Evaluating air-gap effects on fabric moisture vapor transmission using a modified simple dish method
- Journal of Textile Engineering & Fashion Technology
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Merin Jahan Sabiha, Juechen He, Emiel DenHartog
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Abstract
Moisture vapor transfer through clothing plays a significant role in wearer comfort, particularly when sweat needs to evaporate from the body and pass through the fabric. In clothing systems, the space between the skin and the fabric is not fixed. It changes with garment fit, body shape, posture, and movement. However, the air-gap is not usually considered in a simple dish test. In this study, a modified simple dish method was used to examine how different air-gap thicknesses affect moisture vapor transmission through fabrics. Three fabrics were selected: two cotton/polyester denim fabrics, one untreated fabric (W-CP1) and one with stone washed (W-CP2) and one wool knitted fabric (K-W4). The air-gap between the water surface and the fabric was set at 3, 9.5, and 16 mm, and each fabric was evaluated with both sides facing the water surface. The results showed a decrease in moisture vapor transmission as the air-gap increased which suggests that a thicker air layer adds resistance to vapor movement. The wool knitted fabric showed the highest moisture vapor transmission because of its lower thickness and higher porosity compared with the woven denim fabrics. Fabric side did not have a major effect on moisture vapor transmission under these test conditions. The modified simple dish results were also compared with sweating guarded hot plate results, and both methods ranked the fabrics in a similar order. However, the measured values were different because the two methods use different test conditions.
Keywords
moisture vapor transmission, air-gap thickness, modified simple dish method, evaporative resistance, sweating guarded hot plate
