Abstract
The resistances along and through a fabric have been shown experimentally to be the main factors in determining the rate of leakage of charge from the electrified fabric along and through the structure, respectively, provided that the capacitance is maintained constant. Discharge approximates to a simple exponential decay with time so that a time constant, τ, may be assigned. Over a range of textile fabrics τ may vary by a factor of 105. It is found, somewhat unexpectedly, that, for a given fabric, τ is of a similar order of magnitude for discharge along and through the structure. This is attributed to an approximate balancing of resistance and capacitance factors in the two cases. Rather surprisingly, it is found that the time constant, τ, is proportional to R0–86 where R is the resistance to earth, and no convincing explanation of this fact has been evolved. It is concluded that the anti-static rating of a textile fabric is best (and most simply) characterized by a determination of surface-resistivity.

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