Measurement of the dynamic moisture buffering potential of fabrics
| Autor: | Geoffrey Rs Naylor |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2018 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | Textile Research Journal. 89:739-747 |
| ISSN: | 1746-7748 0040-5175 |
| Popis: | In non-stationary wear conditions, characterized by intermittent pulses of moderate or heavy sweating, a garment with a good moisture buffering action can improve comfort. This is consistent with the common consumer belief that clothing manufactured from hygroscopic natural fibers (e.g., wool or cotton) provides better breathability. The current work describes a new approach for measuring dynamic moisture buffering potential using the sweating guarded hotplate instrument in a novel mode of operation. A fabric test sample is placed on the hotplate following the normal procedure for dry mode testing but with the relative humidity of the surrounding environment set to a low value (45%). After equilibration, the relative humidity is rapidly increased to a high value (85%). In the case of hygroscopic samples, a transient reduction in the heat required to maintain the hotplate at its fixed temperature is observed. It is demonstrated that the area of this transient peak is a measure of the water vapor absorbed during this transition, that is, the moisture buffering potential of the test specimen. A key to this new approach is that the heat of sorption per gram of water vapor absorbed is approximately the same for a wide range of natural and synthetic fibers commonly used in clothing. Using matched knitted fabrics manufactured from wool, cotton or polyester, the technique detected the heat released from light weight fabrics and the performance of the different fiber types is clearly distinguished. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|