A study on the needle heating in heavy industrial sewing: Part 2: finite element analysis and experiment verification

This is the second part of our study on needle heating in heavy industrial sewing. In this part, a finite element analysis (FEA) model is presented. Using a commercial FEA software system, ANSYS, the needle is modeled by a number of 3D bar elements and the sewing process is modeled by a series of time and space dependent boundary conditions. The model considers various important factors such as the needle geometry (including the point angle and point length of the needle), the friction between the needle and the fabric, the friction between the needle eye and the thread, the fabrics’ material property, and the sewing conditions. It can predict needle heating in high accuracy. In order to validate the model, a large number of experiments were conducted, in which the needle temperatures were measured using infrared radiometry. It is found that the simulation results match the experiment results very well. Finally, a number of suggestions to reduce the needle heating are presented.