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Abstract

Water absorption by a textile is analyzed as a kind of retarding system, such as viscoelastic matter in creeping deformation. The function of the mass of absorbed water versus time is expanded into a superposition of an infinite or finite number of linear-retardation elements characterized by different time constants. The spectrum of retardation time obtained thus shows several peculiar peaks at isolated time values which are greatly different in order of magnitude depending on the sort or weave density of the textile. This approach of analysis may throw a new light upon the study of fluid penetration through textiles.