stitch density, etc. on thermo-physiological and acoustic performance. This chapter also discusses the influence of material parameters and structural characteristics on the acoustic properties of knitted fabrics. Advanced statistical evaluation and two-way analysis of variance are used to analyze the significance of various factors such as thickness, type of knitted yarn, surface structures, and raw materials on specific properties. These details are important requirements for designing knitted fabrics suitable for consumer and technical applications.