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Effect Of Cotton Yarns On Comfort Characteristics Of Woven fabrics

Published: October 20, 2022
Author: DIGITAL MEDIA EXECUTIVE

BY: 

Dr.B.Sathish Babu, Lecturer (Senior Grade), Department of Textile Technology, PSG Polytechnic College, Coimbatore.

Dr. M.Senthilkumar, Head of the Department), Department of Textile Technology, PSG Polytechnic College, Coimbatore.

Dr. P.Senthilkumar, Professor, Department of Textile Technology, PSG College of Technology,  Coimbatore.

Abstract
The comfort characteristics of fabrics mainly depend on the structure, types of raw materials used, weight, moisture absorption, heat transmission and skin perception. Basically, clothing comfort can be categorised under two broad components, viz, sensorial comfort and nonsensorial comfort. Sensorial comfort is a perception of clothing comfort which is sensory responses of nerves ending to external stimuli including thermal, pressure, pain, etc producing neuro physiological impulses which are sent to the brain. Non-sensorial comfort basically deals with physical processes which generate the stimuli like heat transfer by conduction, convection and radiation, moisture transfer by diffusion, sorption, wicking and evaporation. The various properties contributing to clothing comfort are fabric hand, thermal comfort, air permeability, water vapour transmission, water repellency and water absorption. The effect of cotton, linen and modal yarns on comfort characteristics was studied by producing as woven fabrics. The yarns chosen for weaving were 100% cotton, 100% linen, 100% modal, 50% cotton/50% linen yarn, 50% cotton/50% modal yarn of 40s count. The yarns were woven as fabric in bit loom. The woven fabrics were subjected for scouring and bleaching.Then the fabrics were tested and analyzed for comfort
characteristics like wicking, wetting, air permeability, moisture vapor transfer, and thermal conductivity.

Also subjective evaluation was done for the fabrics produced. It was found that modal/cotton blended fabrics shows better results for both objective and subjective evaluation of comfort properties.

Keywords: Comfort, Wicking, Air  permeability, Thermal conductivity, Wetting, Moisture vapour  transfer, Subjective evaluation

Introduction
Comfort is multidimensional and complex. The psychological comfort has different aspects, thermo psychological comfort involving moisture and heat transfer through fabrics, sensorial comfort which contains different neural sensations when textiles comes into contact with skin, body movement comfort which relates to the textile ability that allows movement freedom, reduce body shaping and burden as required, aesthetic appeal which means subjective perception of clothing to the eye, hand, nose, and ear that contributes to the overall well-being of the wearer1 . The woven fabrics are made from every type of fibers, i.e. natural, synthetic, and regenerated fibres. The regenerated fibers have properties of both natural and synthetic fibers. So, theses are much important fibres. Out of the regenerated fibers, linen fiber gives the better properties in pure and blended form. After linen, modal fibers give different  properties. The different properties of fabrics made from different fibers are studied2-4. The air permeability of the woven fabrics can be controlled during product design by raw material properties (fiber type and blend ratio), yarn characteristics, and structural parameters of the woven fabrics5,6. Air permeability, water vapor permeability and moisture management are important comfort properties of woven fabrics. The capacity of fabric to transport, store, and dispose off liquid water from the body is defined as the moisture management7. Cotton fabric is common in many of our lives, occurring in everything from domestic, T-shirts to towels, to commercial and industrial applications. So this crop has a gigantic load to fulfill the increasing demand of the world. On the other hand, unfortunately, conventional cotton is a notoriously “dirty” crop containing lot of dust even after so much processing steps. Furthermore, only 2.5% of the world’s cultivated land is cotton which is not sufficient with growing needs of drastically increasing world population. Therefore, in this work, woven fabrics made from cotton, modal, linen, modal cotton blend and linen cotton blend have been studied to know the blend giving better comfort properties which may replace cotton woven fabric.

Materials and Methods 

Materials
In order to study, 100% Cotton, 100% Modal, 100% Linen, 50% Cotton/50% Modal and 50% Cotton/50% Linen yarns of 40s count are used.

Methods
Fabric Production
Fabric samples with ends (76) and picks (68) per inch of 120 GSM, and thickness of 0.5 ± 0.03 mm are produced from cotton, modal and linen yarns. Warping is done first on a warping drum of sample loom which produced a sheet of parallel yarns aligned lengthwise so as to form the warp side of the fabric. After this, the warp is properly sized to impart strength in the yarn end so that it can bear loads and stresses produced on loom during fabric manufacturing. Plain woven fabrics samples are produced on bit loom for testing purpose.

Pretreatment
The sample fabrics are subjected for desizing, scouring and bleaching with hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide and hydrogen peroxide respectively.

Testing
The following comfort characteristics tests are carried out with the produced fabrics.

Wetting Test
As per Saville (2000), the wettability of the fabrics are measured by evaluating the time taken by the fabric sample to sink completely in water. The fabric sample of 3  3 cm is taken and placed on the surface of water. The samples are placed in horizontal position on the surface of water from a standard height and the time taken to sink is noted.

