An Explanation of the Non‐unique Behaviour of a Textile Probe in the Drape Experiment ‐ Numerical Stability Analysis

The paper proves, that the ambiguous behaviour of a textile probe in the drape experiment is connected with many possible equilibrium states. This experiment is usually used for the evaluation of the drapeability of textiles. We treat a textile surface in our mathematical model as a two‐dimensional Cosserat continuum, which equilibrium equations can be easily formulated. To solve the boundary value problem, which assures equilibrium, we use the finite element method in connection with the arc‐length method. This strategy allows us to trace the highly non‐linear behaviour of the system. This nonlinearity is responsible for the non‐unique behaviour of a textile probe in drape. In our investigation we calculate some of the possible final configurations of a round textile probe supported on the round table. Such configurations can be observed in the drape experiment.