ABSTRACT Dissolution of one component from multi-component yarn by suitable chemical treatment brought a significant change in structure that ultimately enhance the performance in terms of thermo-physiological behavior of fabrics. In this study, attempt has been made to develop a ranking of handloom fabric quality, which can be used for selecting fabrics based on thermo-physiological characteristics like thermal resistance, air permeability, water vapor permeability, compressibility, drying capacity, and bending rigidity. Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution Method (TOPSIS) and Grey Relational Analysis Method (GRA) has been used for ranking 48 handloom samples (before and after treatment) made up of same warp yarn and different filling (for both machine and hand spun) prepared according to mixture design from different percentages of wool, polyester and poly vinyl alcohol (PVA). Ranking results obtained through TOPSIS and GRA show that after treatment of handloom fabric made up of hand spun yarn having less percentage of wool as a weft can be used in place of treated handloom fabric having machine spun yarn with higher percentage of wool. Results also indicate that dissolution of PVA component improves ranking in both fabrics either having machine spun or hand spun yarns as a weft.
Read full abstract