Comparative Analysis of Thermophysiological Comfort-Related Properties of Elastic Knitted Fabrics for Cycling Sportswear

Abstract

This research focused on the investigation of the thermophysiological comfort properties of four selected knitted fabrics of different fiber blend ratios suitable for cycling wear. Comfort-related properties of the fabrics were determined and compared including air permeability, moisture management properties, drying time, thermal conductivity, and water vapor permeability. For those comfort properties of the fabric to be correlated, fabric structural properties, fabric density, fabric weight, and fabric thickness have been considered. Suited fabrics should have good air permeability, thermal conductivity, moisture management properties, and a short drying time. According to the measurement results, the fabric polyamide/elasane (58/42 PA6.6/EL) with good air permeability, thermal conductivity, moisture management properties, and short drying time was more suited for summer cycling clothing. Furthermore, this paper provides a new understanding of considerations that are needed for several end uses involving specific activity levels.

Bi̇si̇klet Sporu Gi̇ysi̇leri̇nde Kullanilan Örme Kumaşlarin Gi̇yi̇m Konforu Özelli̇kleri̇ni̇n İncelenmesi̇ - Investigating the Clothing Comfort Properties of Knitted Fabrics Used in Cycling Sportswear

“…As illustrated in Table 1, the presented results demonstrate the overall (liquid) moisture management capability (OMMC) values of the fabrics. The value of the OMMC parameter is in the range of 0 to 1 with a higher OMMC value indicating a greater capacity to effectively manage liquid moisture [1,25]. The five-grade indices represent the following levels: (1) poor, (2) fair, (3) good, (4) very good, and ( 5) excellent (Table 7) [26].…”

“…The increasing interest sports has resulted in a rise in the worldwide sales of sportswear within recent years, hence apparel manufacturers and researchers have directed their attention this domain [1,2]. Sportswear has become increasing important for all people, as they anticipate higher expections for sports clothing to fulfill specific functions [3].…”

“…This sport exhibits multiple attributes, such as intensive energy consumption, a high sweating rate, and a higher level of extremity training. Therefore, cycling clothes needs to perform not only functional but also provide optimal comfort during wear [1,2,4]. Several articles were focused on the clothing comfort in the relation to type of fiber, yarn variables, knitted structure.…”

A new test method for evaluating the evaporative cooling efficiency of fabrics using a dynamic sweating hot plate

“…The ability to wick liquid moisture from sweat-wetted skin, to transfer moisture vapor, or to dry following sweat absorption, is often the basis for claims of fabric cooling benefits in active wear apparel [6][7][8]. There is a plethora of methods for measuring fabric wicking, including horizontal wicking [6], vertical wicking [9][10][11], the moisture management tester [9,12], the gravimetric absorbency testing system [13,14], and drying rate [15] tests.…”

Effect of knitting structure and dyeing process on drying time, air and vapor permeability

“…Many scientific publications have examined the effect of several fibers' characteristics (type, regain, linear density, diameter, cross-sectional shape) on the clothing comfort properties, [12][13][14][15][16][17] while others have examined the effect of the yarn and fabric parameters (hairiness, spinning technique, blend ratios, thickness, porosity, tightness level). [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36] Few research papers have dealt with the clothing comfort response of different knitted patterns, which combines the three types of stitches.…”