Original article

Textile Research Journal

2017, Vol. 87(11) 1349–1359

Investigating the effect of some fabric ! The Author(s) 2016

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parameters on the thermal comfort DOI: 10.1177/0040517516652347
journals.sagepub.com/home/trj
properties of flat knitted acrylic fabrics
for winter wear

Nazan Erdumlu and Canan Saricam

Abstract
In this paper, the thermal comfort properties of flat knitted acrylic fabrics differing in terms of knit structure, tightness,
thickness and porosity were investigated within the perspective of its usage in winter wear products. Measured and
calculated using the data from Permetest and Alambeta devices, the thermal comfort properties were handled in three
aspects, namely thermoregulation characteristics, breathability and thermo-physiological characteristics, and their rela-
tionship with fabric structural parameters were investigated statistically. The results indicated that rib 2  2 structures
provide the optimum condition in terms of thermoregulation, breathability and thermo-physiological comfort, whose
thickness and porosity values should be adjusted accordingly, since the thickness improves thermal insulation and
porosity improves breathability.

Keywords
thermal comfort, breathability, thermal resistance, thermal conductivity, thermal absorptivity, water vapor permeability,
acrylic

Comfort is one of the most important features of tex- to sweat because of weather conditions in winter time,
tiles for consumers in terms of casual wear product. air permeability and water vapor permeability of the
Due to its simple manufacturing technique, low pro- fabrics also have an impact on the thermoregulation
duction cost and several advantages they provide for characteristics of the fabrics. Known as breathability,4
consumers, such as high elasticity, freedom of move- which is the ability of clothing to allow the transmission
ment, good handle, ease of care, etc.,1 flat knitted of moisture vapor by diffusion and to facilitate eva-
fabrics are much more preferred in the production porative cooling,5 water vapor permeability depends
of casual wear products. The usage of yarns made of on air permeability.6 On the other hand, from the per-
acrylic fiber and its blends are also very common in the spective of thermo-physiological comfort, relative
market, especially for winter wear2 because of their water vapor permeability determines the transportation
wool-like touch, low density and easy care. of moisture through the fabric, since water is a good
Clothing comfort is related to the thermoregulation conductor of heat and thermal resistance is influenced
and moisture transport characteristics of the fabrics, by the amount of moisture that is present in the fabric.7
which explain the transfer of heat and mass between
the clothed body and the environment.
Thermoregulation characteristics are measured basi- _Istanbul Technical University Faculty of Textile Technologies and Design
cally with thermal resistance, thermal conductivity Department of Textile Engineering, Turkey
and thermal absorptivity. Being directly proportional
to thickness and inversely proportional to thermal con- Corresponding author:
Canan Saricam, _Istanbul Technical University Faculty of Textile
ductivity, thermal resistance is relevant to thermal insu- Technologies and Design Department of Textile Engineering, Inonu
lation.3 As a new concept, thermal absorptivity is about Cad., No: 65 34437, Gumussuyu, Beyoglu, Istanbul, Turkey.
the feeling of warm or cold. Although it is not common Email: [email protected]
1350 Textile Research Journal 87(11)

