Stretch & Shear

Stretching is one of the material deformation types most relevant for fabrics. Stretching typically occurs during the garment wearing caused by forces applied by a human body. Tight fitting garments experience more stretching in comparison to loose fitting. The ability of a fabric to stretch is based on the fabric composition; using elastic fibers such as Elastane causes higher stretchability. The fabric production method also affects the ability to stretch, e.g. looping method utilized for the knit fabrics production increases the stretchability of the fabric.

The Stretch and Shear properties are historically used through Optitex products describing the ability of the fabric to resist stretching.

The Stretch property is defined to warp and weft directions; the Shear property describes the stretching resistance in the bias direction. These properties enable you to simulate the fabric behavior in a realistic manner when various forces are applied to different parts of a garment.