Humidity-dependency of the relaxation behavior of fabric crease recovery angle

Abstract

The unfolding of fabric creases induced by humidity is an issue of the capillary forces driving the deformation of materials, related to the interactions of textiles with moisture. Most are about complex moisture transport dynamics in fibrous assemblies. However, the effect of humidity on the crease recovery course of fabric with multiscale structure is not clear. Therefore, the fabric crease unfolding over time in different humidities was explored. In this study, theoretical analysis based on Burger’s viscoelasticity model and experiments on the crease recovery were conducted. Then the evaluation indices, that is, the crease recovery ratio ([Formula: see text]) and the recovery gradient ratio ([Formula: see text]), which were obtained from fitting coefficients and constructed in the form of the theoretical equation, were established. They were then combined with the fabric porosity ( P) at yarn scale, to demonstrate the capillary forces driving the deformation of materials, that is, crease unfolding humidity-induced. The results show that the higher the [Formula: see text] or [Formula: see text] value, the greater capillary forces promoting the crease to recover under the same humidity changes. The smaller the P, the more easily the contacted structures move, and the crease recovers better. In conclusion, the deformations induced by capillary forces are studied in a form of a crease unfolding at a humidity change. The results obtained in this study lay a certain foundation for further research on the mechanism and theoretical model of the moisture on fabric crease recovery.