Being in indirect relation with the relative water vapor single jersey, half terry and terry sock fabrics that dif-
permeability, the lower values of water vapor resistance fered in fiber type and yarn structure. Ucar and
are desirable for better moisture transport8 and better Yilmaz14 analyzed the natural and forced convective
breathability. Together with thermal resistance, water heat transfer characteristics of 1  1, 2  2 and 3  3
vapor resistance can be used for calculating the moist- rib knitted fabrics produced from acrylic yarns.
ure permeability index, which is an overall indication of Nonetheless, the number of the studies regarding the
thermo-physiological comfort.4 According to thermal comfort characteristics of flat knitted fabrics
9
Woodcock, the moisture permeability index empha- made up of acrylic fibers, which are especially used
sizes the fact that clothing should maintain a level of for winter clothing, is still low and thus further inves-
thermal equilibrium. tigation is needed. The present studies about flat
There are many studies within the literature that knitted acrylic fabrics do not cover all the parameters
aimed to investigate and analyze thermal comfort prop- related with thermoregulation, breathability and
erties that basically covered the parameters related to thermo-physiological comfort. Moreover, the studies
heat and mass transfer, including different combina- within the literature usually try to explain the influence
tions of thermoregulation, breathability and even of the fabric structural characteristics independently.
moisture transmission parameters. Whereas some stu- Considering the points above, this study aimed to
dies considered the final uses of the products, most of extend the studies about the flat knitted fabrics for
them tried to explain the relationship between those winter wear made of acrylic yarn by investigating the
parameters and the fiber, yarn and fabric structural thermoregulation, breathability and thermo-physiolo-
characteristics on a general basis. gical comfort characteristics of different type of fabrics
Different type of fibers and yarns were selected by and their relation with the fabric structural properties,
researchers to examine the thermal comfort properties. such as knit structure, tightness, thickness and porosity,
Oglakcioglu and Marmarali1 studied polyester and with a further aim of analyzing the combined effect of
cotton fibers. Oglakcioglu et al.10 investigated the char- these parameters.
acteristics of single jersey knitted structures that were
produced using channeled and hollow polyester fibers.
Ozcelik et al.8 compared the thermo-physiological prop-
Materials and method
erties of interlock knitted fabrics produced with air-jet Single jersey, 1  1 interlock, 1  1 rib and 2  2 rib
textured, false-twist textured and non-textured filament structures were knitted using 100% acrylic yarn in the
polyethylene terephthalate (PET) yarns. Studying again count of 28/2 Nm in two different tightness levels, that
the micro-denier polyester filament, filament polyester is, slack and tight. The structures were knitted by using
and spun polyester, Sampath et al.3 also investigated a 7 fine, 672 needle Shima Seiki SES 124S V bed flat
knitted fabrics that are blends of polyester and cotton knitting machine. The properties of the knitted fabric
and 100% cotton. Gericke and Pol4 studied about the structures are given in Table 1 and the sketches and
selected comfort properties of cotton, regenerated photos of the specimen were given in Figure 1.
bamboo, and viscose rayon. Gun et al.3 investigated The number of courses and wales per cm, loop
the thermal comfort properties of plain knitted fabrics length, weight and thickness of the fabric samples was
made from modal viscose yarns having microfibers and measured according to the relevant standards.15–18 The
conventional fibers. Lizák et al.11 concentrated on the air permeability of the samples was measured by using
thermal transport characteristics of polypropylene fiber- Prowhite test apparatus according to standard EN ISO
based knitted fabrics. Having investigated many fibers, 9237:199519 by applying 100 Pa constant air pressure to
Amber et al.12 studied the relative effects of fine wool, each sample attached to a 20 cm2 circular holder. Within
mid-micron wool and acrylic. Thus, it was observed that this study air permeability was investigated in two
the studies mostly concentrated on the most common aspects. It was taken as an individual parameter in the
fibers, such as polyester or cotton. discussion of breathability and thermo-physiological
Other researchers concentrated on the influence of characteristics, whereas it was considered as an indica-
fabric structures on thermal properties, which were lim- tor for the porosity of the fabric in the discussion of
ited in either different fabric structures or the aspects of thermoregulation characteristics. Actually, it is known
thermal properties. Ozdil et al.13 evaluated the effect of that showing the openness of the fabric, the porosity of
yarn count, twist coefficient, combing process and the the fabric is defined as the ratio of the void area to total
tightness on the thermal properties of 1  1 cotton rib area of the fabric. However, air permeability depends
fabrics. The effect of single jersey, 1  1 rib and inter- heavily on the porosity of the fabric20–22 and, therefore,
lock structures on thermal properties was investigated it can be considered as a proxy for porosity.
by Oglakcioglu and Marmarali.1 Amber et al.12 inves- Invented by Hes et al.,23,24 the Alambeta instrument
tigated the thermal and moisture transfer properties of was used to measure the thermal conductivity, thermal
Erdumlu and Saricam 1351

Table 1. Properties of knitted fabric structures

Courses Wales Loop density Weight Thickness Loop Air permeability

Sample code per cm per cm (loops/cm2) (g/m2) (mm) length l (cm) (mm/s)