Longitudinal Wicking Test
As per (BS 3424), the vertical wicking test is evaluated. To assess the vertical wicking characteristics of the fabrics, a vertical strip of 20 cm  2 cm test sample fabric is suspended with its lower end (2 cm) immersed in distilled water. By this method the movement of water due to capillary action is observed in different time interval. Vertical wicking rate was used to measure the perspiration transfer rate from the skin to fabric and from 1 to 30 minute, the wicking height is noted with the test sample fabric.

Moisture Vapour Transfer Test
The moisture vapour transfer characteristics of fabrics are measured by using ASTM E 96 – cup method. Moisture vapour transfer rate is evaluated as the speed at which the moisture vapour travels through a fabric. Moisture vapour transfer test is used for evaluating the moisture vapour transfer rate. The rate at which the water vapour passed through the fabric is evaluated by the following method and the same is explained below:

Reduction in the Height of Water in the Cup Water is taken in cups upto a measurement of 6 cms from the base level. The cups are marked in every half centimeter. The double-face fabric samples are placed tightly on top of the cups. The water, the room environment and the air above the water are maintained at same temperature and pressure. After 48 hrs of time interval, the level of water decreased in the cups is noted. Also the reduction in height of water is measured. The moisture vapour transmission rate is calculated as the difference between the actual height of water in the cups and the initial height of water in the cups.

Air Permeability Test 
Air permeability test was carried as per IS 11056 : 1984. The rate of air flow through the double-face fabric under a differential pressure between the two layers of fabric was noted. It was expressed as the quantity of cubic centimeter of air passing through a square centimeter of fabric per second.

Thermal Conductivity (Lees Disc Method)
A set up of lees disc method was made and kept ready. The diameter and thickness of the cardboard and brass disc were found. The diameter was found by vernier and the thickness was found by screw gauge. Using the radius and (π), the area of the cardboard was found by screw gauge using (πr2). The lees method was done by starting the heater in which the thermometer was fixed to the lower and upper brass which was heated up by the steam passing through the upper brass. The heat passed through the bad conductor and it increased the temperature of the lower brass. At a particular temperature the outer, the upper and the lower brass showed equal temperature at the same time the thermometer showed constant temperature. T2 and T1 had to be measured. At that time, the cardboard which was the bad conductor was removed. The steam was increased to pass so that the lower brass temperature may increase up to 10 from T2. Then it was reduced up to 5 and the stopwatch was started. For every one degree T2+5 had to be measured in seconds. The calculations were tabulated. Thermal conductivity  was calculated from the below formula.

K = MSR*d*(2h+r) / 1000*A* (T2-T1)* (2h+2r) W/MK
Where,
K – Thermal Conductivity of fabric
M – Mass of the disc
S – Specific heat of the material of the disc
R – Rate of fall of temperature
h – Thickness of the lower disc
r – Radius of the lower disc
d – Thickness of the fabric
A – Area of the cross section of fabric
Results And Discussion
The fabrics produced are subjected both for objective and subjective evaluation.

Objective Evaluation
Analysis of wetting characteristics The ability of fabrics to sink in water completely was studied and given in Figure 1.

From the Figure 1, it was found that modal/cotton fabric takes lesser time for sinking than the other fabrics. The reason behind this was as wetting mechanism involves immersion, capillary sorption, adhesion and spreading. The modal/cotton fabric transmits the water quickly to the cotton layer which absorbs and spread the water to the entire fabric surface, thus making the fabric to sink in water.

Analysis of Wicking Characteristics
The rate of water spreading due to capillarity was studied. The rate of water spreading on various fabrics was tested both for warp wise direction and weft wise direction and given in the Figure 2, Figure 3, Figure 4, Figure 5 and Figure 6.

From the Figure 2, Figure 3, Figure 4, Figure 5 and Figure 6. the wicking height was analyzed for all the five fabrics in related to wicking time from 1 minute to 30 minutes. In general, wicking height increases with wicking time in both warp wise and weft wise direction. The wicking height in warp wise direction was higher than in weft wise direction at all time intervals for all the five fabrics.

100% modal fabric and modal/ cotton fabric showed higher wicking rate than the other three fabrics. Wicking height of the modal fabrics are higher than those of other fabrics because the it consists of higher percentage of fibrillar structure than the others. The wicking rate was found to be increased from 1 minute to 30 minutes both in warp wise direction and weft wise direction for all the five fabrics. After 30 minutes it was observed that there was no increase in the wicking height for any of the fabrics. The equilibrium in wicking height was attained at 30 minutes

     

           

Analysis of Moisture Vapour Transfer Behaviour
The rate at which the moisture vapour got transferred to the fabrics was tested and given in the Figure 7.

