Optimal Pick-up Locations for Transport and Handling of Limp Materials

Abstract

I am gratefull to the National Textile Center for supporting this research through a grant and the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering for supporting me initially through a Teaching Assistantship. I would like to acknowledge the excellent computing, support and training facilities at the North Carolina Supercomputing Center (NCSC). The results in this thesis could not have been obtained without the computing resources at NCSC. I thank Claudia Deaton, Apparel Lab, College of Textiles for helping me with the measurement of fabric material properties and Shelly Cooper, Medcovers for providing fabric samples. Finally, I thank my parents, sister and brother for thier support and encouragement throughout my graduate studies. iv Contents List of Figures viii List of Tables xi