SJ-Slack 5.00 4.30 21.50 294.4 1.58 0.87 753.33

SJ-Tight 6.00 4.30 28.50 349.1 1.64 0.81 735.33
Rib 1  1-Slack 8.00 10.70 82.40 326.6 1.67 0.72 810.67
Rib 1  1-Tight 10.70 10.30 112.89 383.8 1.71 0.46 509.33
Rib 2  2-Slack 7.30 11.70 78.11 422.2 2.03 0.62 841.00
Rib 2  2-Tight 9.00 12.70 105.30 453.5 2.12 0.53 644.33
Int 1  1-Slack 8.00 11.70 47.20 431.4 2.25 0.68 431.33
Int 1  1-Tight 9.70 12.00 57.72 514.1 2.25 0.60 266.33

SJ (Single Jersey) Rib 1x1 Rib 2x2 Int 1x1

Diagra
m

Slack

Tight

Figure 1. Sketches and photos for the fabric specimens.

resistance and thermal absorptivity of the samples.25

Thermal conductivity  (W/mK) is evaluated as the bðWs1=2 =m2 KÞ ¼ ð   cÞ1=2 ð1Þ
quantity of heat that passes in unit time through the
unit area of a slab of infinite extent and unit thickness Invented by Hes and Araugo,27 the Permetest instru-
when a unit difference of temperature exists between its ment was used to measure thermal resistance Rct (m2K/
faces. Thermal resistance R (m2K/W) is evaluated as W), water vapor resistance Rt (Pa m2/W) and relative
the ratio of the temperature difference between two water vapor permeability pwv of the fabric samples.28
faces of the fabric to the rate of flow of heat per unit Actually, water vapor permeability was calculated
area normal to faces. R ¼ h/; where R is thermal resis- according to the equation below
tance, h is thickness and  is thermal conductivity.1,26
Thermal absorptivity b is evaluated as the heat flow Pwv ð%Þ ¼ 100 ðus =uo Þ ð2Þ
that passes between the human skin and the contacting
textile fabric. Thermal absorptivity b is given by the where us is heat loss from the measuring head with the
equation below, where r is the density and c is the fabric sample and uo expresses heat loss from the mea-
specific heat capacity of the sample suring head without fabric.29 Besides these values that
1352 Textile Research Journal 87(11)

are directly measured by the Permetest instrument, the the knit structure was found to be influential only on
parameter water vapor permeability index im was cal- thermal conductivity. These relationships are better
culated from equation (3)30 seen in Figures 2–4.
The thermal conductivity values, which show the
im ¼ 60:6ðRct =Rt Þ ð3Þ ability of the fabric to conduct heat, are given in
Figure 2. According to the figure, interlock structures
All tests were carried out three times under standard have the highest thermal conductivity and single jersey
atmospheric conditions, that is, 20  2 C temperature structures have the lowest thermal conductivity values
and 65  2% relative humidity. The samples were con- in both tight and slack forms, as in parallel with the
ditioned for a minimum of 24 hours before tests. previous results.1,26 This can be explained with the
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post hoc tests characteristics of interlock structures. The interlock
were used to analyze the test results for significance in structure is the tightest and has the lowest porosity
differences of the mean values of the measured proper- among these three knitted structures and, thus, it has
ties, since the fabric structural parameters of tightness maximum thermal conductivity values.26
and knit structures have a categorical type of data.31 Figure 2 also shows the influence of tightness on
Correlation analyses were used to define the relation- thermal conductivity. Although the thermal conductiv-
ships between the measured properties for the fabric ity values of rib 1  1 and rib 2  2 structures take place
structural parameters of fabric thickness and air perme- between the thermal conductivities of the single jersey
ability, which were used as an indicator for the fabric and interlock structures, their sequence differs
porosity. In order to show the relationship visually, for
whom the correlation values were found to be signifi-
cant for 24 measurements, the diagrams were drawn
from the average values of the characteristics of the Table 3. The results of the two-way analysis of variance for
specimen in different knitted structures using a trend- thermal comfort characteristics
line. All the statistical tests were established at the 0.05
Parameters and variables Df F Sig
significance interval using SPSS 2132 statistical
software. Thermal conductivity
Knit structure 3 92.735 0.000
Tightness 1 122.567 0.000
Results and discussion
Knit structure * tightness 3 5.465 0.009
Table 2 displays the thermoregulation properties of the Thermal resistance
fabric structures knitted from acrylic yarns. Knit structure 3 13.965 0.000
The influences of knit structure and tightness on Tightness 1 4.091 0.060
these characteristics were evaluated with two-way Knit structure * tightness 3 2.458 0.100
ANOVA statistical analysis. According to the signifi- Thermal absorptivity
cance values in Table 3, the knit structure was found to Knit structure 3 410.030 0.013
affect all three characteristics. Tightness was also found Tightness 1 425.884 0.037
to be influential on thermal conductivity and thermal Knit structure * tightness 3 217.562 0.085
absorptivity, whereas the combination of tightness and

