How porosity of the middle layer can affect the comfort properties of multi-layer sportswear

Abstract

Protection of the body against heat loss is vital to provide appropriate conditions for athletes of outdoor winter sports. Besides, considering the breathability of sportswear and its air permeability that can affect clothing ventilation should be noticed to provide athlete comfort. The application of multi-layered sportswear is a method to improve protection against cold and mobility of the person instead of wearing thick and heavy single-layer clothing, which has been under focus in winter sports. However, the properties of the constituent’s layers can determine the comfort properties of multi-layer sportswear. In this study, the influence of the middle layer porosity on the comfort properties of three-layer samples was investigated. The outer and inner layers remained unchanged for all samples and the middle layers were nonwoven samples with various needle punching densities including 15, 45, 70, 95, and 108 needles/cm2. The comfort properties of single layers and three-layer samples were evaluated before and after joining them by sewing. The obtained outcomes reveal that increasing the number of needle punching densities from 15 to 108 needles per square centimeter leads to the reduction of layer porosity by 35.43% which leads to the reduction of air and water vapour permeability and also thermal insulation of samples. After assembling layers, the comfort properties of three-layer samples are affected by the properties of various constituent layers and also the sewing process.