Role of fibre, yarn and fabric variables in engineering clothing with required thermo-physiological properties

Designing and engineering clothing for an intended end use necessitates careful selection of fibre, yarn and fabric constructional parameters. Ideal clothing comfort can be achieved by designing clothing, considering high thermal resistance for protection from cold, low resistance to water vapour transfer in mild thermal stress conditions and rapid transfer of vapour and liquid moisture under high thermal stress conditions and rapid transfer of vapour and liquid moisture under hugh thermal stress conditions. Several studies have been reported on the influence of various fibre, yarn and fabric constructional variables on comfort properties of woven and knitted fabrics and the findings show that the fibre, yarn and fabric variables strongly influence the thermo-physiological properties of fabrics and determine the suitability for their particular end use. Several yarn variables, like yarn twist, yarn count, yarn spinning system and yarn types , have been reported to affect the properties of textiles. Change in any of these parameters ultimately changes the yarn structure, which, in turn, depends on the fibre geometry. Distriution of fibres in yarn dictates thermal as well as moistre transfer properties of fabrics. Fabric structure, thickness, cover factor, aerial desnity, bulk density, fabric porosity and finishing treatments affect the thermal and moisture management properties and hence determine the comfort properties of textiles. This paper reports a detailed study on the comfort characteristics of textiles and factors at interplay.