FBRI Field Trip 9/18/12

Fiber and Biopolymer Research Institute Field Trip

This part of the field trip was interesting to me because we got to see the whole process that fabrics go through when they are being tested. They had so many machines at the Research Institute, and some were even valued at $275,000.00! As consumers, we do not realize what our clothes and other textile goods have gone through before they have landed in our hands. It was interesting to see the process first hand and to see the researchers and machines in action! Our tour guides were informative and the researchers eagerly answered our questions even though they were hard at work.

The Martindale Abrasion Tester can test any fabric for its abrasion resistance. The number of rubs is programmed into the machine and will stop upon completion of that number.

Breaking Force and Elongation of Textile Fabrics machines. These machines determine how much force is necessary to break or burst a fabric. They determine the effective strength of the fabric. I sure would not want to be caught up in this machine!

The Tearing Strength Elmendorf Method

This machine determines the tearing force of a fabric. It imitates real life instances where fabrics are subject to a sudden amount of force. The knife lever sliced it super fast!

The High Volume Instrument Machine (HVI) can test a bale of cotton in just 1 minute! It tests the length and strength of the fibers.

This machine counts the size of the yarn, weighs it, then breaks it to show the strength of the yarn.

The AFIS machine takes an in-depth measurement of the fibers. It takes 3 minutes to get a reading!

All in all, it was a super interesting and informative trip to the Fibers and Biopolymer Research institute! There is a lot of "behind the scenes" research that I had not expected, and it was neat to see all of the different machines and what each one did.