Investigation of Moisture Management Properties of Cotton and Blended Knitted Fabrics

The main idea of this work is to investigate the effect of knitted fabrics characteristics on moisture management properties. Wetting and transport properties of single jersey, Rib 1&1 and English Rib fabrics made out of cotton and blended Cotton/Polyester yarns were studied. The dynamic water sorption of fabrics was investigated under same isothermal and terrestrial conditions at 20±2°C-65±4% by using the Moisture Management Tester (MMT) which can be used to quantitatively measure liquid moisture transfer in one step in a fabric in multidirections: Absorption rate, moisture absorbing time of the fabric's inner and outer surfaces, one-way transportation capability, the spreading/drying rate, the speed of liquid moisture spreading on fabric's inner and outer surfaces are measured, recorded and discussed. The results show that fabric’s composition and knit’s structure have a significant influence on those phenomena.

Authors:

• N. S. Achour
• M. Hamdaoui
• S. Ben Nasrallah
• A. Perwuelz

Keywords:

• Knitted fabrics characteristics
• moisture management properties
• multidirections
• the Moisture Management Tester.

References:

[1] M. Yanılmaz and F. Kalaoglu, “Investigation of wicking, wetting and
drying properties of acrylic knitted fabrics”. Textile Research Journal,
vol. 82, no. 8, 2012, pp. 820–831.
[2] R. Stämpfli, P. A. Brühwiler, I. Rechsteiner, V. R. Meyer and R. M.
Rossi, “X-ray tomographic investigation of water distribution in textiles
under compression – Possibilities for data presentation,” Measurement,
vol. 46, no. 3, April 2013, pp. 1212-1219. Switzerland.
[3] J. Youngmin, H. P. Chung and J K. Tae, “Effect of heat and moisture
transfer properties on microclimate and subjective thermal comfort of
caps.” Textile research journal, vol. 80, no. 20, 2010, pp. 2195-2203.
[4] A. D. Gat, A. Vahdani, H. Navaz, A. Nowakowski and M. Gharib.
“Asymmetric Wicking and Reduced Evaporation Time of Droplets.
Penetrating a Thin Double-Layered Porous Material”. Applied Physics
Letters, vol. 103, no. 13, 2013.
[5] K. Atkins, M. Thompson, “Effect of textile hygroscopicity on stratum
corneum hydration, skin erythema and skin temperature during exercise in the presence of wind and no wind”. J. Exerc. Sci. Fit., Vol. 9, no. 2,
December 2011, pp. 100-108, Australia.
[6] D. Lukas, J. Chaloupek, E. Kost’akova, N. Pan, and I. Martinkova,
Physica A, 371, 226 (2006). “Morphological transitions of capillary rise
in a bundle of two and three solid parallel cylinders”. Physica A:
Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, vol. 371, 2006, pp. 226-248.
[7] D. Lukas and J. Chaloupek, “Wetting between parallel fibres; columnunduloid
and column disintegration transitions”. Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng.
H., vol. 217, no. 4, 2003, pp. 273-280.
[8] A. Perwuelz, P. Mondon, C. Cazé, “Liquid organization during capillary
rise in yarns – influence of yarn torsion” Polymer Testing, vol. 20, 2001,
pp. 553-561.
[9] H. M. Princen, J. Colloid Interf. Sci., vol. 30, 1968.
[10] A. B. Nyoni and D. Brook, J. Text. Inst., vol. 97, 2006.
[11] M. Hamdaoui, F. Fayala and S. Ben Nasrallah, “Experimental Apparatus
and mathematical model for determination of parameters of capillary
rise in fabrics,” Journal of Porous media, vol. 9, no. 4, 2006, pp. 381-
392.
[12] E. Bayramli and R. L. Powell, Colloid Surface, vol. 56, 1991.
[13] J. L. Deng, Y. D. Zhu, J. H. Wang, and Z. H. Meng, J. Compos. Mater.,
vol. 249, 2003.
[14] Methods 21A and 21B, Methods for Determination of Resistance to
Wicking and Lateral Leakage, BSI, 1996. BS 3424-Part 18: 1986
(1996).
[15] W. Zhong and M. Q. Xing, J. Colloid Interf. Sci., 275, 264, 2004.
[16] AATCC Test Method 79, Absorbency of Bleached Textiles, AATCC,
2000.
[17] M. Hamdaoui, N.S. Achour, S. Ben Nasrallah, “The Influence of woven
fabric structures on Kinetics of Water Sorption”. Journal of Engineered
Fibers and Fabrics, vol. 9, no. 1, March 2014.
[18] M. Hamdaoui, F. Fayala, and S. Ben Nasrallah, J. Porous Media, vol. 9,
2007.
[19] A. Perwuelz, P. Mondon, C. Cazé, “Experimental Study of Capillary
Flow in Yarns,” Textile Res. J., vol. 70, no. 4, 2000, pp. 333-339.
[20] ISO 9073–8, Textiles—Test Methods for Nonwovens—Part 8:
Determination of Liquid Strike-through Time, 1995.
[21] R. Guruprasad, M. V. Vivekanandan, A. Arputharaj, S. Saxena and S. K.
Chattopadhyay. “Development of cottonrich/polylactic acid fiber blend
knitted fabrics for sports textiles”. Journal of industrial textiles. vol. 0,
no. 0, October 2014.
[22] E. Nergiz and K. Yasemin.”Effects of Knit Structure on the Dimensional
and Physical Properties of Winter Outerwear Knitted Fabrics”. Fibers
and Textiles in Eastern Europe. Vol. 67, no. 2, 2008, pp: 69–74.
[23] R. M. Crow and R. J. Osczevski, “The interaction of water with fabrics”,
Textile Research Journal, vol. 68, no. 4, 1998, pp: 280–288.
[24] Q. Zhuang, S. C Harlock and D. B. Brook.”Transfer wicking
mechanisms of knitted fabrics used as undergarments for outdoor
activities”. Textile Res J, vol. 72, no. 8, 2002.
[25] N. Ozdil, A. Marmarah and S. D. Kretzschmar, “Effect of yarn
properties on thermal comfort of knitted fabrics”, International journal of
thermal sciences, vol. 46, no. 12, December 2007, pp. 1318-1322,
Turkie.
[26] S. S. Bhattacharya and J. R. Ajmeri, “Investigation of Air Permeability
of Cotton & Modal Knitted Fabrics”. International Journal of
Engineering Research and Development, vol. 6, no. 12, May 2013, pp:
01-06.
[27] J. Hu, Y. Li, K.W. Yeung, A. S. W. Wrong and W. Xu. “Moisture
Management Tester: A Method to Characterize Fabric Liquid Moisture
Management Properties”, Textile Res. J., vol. 75, no. 1, 2005, pp: 57–62.
[28] L. Zhou, X. Feng, Y. Du and Yi Li. ”Characterization of Liquid
Moisture Transport Performance of Wool Knitted Fabrics”. Textile
Research Journal, vol. 77, no. 12, 2007, pp. 951–956.