Seam Strength and Washability of Silver Coated Polyamide Yarns

Seam strength has a huge impact on the durability of the garment. Conductive yarn usage in a stitching while development the e-textile structures is often used to connect electronic modules to sensors and actuators. Most common conductive yarn, used for the joining of e-textile products, is silver coated polyamide yarn. In this standpoint, chosen woven fabric stitched with silver coated polyamide yarn and seam strength was measured in both directions, weft, and warp and seam efficiency was calculated. Moreover, washing procedure was applied to the stitched samples to investigate the changing behavior of mechanical strength and electrical conductivity through the washing. Durability of the e-textiles is one of the key factors of maintaining the product through the washing. In this perspective, mechanical performances of the seam were tested together with the washing and electrical resistance values of the seam were recorded. After the washing procedure, seam elongation was decreased for both warp and weft directions. As expected, washing cycle has a negative effect on the silver coated yarns thus, some signal damage was recorded. However, electrical conductivity of the silver coated yarns is not totally destroyed after the gentle washing cycle.