Comfort properties of suiting fabrics R K Nayak a , S K Punj & K N Chatterjee The Technological Institute of Textile & Sciences, Bhiwani 127 021, India and B K Behera Department of Textile Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi 110 016, India Received 18 June 2008; revised received and accepted 7 September 2008 The effects of polyester content, pick density and weave on the thermal comfort and tactile properties of polyester/viscose blended yarn fabrics have been studied by measuring the low- stress mechanical properties on Kawabata evaluation system. The thermal comfort has been studied by measuring the air permeability, thermal insulation and moisture vapour transfer properties of fabrics. The tactile properties have been studied by measuring the fabric mechanical and surface properties, such as tensile, shear, bending, compression, surface roughness, surface friction and handle. The fabrics with higher polyester content give higher total hand value and higher thermal insulation, but lower air permeability and lower moisture vapour transfer. The fabrics with higher polyester content also show lower extensibility; the extensibility in warp direction is higher than in weft direction and twill woven fabrics give higher extensibility than the plain woven fabrics. Keywords: Air permeability, Fabric comfort, Fabric handle, Low-stress mechanical properties, Moisture vapour transfer, Thermal insulation 1 Introduction Clothing comfort is an extremely complex phenomenon and has drawn the attention of many textile research workers. It can be classified into three groups, namely psychological, tactile and thermal comfort 1 . Psychological comfort is mainly related to the garment style, proper fit, fashion and suitability for the occasion and shows no relationship with the fabric properties. Tactile comfort is the feel of the fabric when it is touched and it is directly related to fabric handle. The handle of a fabric is influenced by its mechanical and surface properties. The ease of body motion and the level of load generated in fabric during body movement are obviously related to the fabric handle properties, and therefore a study of clothing tactile comfort must take into account the fabric low-stress mechanical properties. It is concerned with the subjective judgment of roughness, smoothness, harshness, pliability, thickness, etc. Many researchers have carried out extensive work on fabric handle properties 2-8 . Thermal comfort is the factor governed by the movement of heat, moisture and air through the fabric. The maintenance of thermal balance is probably the most important attribute of clothing and has drawn the attention of many textile research workers 9-14 . The main problem associated for thermal comfort is the incompatibility between the requirement of heat conservation during low metabolic activity and heat dissipation at high energy level. There are numerous factors regarding conditions of thermal comfort, such as age, sex, adaptation, season and heat-flow conditions as well as physical conditions existing next to the skin surface. Fabric low-stress mechanical properties are most important from tactile comfort standpoint. In this study, Kawabata evaluation system for fabrics (KES- FB) has been used to measure the low-stress properties because of its accuracy and high degree of sensitivity. Also the effects of polyester content, weave and pick density on comfort properties of polyester/viscose blended suiting fabric is studied.
2 Materials and Methods 2.1 Materials Twelve plain and twill woven suiting samples (six samples of each) with fixed end density and three different pick densities were used for study. The 50:50 and 30:70 polyester/viscose (P/V) blended suiting fabrics were prepared in the CIMCO sample loom. __________ a To whom all the correspondence should be addressed. Present address: School of Fashion & Textiles, RMIT University, Melbourne, Vic 3056, Australia. E-mail: rkn.nayak@gmail.com NAYAK et al.: COMFORT PROPERTIES OF SUITING FABRICS
123 2.2 Methods 2.2.1 Evaluation of Fabric Dimensional Properties Thread density was measured by pick glass. Warp and weft counts were measured by Beesley balance. The constructional parameters of the fabric samples are given in Table 1.
