Effects of hydrophobic yarns on liquid migration in woven fabrics

Abstract

Liquid migration in woven fabrics was investigated by measuring the wicking coefficients of hydrophilic cotton and hydrophobic PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) monofilament fabrics and some other fabrics. The coefficients of fabrics with cotton warp yarns were essentially equal along the weft direction but differed along the warp because of variations in the warp yarn crimps. Then factors affecting the liquid migration along weft direction were investigated, especially the effect of hydrophobic weft yarns, by using three different warp weave densities for fabrics with both cotton and PVDF weft yarns. The results showed that in the warp direction, liquid moved along longitudinal yarns and migrated to hydrophilic but not hydrophobic transverse yarns. In the weft direction, similar results were obtained for fabrics with cotton weft yarns. Fabrics with PVDF weft yarns, however, showed no migration through the longitudinal yarns, although liquid did move along the transverse direction of connected cotton warp yarns. The largest wicking coefficient was associated with the highest warp weave density. Liquid did not move through transverse yarns separated from one another. It is apparent that liquids can migrate along transverse, adjacent, in-contact hydrophilic yarns of fabrics incorporating longitudinal hydrophobic yarns.

Modeling wicking in textiles using the dual porosity approach

“…Many experimental techniques have been applied to wicking, such as visible light, 6 infrared light, 7 electrical contacts 8 and thermocouples. 9 All of these cannot quantify moisture transfer, that is, moisture content distribution, throughout the whole fabric, as they rely either on the sharp-front approximation or point measures along the textile. X-ray computed tomography (CT) techniques were applied to moisture quantification in wicking, 10,11 but water does not interact strongly with X-rays, leading to a reduced signal.…”

A review on advanced imaging technologies for the quantification of wicking in textiles

“…Today, the development of new imaging techniques is still ongoing (e.g. the thermocouple measurement technique proposed by Zhu and Takatera 42,43,83 was published in 2012, 2014 and 2015).…”

Liquid transfer properties of textile fabrics as a function of moisture content

“…Combination of hydrophilic and hydrophobic fibre types in textile fabrics has been performed by using blended [10][11][12] or composite yarns [13] or by combining yarns when producing the fabric [14]. Zhu and Takatera [15] investigated the effect of hydrophobic yarns on liquid migration in woven fabrics produced from two different yarns, one being hydrophilic and the second one made of hydrophobic fibre or of a mixture of fibres (cotton/polyester). The possibility of combining different properties such as hydrophilic and hydrophobic by producing two-layer woven [16] or knitted [17][18] fabrics has already been accepted in practice.…”