Air permeability and bursting strength of weft-knitted fabrics from glass yarn. Part II: knit architecture effect

Abstract

In this study; the effects of loop, skip, and tuck stitch types, and weft-inlay yarn, on air permeability and bursting strength of weft-knitted fabrics from glass yarn were revealed. Due to clockwise rotation of wales and their arrangement being one on top of the other, besides the dramatic shortening of fabrics after their removal from the machine; fabrics with tuck stitches exhibited the highest stitch density, fiber content, and the shortest loop length. This caused the lowest air permeability and the highest bursting strength. Contrary to expectations, weft-inlay yarn did not contribute to bursting strength as much as tuck stitch did. An overall negative correlation between air permeability and bursting strength was disrupted by structures with tuck stitches. While tuck stitches from cotton yarn increased air permeability and decreased bursting strength in previous studies; this study indicated that tuck stitches from glass yarn decreased air permeability and increased bursting strength.