2.2.2 Testing of Fabric Tactile Comfort Properties Handle properties of the fabrics were evaluated by measuring the fabric low-stress mechanical properties (tensile, shear, bending, compression, surface roughness and surface friction) on Kawabata evaluation system for fabrics (KES-FB). The tensile and shear properties were studied on KES-FB1 (tensile and shear tester). The tensile properties were measured by plotting the force extension curve between zero and a maximum force of 500 gf/cm and the recovery curve. Shear properties were measured by shearing a fabric sample parallel to its long axis, keeping a constant tension of 10 gf/cm on the clamp. Bending properties were measured on KES-FB2 (pure bending tester) by bending the fabric sample between the curvatures -2.5 and 2.5 cm -1 . Compressional properties were studied on KES-FB3 (compression tester) by placing the sample between two plates and increasing the pressure while continuously monitoring the sample thickness to a maximum pressure of 50 gf/cm 2 . The surface roughness and surface friction were measured on KES-FB4 (surface tester). The primary and the total hand values were calculated from the sixteen mechanical properties using the prescribed procedure by Kawabata and Niwa 15 .
2.2.3 Testing of Fabric Thermal Comfort Properties Air permeability tests were conducted according to BS 5636 on prolific air permeability tester. At least 10 specimens were taken for testing with exposed area of 10 cm 2 under a pressure head of 10 mm of water column. Thermal insulation was determined using the KES-FB 5 (Thermolabo II). The dry contact method with an air velocity of 30 cm/s was used for the measurement of thermal insulation. The evaporation cup method was used to measure the resistance of fabric to moisture vapour as per BS 7209. The fabric was sealed over a cylindrical cup containing distilled water and the rate of evaporation was measured under standard atmospheric conditions. The moisture vapour resistance was calculated in grams of water passing through square metre of fabric in 24 hours.
3 Results and Discussion 3.1 Tensile Properties The tensile properties of suiting fabrics are shown in Table 2. The EM (tensile strain) value indicates low-stress extensibility and is related to crimp removal process during tensile loading. It is the factor affecting fabric tailorability and seam slippage. Higher value of EM provides wearing comfort but creates problem during stitching and steam pressing. It is observed that for the fabric with higher polyester content, the extensibility is lower. This may be attributed to the higher initial modulus and bending rigidity of polyester fibre. Matsudania and Kawabata 16 have explained the tensile deformation of the fabrics in two steps. In first step, the crimps are stretched without any mechanical restriction and the removal of crimp depends upon the inter-yarn contact area. When the fabric is stretched, initially the tensile force is supported by the bending rigidity of the bent yarn. In the second step, the crimp interchange phenomenon takes place and the bending rigidity plays an important role in the tensile deformation. Hence, the compact structure of fabric having higher polyester content combined with the higher bending rigidity of polyester results in the decrease in extensibility with the increase in polyester content. Very high values of tensile strain in warp direction (EM1) generates problem in sewing and seam pressing due to distortion of fabrics during sewing. The tensile strain in weft direction (EM2) is also crucial for good tailorability and comfort. For all the fabric samples, EM1 is higher than EM2. The twill woven fabric is having higher EM values as compared to plain fabrics. This is because of more mobility of the yarns in a twill fabric due to less crossover points. The linearity of tensile property (LT) is indicative of wearing comfort. Lower values of LT give higher Table 1Fabric constructional parameters [Ends/cm 20, warp linear density 30 tex, and weft linear density 60/2 tex] Sample code Fabric (P/V) Weave Picks/cm
S1 50:50 Plain 18 S2 30:70 Plain 18 S3 50:50 Plain 16 S4 30:70 Plain 16 S5 50:50 Plain 14 S6 30:70 Plain 14 S7 50:50 Twill 18 S8 30:70 Twill 18 S9 50:50 Twill 16 S10 30:70 Twill 16 S11 50:50 Twill 14 S12 30:70 Twill 14 P Polyester and V Viscose. INDIAN J. FIBRE TEXT. RES., JUNE 2009
124 fabric extensibility in initial strain range indicating better comfort, but the fabric dimensional stability decreases. It is observed that LT is higher for the fabrics with higher polyester content. The LT values of plain fabric are higher than that of twill fabric; the values are higher in warp direction than in weft direction. The tensile energy (WT) also shows the same trend as the elongation for all the samples. The tensile resilience (RT) indicates recovery after tensile deformation. It has been observed that with the increase in polyester content, the tensile resilience increases. It may be attributed to higher resilience of polyester fibre compared to that of the viscose. The RT values are higher for the fabric with tighter construction (i.e. higher pick density) because of the crimp removal which leads to a better recovery in a tight fabric.
