Investigation on thermo physiological and compression characteristics of weft knitted 3D spacer fabrics
Abstract The thermo physiological comfort and compression properties of knitted spacer fabrics have been evaluated by varying the different spacer fabric parameters. Air permeability and water vapor transmission of the fabrics were measured using the Textest FX 3300 air permeability tester and PERMETEST. Thermal behavior of fabrics was evaluated by (TCi) thermal conductivity analyzer and overall moisture management capacity was evaluated by moisture management tester. Spacer fabrics compression properties were also tested using KES FB3. In the KES testing, the compression resilience, work of compression, linearity of compression, and other parameters were calculated from the pressure thickness curves. Analysis of variance was performed using new statistical software named QC expert trylobite and Darwin in order to compare the influence of different fabric parameters on thermo physiological and compression behavior of samples. This study established that the raw materials, type of spacer yarn, density, thickness, and tightness of surface layer have significant influence on both thermal conductivity and work of compression in spacer fabrics. The parameter which mainly influences the water vapor permeability of these fabrics is the property of raw material i.e. the wetting and wicking properties of fibers. The Pearson correlation between moisture capacity of the fabrics and water vapor permeability was found.