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

Yetanawork Teyeme,Lieva Van Langenhove,Tamrat Tesfaye,Benny Malengier,Simona Vasile

doi:10.3390/ma13184024

Yetanawork Teyeme, Lieva Van Langenhove + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13184024

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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.

Highlights

Over the last few years, sales of casual and sports clothing have been growing all over the world, so manufacturers and researchers have devoted studies to this field [1,2,3,4,5]
It was noted that fabrics B and C had the lowest air permeability and fabric A had the highest air permeability value (485 mm/s)
Air permeability was negatively correlated with fabric thickness (Pearson coefficient −0.86, significant at 0.01 level)

Summary

Introduction

Over the last few years, sales of casual and sports clothing have been growing all over the world, so manufacturers and researchers have devoted studies to this field [1,2,3,4,5]. While fashion is the key element in selecting daily clothing, clothing comfort has become a crucial parameter for sports clothing [6,7]. Wear comfort is a complex phenomenon, and thermophysiological comfort is significantly important for athletic apparel and next-to-skin applications as it directly impacts an individual’s skin [8,9,10,11]. It incorporates heat and moisture transport through clothing, and key notions comprise thermal insulation, breathability, and moisture management [12].

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