Table 2. Thermal properties of knitted structures measured using Alambeta with standard deviations

Thermal conductivity Thermal resistance Thermal absorptivity

Sample code (W/mK) (m2 mK/W) (Ws1/2/ m2 K)

SJ-Slack 0.048 (0.0005) 0.040 (0.001) 119.00 (6.24)

SJ-Tight 0.049 (0.0002) 0.039 (0.002) 110.53 (13.06)
Rib 1  1-Slack 0.050 (0.0005) 0.043 (0.001) 111.67 (3.05)
Rib 1  1-Tight 0.053 (0.0004) 0.038 (0.001) 123.67 (4.73)
Rib 2  2-Slack 0.049 (0.0006) 0.056 (0.001) 97.63 (7.59)
Rib 2  2-Tight 0.051 (0.0006) 0.054 (0.001) 107.80 (8.30)
Int 1  1-Slack 0.052 (0.0007) 0.051 (0.001) 112.00 (13.45)
Int 1  1-Tight 0.054 (0.0003) 0.051 (0.001) 132.00 (10.58)
Erdumlu and Saricam 1353

according to tightness. Tight structures have higher

thermal conductivities when compared with the slack
structure of the same knit structure, as in the case of
previous findings,33 since it is known that tightness
increases the amount of fiber in a specific area of the
fabric and the thermal conductivity of fiber is higher
than the thermal conductivity of the entrapped air.1
Nonetheless, the change in tightness is more influential
on the rib structures than on single jersey and interlock
structures, as pointed out statistically. This may be
related with the firmer and more inflexible structure
of the single jersey and interlock structures. Tightness
might not have much influence on the inflexible
structures.
Thermal resistance values of the samples, which
show the ability of the fabric to prevent heat from flow-
Figure 2. Thermal conductivity values of knitted structures.
ing through it, are given in Figure 3. According to the
figure, thermal resistance values increase depending on
the knitted structure, namely single jersey, 1  1 rib,
interlock and 2  2 rib. This result was in parallel
with the findings of Oglakcioglu and Marmaralı,1
who found that the thermal resistance values of single
jersey structures were lower than both the 1  1 rib and
interlock structures. Moreover, Majumdar et al.26
found that interlock fabrics had maximum thermal
resistance, followed by rib and plain knitted fabrics.
Within the study, it was also observed that the ther-
mal resistance values were close to each other for two
fabric structures: single jersey and 1  1 rib structures
and interlock structure and rib 2  2. Considering the
fact that thermal resistance expresses the insulation
capability of the fabric structures,3,34 this revealed
that these pairs of fabric structures show more or less
the same insulation characteristics. Thus, it may be
better to use rib 2  2 or interlock structures for
Figure 3. Thermal resistance values of knitted structures. winter wear. Nonetheless, the tightness is observed to
have no important impact on the thermal resistance
values, although it was stated by Ucar and Yılmaz14
that heat loss decreased as fabrics became tight. This
result may be attributed to the fact that the tightness
can be more influential in different yarn counts and
densities.
Thermal absorptivity, which shows the warm cool
feeling of the fabric structures, is given in Figure 4.
According to the figure, the highest thermal absorptiv-
ity values were obtained for the single jersey and inter-
lock structures. Single jersey fabric had the highest
thermal absorptivity value in the slack form, whereas
interlock fabric had the highest value in the tight form.
This point was actually confirmed with the results of a
two-way ANOVA stating that tightness was another
influential factor for thermal absorptivities.
Nonetheless, the thermal absorptivity values of the rib
structures seemed to be lower than the thermal absorp-
Figure 4. Thermal absorptivity values of knitted structures. tivity values of the single jersey and interlock structures.
1354 Textile Research Journal 87(11)