3.2 Shear Properties It has been observed from Table 3 that the shear rigidity (G) increases with the increase in polyester content. This may be attributed to the higher flexural rigidity and coefficient of friction of polyester fibre as compared to viscose. The high value of shear rigidity causes difficulty in tailoring and discomfort during wearing. Shear rigidity of a fabric mainly depends upon the mobility of the warp and weft threads within the fabric. Subramanium et al. 17 have shown that the contact between the threads greatly affects the shear rigidity of the fabrics. In the tighter structure of the fabric, there is a greater contact between warp and Table 2Tensile properties
GShear rigidity, 2HGHysteresis of shear force at 0.5, 2HG5Hysteresis of shear force at 5, BBending rigidity, and 2HB Hysteresis of bending moment. NAYAK et al.: COMFORT PROPERTIES OF SUITING FABRICS
125 weft threads. Therefore, compact structure of fabric having higher pick density gives higher shear rigidity values. 2HG and 2HG5 indicate the hysteresis of shear force at 0.5
and 5
respectively. It is also observed from Table 3 that the hysteresis of shear increases with the increase in polyester content. This is also attributed to the compact structure of the fabric having higher polyester content. In the compact structure, the yarns once shifted during shearing do not recover their original position completely. Also for the same blend, 2HG and 2HG5 values are higher for the fabrics with higher pick density. In all the fabric samples, the G, 2HG and 2HG5 values are higher in warp direction than in weft direction and these values are higher for the plain fabric.
3.3 Bending Properties Bending rigidity (B) of a fabric depends upon the bending rigidity of the threads and the mobility of warp and weft threads within the fabric. Therefore, the fabrics with higher polyester content give higher bending rigidity (Table 3). Bending rigidity is one of the important mechanical properties influencing the tailorability of the fabrics. Bending rigidity is higher in weft direction for both the fabric. 2HB represents the hysteresis of bending moment which is a measure of recovery from bending deformation. Table 3 also shows that the bending hysteresis increases with the increase in polyester content. It is also observed that in all the fabric samples the B and 2HB values are higher in weft direction than in warp direction and also higher for the fabric with more pick density. 3.4 Surface Properties The fabric surface properties are shown in Table 4. It is observed that the coefficient of friction (MIU) increases with the increase in polyester content. The MIU value for a particular weave depends upon the contact area. As in the fabric with higher polyester content the contact area with the contactor increases, the coefficient of friction increases. It is observed that the mean deviation of coefficient of friction (MMD) does not show any specific trend with the increase in polyester content. MMD indicates the variation in MIU. It has also been observed that the geometrical roughness (SMD) decreases with the increase in polyester content in the P/V blended fabrics. As shown in Table 4, a twill fabric has lower SMD as compared to a plain fabric. This can be attributed to the longer floats in the twill weave, causing low surface variation in a unit surface area.
