International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 5, Issue 3, March-2014 69
ISSN 2229-5518
Effect of polyester cross-section on moisture management properties of knitted fabrics
G. Sai Sangurai, Dr.Y.C.Radhalakshmi, Dr.V.Subramaniam
Woven or knitted fabrics from polyester yarn are used extensively in apparel and home furnishings. Since synthetic material is perceived by many as having a less natural feel, it is texturized or blended with other natural fibers to provide specific advantages. One such usage nowadays is sportswear having polyester and lycra. Fabrics used for sportswear should transfer the sweat and transport through and across the fabric.
Water (sweat) absorption determines the capacity and rate of a fabric to mop up the liquid sweat generated by the skin. W icking determines the capacity and rate of the fabric to transport absorbed sweat away from the point of a contact with the skin. Such fabrics with excellent moisture management properties are claimed to have quick drying rates and the significant movement of moisture away from the skin with excellent breathability. None of the fibres alone can make ideal sportswear. The ideal sportswear can be made either by filament structure modification or blended with the other fibres.
Also cross-sectional area of the polyester filament and the lycra content play a vital role in transfer the moisture away from the skin surface to the atmosphere.
In this work, rib knitted structures having two different cross-sections polyester filament and lycra were examined for Moisture Management properties.
Rib knitted fabrics were made using polyester filament and Lycra(40 D). fabric specifications of them were given in Table 1.
Structure | Sample code | Polyester cross-section | WPI | CPI | Thickness (mm) | Gsm | Loop length |
Full plated Rib | R2 | Circular | 27 | 47 | 0.083 | 208 | 3.1 |
Full plated Rib | R5 | Trilobal | 30 | 46 | 0.084 | 215 | 3.1 |
Half plated Rib | R8 | Circular | 23 | 37 | 0.065 | 149 | 3.1 |
Half plated Rib | R11 | Trilobal | 23 | 42 | 0.076 | 165 | 3.1 |
For the study of Moisture Management Transport Properties of polyester/lycra stretch yarn knitted fabric, these rib knitted fabrics were dry-relaxed by keeping on flat surface for ten days. On each sample the wetting time, Absorption rate, Maximum wetted radius, spreading speed, accumulative one-way transport index and overall moisture management capacity (OMMC), were measured under the standard AATCC 195-2011.
The results obtained by this method are based on the wicking behavior of the yarn and the internal structure.
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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 5, Issue 3, March-2014 70
ISSN 2229-5518
Ribs knitted samples produced were tested by using MMT tester, SDL Atlas under the standard AATCC 195.
Absorption rate is defined as the average speed of liquid moisture absorption for the top and bottom surfaces of the specimen during the initial change of water content during a test. Maximum wetted radius is defined as the greatest ring radius measured on the top and bottom surfaces.
Wetting time and absorption rate of the samples were tabulated in Table 2 and the graphical representation of the same was shown in graph 1.
Sample code | Wetting time Top(sec) | Wetting time Bottom(sec) | Top Absorption Rate(%/sec) | Bottom Absorption Rate(%/sec) | Top Max Wetted Radius(mm) | Bottom Max Wetted Radius(mm) |
R2 | 4.7248 | 4.4622 | 50.4763 | 56.4832 | 18 | 18 |
R5 | 3.675 | 3.3752 | 37.8654 | 48.9718 | 17 | 19 |
R8 | 4.406 | 4.6126 | 67.1838 | 66.8569 | 27 | 29 |
R11 | 2.9624 | 2.9246 | 46.83 | 53.4746 | 25 | 25 |
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
circular trilobal circular trilobal
R2 R5 R8 R11
Wetting time Top(sec) Wetting time Bottom(sec)
The above results shows that fabrics made of tri-lobal polyester had less time to get wet when water starts spread from either from the top or bottom surface. From the graph, trilobal cross section polyester has better performance in terms of transporting the moisture from the skin surface to the atmosphere.
Spreading speed is defined as the accumulated rate of surface wetting from the center of the specimen where the test solution is dropped to the maximum wetted radius. Accumulative one-way transport index is defined as the difference between the area of the liquid moisture content curves of the top and bottom surfaces of a specimen with respect to time. Overall (liquid)moisture management capacity (OMMC) is defined as an index of the overall capability of a fabric to transport liquid moisture .
Spreading speed, Accumulative one-way transport index and OMMC values of the samples were tabulated in Table 3 and the graphical representation of the same was shown in graph 2.
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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 5, Issue 3, March-2014 71
ISSN 2229-5518
Sample code | Top Spreading speed (mm/sec) | Bottom Spreading speed (mm/sec) | Accumulative one-way transport index (%) | OMMC |
R2 | 2.5831 | 2.6399 | 92.3379 | 0.4239 |
R5 | 3.1793 | 3.2783 | 168.5802 | 0.5391 |
R8 | 4.608 | 4.6028 | 69.7379 | 0.5322 |
R11 | 5.0244 | 5.0676 | 127.325 | 0.5678 |
6
5
4
3 Top Spreading speed
(mm/sec)
2 Bottom Spreading speed
1 (mm/sec)
0
Circular Trilobal Circular Trilobal
R2 R5 R8 R11
From the above graph, fabrics made of trilobal polyester absorb the liquid and rapidly transport the liquid away from the point of contact with the liquid.
Finger Print of Moisture Management Properties of all the samples were given the Diagram 1, 2, 3 and 4.
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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 5, Issue 3, March-2014 72
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Diagram 1. Finger Print of Moisture Management Properties of R2
Diagram 2. Finger Print of Moisture Management Properties of R5
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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 5, Issue 3, March-2014 73
ISSN 2229-5518
Diagram 3. Finger Print of Moisture Management Properties of R8
Diagram 4. Finger Print of Moisture Management Properties of R11
R5 and R11 samples were moisture management fabric in which the polyester cross-section was Trilobal whereas R2 and R8 samples were fast absorbing and quick drying fabric.
The experimental results showed that the filament cross-section could significantly affect the Liquid transportation of the fabrics. In this study, fabrics
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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 5, Issue 3, March-2014 74
ISSN 2229-5518
having both the circular and trilobal cross- section polyester filament along with the lycra were examined and found that fabrics having trilobal polyester filament had good liquid transportation properties than the fabrics having circular polyester filament .
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2. Barnes J C and Holcombe B V: Moisture Sorption and Transport in Clothing During Wear, Textile Research Journal, 777-786 (1996).
3. David G Mehrtens and Kenneth C McAlister: Fibre Properties Responsible for Garment Comfort, Textile Research Journal, 658-665 (1962).
4. Laughlin R D and Davies J E: Some Aspects of capillary Absorption in Fibrous Textile W icking, Textile Research Journal, 904-910 (1961).
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