Even rib 2  2 was seen to be the structure that had the thickness and air permeability, were also analyzed
lowest thermal absorptivity value. Having lower ther- using correlation analysis. Despite the fact that it is
mal absorptivity values, rib structures can be said to not possible to build a linear relationship between
have warmer feelings35 when compared with the inter- these two parameters, as there are other parameters
lock and single jersey structures that give a cooler feel- influencing them, the approximation of these relations
ing at the beginning of skin contact. The reason why were given with a chart that shows the average values
single jersey and interlock fabrics have higher thermal for the fabrics in different structures, as shown in
absorptivity and rib structures have lower absorptivity Figure 5.
is that thermal absorptivity is very much related to the The statistical analyses showed that there is a strong
surface characteristics. Actually, a smoother surface negative relation between thermal conductivity and air
increases the contact area between the skin and the permeability, with the Pearson correlation coefficient of
fabric and the heat flows easily, creating a cooler feel- –0.903 (p ¼ 0.002, n ¼ 24). The fabrics with higher por-
ing.36 Rib structures have ribs that create peak and osity values have lower thermal conductivities,26 since
valley patterns on the fabric surface and these decrease thermal conductivity is the combination of the conduc-
the contact area and so the flow of the heat. In fact, rib tivity of air and fiber. Tight constructions containing
1  1 structures, which provide a smoother surface than more fibers and less air in a structure have higher ther-
rib 2  2 structures, have higher thermal absorptivity mal conductivity values.7On the other hand, the rela-
values. Tightness, on the other hand, is found to be tion between thickness and thermal resistance of the
influential on thermal absorptivity because fabric struc- fabrics was found to be directly proportional to the
ture and tightness change the surface structure.37 Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.86 (p ¼ 0.006,
Considering the thermal absorptivity values, it can be n ¼ 24). This meant that thicker fabrics offer more resis-
stated that rib structures can be more preferred for tance to heat flow across the fabric. This result is
winter wear because of giving a warmer feeling. exactly parallel with the previous findings34,38 and it
The relation between thermal properties and the was confirmed that in expressing the thermal insulation
structural characteristics of the fabrics, which are of the fabrics, thermal resistance mainly depends on the

Figure 5. The relation between thermal properties and the fabric parameters of different knitted structures: (a) the relationship
between thermal resistance and thickness; (b) the relationship between thermal conductivity and air permeability; (c) the relationship
between thermal absorptivity and air permeability.
Erdumlu and Saricam 1355

Table 4. The breathability and thermo-physiological comfort properties of knitted structures with standard deviations

Water vapor Relative water Water vapor

Air permeability Thermal resistance, resistance, vapor permeability permeability
Sample code (mm/s) Rct (m2mK/W) Rt (Pa m2/W) (%) index im

SJ-Slack 753.33 (11.504) 0.051 (0.005) 7.50 (0.35) 43.53 (1.10) 0.42 (0.042)
SJ-Tight 735.33 (6.807) 0.055 (0.003) 7.77 (0.59) 42.40 (1.97) 0.43 (0.053)
Rib 1  1-Slack 810.67 (11.547) 0.058 (0.004) 8.30 (0.44) 40.83 (1.27) 0.42 (0.015)
Rib 1  1-Tight 509.33 (5.132) 0.046 (0.004) 7.33 (0.70) 43.60 (2.76) 0.38 (0.03)
Rib 2  2-Slack 841.00 (34.395) 0.068 (0.009) 9.27 (0.35) 38.30 (1.14) 0.45 (0.058)
Rib 2  2-Tight 644.33 (15.560) 0.066 (0.006) 8.20 (1.14) 40.90 (2.97) 0.42 (0.015)
Int 1  1-Slack 431.33 (26.558) 0.068 (0.001) 10.130 (0.95) 35.93 (2.24) 0.41 (0.036)
Int 1  1-Tight 266.33 (19.655) 0.062 (0.006) 9.67 (0.55) 37.43 (1.25) 0.39 (0.026)

