A CSIRO Inter-laboratory Trial of the KES-F for Measuring Fabric Properties

Results of an international round trial on the Kawabata Evaluation System for Fabrics (KES–F) that involved six major research organizations are reported. The precision data in terms of the repeatability (within laboratory) and the reproducibility (between laboratories) of all sixteen parameters measured by the KES–F system are presented. The recommended number of replicates and the corresponding critical difference for all parameters are given for three main applications, namely, within–laboratory comparison, between–laboratories comparison, and comparison with a specification. The general conclusion drawn from the precision data obtained in this trial is that the repeatability of the KES–F system is acceptable for in–house product development and process evaluation. However, poor reproducibility between laboratories restricts its use for between–laboratories comparison and for commercial specification. The need to standardize the KES–F test methods is apparent.