3.5 Compressional Properties The compressional properties of fabrics are measured by placing the sample between two plates and monitoring its thickness with increasing pressure. The linearity of compression (LC) mainly depends on the fabric thickness and compressional characteristics of the yarn. It has been observed from Table 4 that LC decreases with the increase in polyester content. The LC values are higher for twill fabric. Compressional energy (WC) depends upon LC and the amount of compression. With the increase in polyester content, WC decreases. This may be attributed to the smoother rod like structure of polyester fibre. When the fabric Table 4Surface and compressional properties
MIUCoefficient of friction, MMDMean deviation of MIU, SMDGeometrical roughness, LCLinearity of compression, WCCompressional energy, RCCompressional resilience, WFabric weight per unit area, and TFabric thickness. INDIAN J. FIBRE TEXT. RES., JUNE 2009
126 is compressed by compression element, the warp and weft threads tend to flatten governed by the fibre-to- fibre slippage. With the increase in polyester content, the fibre-to-fibre slippage increases and the energy required to compress the fabric decreases. The compressional resilience (RC) like the linearity of compression mainly depends on the fabric thickness and compressional characteristics of the yarn. It has been observed that the RC increases with the increase in polyester content. This may be attributed to the higher resilience and lower fibre-to-fibre friction of polyester as compared to viscose. RC values are higher for the twill fabrics. Fabric weight (W) is higher for the fabric with lower amount of polyester content and higher pick density. Fabric thickness (T) is higher for fabric with higher polyester content as polyester fibre is bulkier than viscose. Also, the fabric thickness is higher for twill woven fabrics as the number of crossover points are lower in twill fabric than in a plain woven fabric. Due to the lower crossover points, the yarn compression at the crossover points would be lower which leads to higher thickness in twill fabrics.
3.6 Fabric Hand Value As the fabric is mainly preferred for winter suiting, the three primary hand values, namely Koshi, Numeri and Fukurami, have been calculated and are shown in Table 5. In a fabric the Koshi depends on its bending properties. It has been observed that with the increase in polyester content the Koshi value increases. It may be attributed to the higher bending rigidity of polyester fibre accompanied by higher shear rigidity (G) and tensile resilience (RC). Also for a particular blend, with the increase in picks/cm (PPC) the Koshi values increase. A plain woven fabric has higher Koshi values as compared to a twill fabric. It has also been observed that with the increase in polyester content the Numeri value increases. This may be attributed to the decrease in tensile and compressional energy as well as increase in tensile resilience, bending rigidity, shear rigidity, and hysteresis of shear curve with polyester content. All the factors are responsible for the increase in Numeri value, but major role is played by the compressional energy. For the same blend percentage, Numeri is higher for the fabric with lower PPC. Also, the Numeri values for twill fabric are higher as compared to plain fabric. Fukurami is the bulky, rich and well-formed feeling and it mainly depends on fabric bulk and compressional properties. It has been observed that with the increase in polyester content the Fukurami value increases. This may be attributed to the increase in hysteresis of shear force and decrease in compressional resiliency as the polyester content increases. Also, for the same blend percentage the Fukurami is higher for the fabric with higher PPC. Twill woven fabrics show higher Fukurami values as compared to plain fabrics. This is in accordance with the earlier findings by Behera et al 4 . The total hand value (THV) of the fabric is estimated from the primary hand values using Kawabata system of equations. It has been observed Table 5Hand values of suiting fabrics Property S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S9 S10 S11 S12
Moisture vapour transfer g/cm 2 /24h 13.9 15.1 14.3 15.8 14.7 16.2 13.3 14.8 13.7 15.9 14.5 16.1 NAYAK et al.: COMFORT PROPERTIES OF SUITING FABRICS
127 from Table 5 that THV values are higher in the fabric with higher polyester content. Also, it is observed that the THV is higher for the fabric with higher pick density, and that the twill fabrics show higher THV values as compared to plain fabrics.