fabric thickness.12,30,38,39 This is because actually

increasing the thickness of the fabric increases the Table 5. The results of the two-way analysis of variance for
amount of air within the fabric and the insulation char- water vapor resistance, water vapor permeability and the water
acteristics of the air are better than the fiber. The rela- permeability index
tion between air permeability and thermal absorptivity Parameters and variables Df F Sig
was also found to be statistically significant with the
Pearson correlation coefficient of –0.738 (p ¼ 0.037, Air permeability
n ¼ 24). This meant that as the porosity of the fabric Knit structure 3 578.03 0.000
increases, the thermal absorptivity decreases, giving a Tightness 1 474.852 0.000
warmer feeling to the user. This finding may be attrib- Knit structure * tightness 3 55.902 0.000
uted to the fact that thermal absorptivity depends on Water vapor resistance
the thermal capacity and thermal conductivity of the Knit structure 3 16.286 0.000
fabric.8 Within the porous structures, the fibers are Tightness 1 0.696 0.417
not closely placed to each other and this makes the
Knit structure * tightness 3 1.129 0.367
thermal conductivity to become lower. Since the ther-
Water vapor permeability index
mal absorptivity is dependent on the thermal conduc-
tivity, as the porosity of the fabric increases, the Knit structure 3 1.416 0.275
thermal absorptivity decreases. Tightness 1 1.532 0.234
Regarding the thermoregulation characteristics, it Knit structure * tightness 3 0.645 0.597
can be stated that interlock and rib 2  2 structures
provide better characteristics in terms of thermal insu-
lation and warmer feeling, respectively, for the usage of form, whose values are followed with rib 2  2 and
fabrics for winter wear products. In addition, the larger rib 1  1 fabrics. Nonetheless, in slack form, the air
the porosity and thickness of the fabrics, the more the permeability values become highest for rib 2  2 fol-
fabric improves the thermal comfort in terms of lowed with rib 1  1 and then single jersey fabric.
thermoregulation. Confirmed statistically and in parallel with the previous
The parameters regarding the breathability and studies,33,40 these results are due to the influence of
thermo-physiological comfort are summarized in both knit type and tightness on the air permeability.
Table 4. Other than these, putting forward the combined influ-
The influences of the knit structure and tightness on ence of knit structure and tightness, it is observed that
these characteristics were evaluated with a two-way the difference between the air permeability values in
ANOVA, as shown in Table 5. It was observed that single jersey and interlock structures is lower than the
only the knit structure is influential on the water difference between the tight and slack forms of rib 1  1
vapor resistance and water vapor permeability. and rib 2  2 structures. Nonetheless, the rib and single
The air permeability values for different fabric speci- jersey structures should be preferred to improve the
mens are shown in Figure 6. The interlock fabric struc- breathability characteristics of the fabrics.
tures in both tight and slack form were found to have The water vapor resistance is demonstrated in
the lowest air permeability values. Single jersey fabrics Figure 7. According to the figure, water vapor resis-
have the highest air permeability values in the tight tance is highest for interlock and lowest for single
1356 Textile Research Journal 87(11)

Figure 8. Water vapor permeability index im of knitted

structures.
Figure 6. Air permeability values of knitted structures.

The water vapor permeability index im values of the

knitted structures, which were calculated using the ther-
mal resistance and water vapor resistance values, are
given in Figure 8. Actually, im is dimensionless and
has values between 0 and 1. A fabric with a value of
1 has both the thermal resistance and water vapor resis-
tance of an air layer of the same thickness.9 Thus for
winter clothing, fabrics with higher water vapor perme-
ability index values are recommended. Although no
significant relationship was found between the water
permeability index im and the fabric parameters of
knit structure and tightness, Figure 8 shows that rib
2  2 structures have higher index values and interlock
structures have lower index values compared with the
other ones. Since im is the ratio of the thermal resistance
values to the water vapor resistance values, the index
values for the rib and interlock structures can be
Figure 7. Water vapor resistance values of knitted structures. explained with the fact that rib 2  2 structures have
higher thermal resistance values but lower water
vapor resistance values. Thus, the rib 2  2 structure
jersey fabrics. Rib structures, on the other hand, had provides better thermo-physiological comfort, followed
values between single jersey and interlock structures. by rib 1  1 and single jersey structures. Despite the fact
This result is in parallel with the previous findings.26 that interlock structures provide thermal resistance,
The ranking of the results are vice versa for relative they are not suitable thermo-physiologically because
water vapor permeability values, as shown in Table 4, of having higher water resistance.
since water vapor resistance is indirectly related to rela- The relations between the fabric structural para-
tive water vapor permeability. The results revealed that meters and the breathability and thermo-physiological
single jersey fabrics are better than the interlock struc- parameters were analyzed by correlation analyses and
tures in transmitting vapor from the body, enabling the approximation of these relations were given with
them to be more breathable. Considering the usage of the diagrams and a trend line, using the average
fabrics as winter wear, it can be stated that the comfort values for different knitted structures, as shown in
characteristics worsen for the interlock fabrics if sweat- Figure 9.
ing occurs. Regarding the influence of tightness, it can The Pearson correlation coefficient between water
be stated that although it was not confirmed statisti- vapor resistance and thickness of the knitted structures
cally, as was done by Ozdil et al.,13 the difference was found to be 0.859 (p ¼ 0.006, n ¼ 24). Thickness
between slack and tight structures in both 1  1 and increases the water vapor resistance, which leads to
2  2 rib structures is higher than that in single jersey the conclusion that transportation of water vapor
and interlock fabrics. through a thin fabric will be easier, providing higher
Erdumlu and Saricam 1357

