Abstract
The mechanical properties of silk fabrics composed of silk fibers grafted with methacryl amide (MAA), using a post-irradiation grafting technique were studied with a view to utilizing the MAA-grafted silk fabrics as materials suitable for thick suit-fabrics. The present paper describing MAA-grafted silk fabrics may contribute to meet the growing demand for silk and at the same time provide information for the improvement of the current technique of grafting. The physical properties which mainly include the mechanical properties, such as tensile linearity (LT), bending rigidity (B), shearing stiffness (G), shearing hysteresis (2HB), compression test and surface test of the silk fabrics were determined and compared to those of the control silk fabrics. The silk fabric became soft and bulky in proportion to the air quantity ratio and the internal volume of the silk fabrics by using the MAA-grafted fibers. The mean value of the coefficient of friction (MIU) of the silk fabric increased by using MAA-grafted silk fibers. Total hand values, obtained by using a transformation formura (Kawabata, 1980) of the physical properties to the numerical values of hand-feeling, showed that the properties of MAA-grafted silk fabrics are suitable for the manufacture of autumn-winter man's suit-fabrics.
