Quantifying sensorial benefits

Monday, May 1, 2023

12:00 PM – 12:20 PM MDT

Room: 405

Presenting Author(s)

ZZ

Zhenyu Jason Zhang

Professor of Soft Matter Engineering
University of Birmingham
Birmingham, United Kingdom

Co-Author(s)

LK

Laure Kyriazis

Research Engineer
University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
PF

Peter Fryer

Professor of Chemical Engineering
University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
AM

Alberto Martinez

Senior Scientist
Procter & Gamble Brussel Innovation Centre, Belgium
CA

Carlos Amador

Principle Scientist
Procter & Gamble Newcastle Innovation Centre, United Kingdom

Abstract: Tactile perception of fabrics is controlled by the physico-chemical properties of fabric, such as material characteristics, treatment by actives. However, conventional frictional methods do not provide a complete understanding of the sensorial properties given by different fabric treatments.
In the present work, a novel approach that combines acoustic emission (AE) in high frequencies and frictional data was developed and validated, which shows that AE provides a more sensitive and practical route for implementation. A satisfactory correlation was established between the Root Mean Square (RMS) of the acoustic signal and the Coefficient of Friction (COF) acquired upon the sliding movement of a human finger on treated fabrics, the use of softener reducing both the COF and the RMS.
This method shows great potential to measure in-situ skin friction that underpins tactile perception, which could be relevant to the development of not only personal care products, but biomedical devices.