Figure 9. The relation between breathability properties and the fabric parameters of different knitted structures: (a) the relationship
between water vapor resistance and thickness; (b) the relationship between air permeability and thickness; (c) the relationship
between the water vapor permeability index and air permeability.

breathability to the fabric.1,12,20,34 This is because, resistance but decreases the water vapor resistance,
beside the lower values of mass per square meter and causing the water vapor permeability index to have
hairiness, lower thickness provides easy passage of higher values. Since air permeability is an indicator
water vapor through the fabric.26 The Pearson correla- for the porosity of the fabric, this means that the
tion coefficient between air permeability and thickness water vapor permeability index increases as the poros-
was found to be –0.568 (p ¼ 0.004, n ¼ 24). The air per- ity of the fabric structures increases. In fact, together
meability decreases with the thickness of the fabric, as with thickness permeability, it is stated to determine
was confirmed by the previous findings,7,38,42 which water vapor transmission, which is controlled by the
state that lower thickness facilitated the passage of air diffusion process.12,20
through the fabric, decreasing the amount of time Regarding the breathability and thermo-physiologi-
required to pass through the fabric. Finally, the cal characteristics, it was found that single jersey and
Pearson correlation coefficient between the water rib structures provide better characteristics in the usage
vapor permeability index im and air permeability was as winter wear. Nonetheless, decreasing the thickness
found to be significant, obtaining the value of 0.793 and increasing the porosity makes the user feel more
(p ¼ 0.019, n ¼ 24), as shown in Figure 9. Being depen- comfortable.
dent upon the thermal resistance and water vapor resis-
tance, the water permeability index values increase as
the air permeability values decrease . Since air perme-
Conclusions
ability has an indirect relationship with the water vapor This study examined the thermoregulation, breathabil-
resistance,20,42 as the air permeability increases the ity and thermo-physiological properties of acrylic-
water vapor resistance decreases. Thermal resistance based single jersey, 1  1 rib, 2  2 rib and interlock
also increases with an increase in air permeability, as flat knitted structures that are suitable for use as
there is a negative correlation between thermal conduc- winter wear.
tivity and air permeability, as stated above. Thus, The experimental results revealed that the para-
increasing the air permeability increases the thermal meters of thermal comfort are significantly affected by
1358 Textile Research Journal 87(11)

the knit structure. Furthermore, it was found that tight- 2. Mal P, Ghosh A, Majumdar A, et al. Engineering of
ness of the knitted structures has an influence on ther- knitted cotton fabrics for optimum comfort in a hot cli-
mal conductivity, thermal absorptivity and air mate. Fibres Text East Eur 2016; 24: 102–106.
permeability, while it had no significant impact on 3. Sampath MB, Arputharaj A, Senthilkumar M, et al.
Analysis of thermal comfort characteristics of moisture
water vapor resistance and the water vapor permeabil-
management finished knitted fabrics made from different
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Declaration of conflicting interests
15. ISO 3801:1977. Determination of mass per unit length
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with and mass per unit area.
respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this 16. BS EN 14970:2006. Textiles - knitted fabrics -
article. determination of stitch length and yarn linear density
in weft knitted fabrics.
17. BS EN. 14971:2006. Textiles - knitted fabrics -
Funding determination of number of stitches per unit length and
The authors received no financial support for the research, unit area.
authorship and/or publication of this article. 18. EN ISO 5084:1996. Textiles – determination of thickness
of textiles and textile products.
19. ISO 9237:1995. Textiles-determination of permeability of
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