From the Figure 7, it was found that modal/cotton fabric has higher moisture vapour transfer when compared to other fabrics. The modal fabrics show highest moisture management. Modal fibers show a  compact external structure with very small pores and some large pores towards the center, so, show more absorption and transfer of moisture. Modal/cotton fabric is second to modal regarding moisture management among the other fabrics. Cotton also has moisture absorption ability. It contains lumen in the center which is left behind after the collapse of cell wall when fiber reaches its mature stage. Water absorption is aided by lumen. Lumen also helps cotton to wick by drawing water through capillary action thus making cotton a comfortable fiber but the wicking of cotton is less as compared to modal. In case of blends, modal/cotton fabric gives better moisture management as modal and cotton fibers absorb and transfer the moisture efficiently. 100% cotton fiber absorbs and retains moisture thus giving poor drying rate which leads to lower moisture vapour transfer of cotton.

Air Permeability Characteristics
The rate of airflow through the fabrics was tested and shown in the Figure 8.

From the Figure 8, it was found that modal and modal/cotton fabric had higher air permeability when  compared to other fabrics. This may be due to the lower hairiness of modal/cotton yarn than the other yarns. Highest value of air permeability is found in modal fabric. Modal has circular cross section while provides less surface area as compared to cotton and linen. This factor may increases the porosity of the material with intra-yarn gaps and increases permeability of air. Cotton fabrics give lower air permeability due to cotton fiber’s flattened structure and more hairiness of yarn. In case of blends, modal/cotton fabric is highly air permeable than linen/cotton and shows good air permeability because of having specific cross-sectional shape, air gaps, and micro holes. Thermal Conductivity Characteristics

Thermal conductivity of the fabrics is the ability of the fabric to conduct heat.
From the Figure 9, it was found that modal/cotton fabric has higher thermal conductivity when compared to other fabrics. The thermal conductivity was influenced by the porosity of the fabric. Lower the fabric porosity, higher will be the thermal conductivity. The thermal conductivity increased with decrease in porosity. The porosity was found lesser for modal/cotton fabric when compared to other fabrics. That’s why the modal/cotton fabric had higher thermal conductivity.

Subjective Evaluation
Clothing comfort is an important aspect for any garment used for sportswear and leisurewear. Every human being sweats during different kinds of activities. An important feature of any fabric is how it transports this water out of the body surface so as to make the wearer feel comfortable. Hence, wetting and wicking properties are critical aspects during wearing of clothes. In subjective opinion, 25 peoples were chosen and they were given to wear 5 types of garments to analysis the comfort properties such as comfort ,feel, look, and etc which was given in detail in Table.1

   

For subjective test, Grading marking system was used and was given in Table 1.
Table 1: Subjective evaluation of fabrics

From the Table 1, it was found that modal/cotton fabric shows better results for excellent look, feel, comfort and sweat absorbency.

Conclusions
Based on the study of comfort characteristics of woven fabrics for objective evaluation and subjective evaluation, the following conclusions were derived. This study is a comparative study that determines the difference in comfort characteristics of cotton, modal, linen, modal/cotton and linen/cotton fabrics. Yarn type is a main factor that affect the comfort properties of the fabric. In objective study, modal/ cotton fabric gives better results for wettability, wickability, moisture vapour transfer, air permeability and thermal conductivity than the other fabrics. Also in subjective study, modal/cotton shows better results for all the comfort traits. Hence modal/cotton fabric is more suitable and it can be recommended as summer wear. Also cotton fabric can be replaced by modal/ cotton fabric so as to compensate its lower production and to avoid the negative environmental impacts of cotton during its cultivation.

References
1.Li Y, 2001,The Science of Clothing Comfort, Textile Progress, 31(1/2).

2.Karthikeyan G, Nalankilli G, Shanmugasundaram O L & Prakash C 2016, ‘Thermal comfort properties of bamboo tencel knitted fabrics’, International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology vol. 28, pp.420– 428.

3.Majumdar A, Mukhopadhyay S, Yadav R & Mondal K 2011, ‘Properties of ring-spun yarns made from cotton and regenerated bamboo fibres’, Indian Journal of Fibre & Textile Research vol. 36, pp.18–23.

4.Prakash C, Ramakrishnan G & Koushik C V 2011, ‘ Effect of blend ratio on the quality characteristics of bamboo/cotton blended ring spun yarn’, Fibres & Textiles in Eastern Europe vol.19, pp.38–40.

5.Haristian L 2011, ‘Researches concerning the air permeability of woven fabrics made from combed yarns type wool’, Journal of Engineered Fibers and Fabrics vol. 57, pp.29–37.

6.Nazir M U, Shaker K, Nawab Y, Fazal M Z, Khan M I & Umair M 2017, ‘Investigating the effect of material and weave design on comfort properties of bilayerwoven fabrics’, The Journal of the Textile Institute vol.108, pp.126-132.

7.Zubair M, Hussain T, Hussain S & Mazari A 2016, ‘Development of polyester/cellulosic blend woven fabric for better comfort’, Industria Textila vol.67, pp.359

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