3.7 Fabric Comfort Properties The thermal comfort is related to fabric transmission behavior, namely air permeability, thermal insulation and moisture vapour resistance. Table 6 shows the above-mentioned comfort properties of the fabrics. It has been observed that the air permeability decreases with the increase in polyester content. This may be attributed to the compact structure of the fabric having higher polyester content, and hence lesser number of pores of lower cross-sectional area available for air passage. The fabric with lower PPC gives higher air permeability due to less fabric cover. Twill fabrics give higher air permeability than plain fabrics due to the fabric cover differences. The air permeability of a fabric determines its resistance to wind penetration during stormy weather which affects the thermal insulation of the fabric. Thermal insulation plays a major role in maintaining heat balance between the body and the environment. The main function of clothing in summer should be heat dissipation, whereas in winter it should be heat conservation which is influenced by thermal insulation. It has been observed that the thermal insulation increases with the increase in polyester content and PPC of the fabric. This may be attributed to the greater thickness of the fabric having higher polyester content. Fabric thickness is the most important factor governing the thermal insulation. Other factors affecting the thermal insulation are fibre type, bulk density, fibre arrangement, compressibility, and air permeability of the fabric. Higher the air permeability, lower will be the thermal insulation. Moisture vapour transfer is the ability of a fabric to transfer the perspiration in form of moisture vapour through it. A fabric with low moisture vapour transfer is unable to transfer sufficient moisture, leading to sweat accumulation and hence discomfort. It is observed that the moisture vapour transfer of the fabrics decreases with the increase in polyester content of the fabric. This may be attributed to the higher thermal insulation and lower moisture regain of the polyester fibre as compared to viscose fibre. Due to higher thermal insulation, there will be a great difference between the environmental temperature and the temperature of the layer under the fabric. Therefore, the evaporation of vapours will be low. The moisture vapour transfer is higher for plain woven fabrics as compared to that for twill woven fabrics.
4 Conclusions 4.1 The fabric with higher polyester content gives lower extensibility; the extensibility in warp direction is higher than in weft direction and twill woven fabrics give higher extensibility than the plain woven fabrics. 4.2 The linearity of tensile property, the tensile energy and the tensile resilience increase with the increase in polyester content. The linearity of tensile property and tensile energy are higher in plain woven fabrics. The fabric with higher fabric cover gives higher tensile resilience. 4.3 The shear rigidity and the hysteresis of shear increase with the increase in polyester content. The fabric having higher pick density gives higher shear rigidity and higher hysteresis of shear values. The hysteresis of shear is higher in warp direction than in weft direction and these values are higher for plain fabric than for twill fabric. 4.4 The fabrics with higher polyester content give higher bending rigidity and bending hysteresis; these values are higher in weft direction than in warp direction and also higher for the fabric with more pick density. 4.5 The coefficient of friction increases and geometrical roughness decreases with the increase in polyester content. The twill fabric has lower geometrical roughness as compared to a plain fabric. 4.6 The linearity of compression and compressional energy decrease while compressional resiliency increases with the increase in polyester content. The linearity of compression and compressional resiliency values are higher for twill fabric. Fabric weight is higher for the fabric with lower amount of polyester content and higher pick density. Fabric thickness is higher for the twill woven fabrics and for the fabrics with higher polyester content. 4.7 The fabrics with higher polyester content give higher Koshi, Numeri, Fukurami and THV. The plain woven fabrics give higher Koshi and lower Numeri, Fukurami and THV. The Koshi, Numeri, Fukurami and THV values are higher for the fabric with higher pick density. INDIAN J. FIBRE TEXT. RES., JUNE 2009
128 4.8 The air permeability and the moisture vapour transfer decrease while the thermal insulation increases with the increase in polyester content. The fabric with lower pick density gives higher air permeability. Twill fabrics give higher air permeability and lower moisture vapour transfer than plain fabric. Industrial Importance: The study will be useful for the manufacturers of suiting fabrics in terms of selection of blend percentages of polyester and viscose fibres as well as the selection of weave while deciding the comfort of suiting fabrics. Todays market is buyers market and hence, one of the most deciding factors.
Acknowledgement The authors are grateful to All India Council for Technical Education, Govt. of India, New Delhi for sponsoring the project entitled Comfort and Handle properties of fabrics produced from Khadi, Handloom and Mill sectors under AICTE-RPS grant (File No.: 8023/ RID/ BOR/RPS-143/2005-06).
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