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 DOI: 10.1177/004051759306301003

1993 63: 573Textile Research JournalP. Radhakrishnaiah, Sukasem Tejatanalert and A.P.S. Sawhney

Cotton-Covered Cotton/Polyester YarnsHandle and Comfort Properties of Woven Fabrics Made from Random Blend and

  

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Handle and Comfort Properties of Woven Fabrics Made from Random Blendand Cotton-Covered Cotton/Polyester Yarns

P. RADHAKRISHNAIAH AND SUKASEM TEJATANALERTSchool of Textile and Fiber Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, U.S.A.

A. P. S. SAWHNEY

USDA, ARS, Southern Regional Research Center, New Orleans, Louisiana 70179, U.S.A.

ABSTRACT

Two identically constructed cotton/polyester fabrics, one made from polyester staple-core/cotton-covered yarn and the other from a random blend yarn, were evaluatedfor their low-stress mechanical properties and hand quality, following the objectivehand evaluation approach developed by Kawabata. Heat energy dissipation throughthe fabrics under dry and wet contact conditions and their warm-cool contact sensationswere measured using Kawabata’s new "Thermolabo Device." Comparison of the low-stress mechanical properties revealed that the fabric made of polyester-core/cotton-covered yam is more resilient to tensile and compressive deformation and has higherbending rigidity, lower tensile elongation, and lower shear modulus. The same fabricalso gives higher values for all four primary hand qualities and for total hand qualityassociated with a men’s summer suit application. For a women’s thin dress application,it gives higher values for five out of the six primary hand qualities. It also offers acooler contact sensation and much less variation in contact sensation along its length .

compared to the fabric from the random blend yarn. The amount of heat energydissipated through the fabric made of cotton-covered yam was lower under dry contact(nonsweating) conditions and higher under wet contact (sweating) conditions, sug-gesting that this fabric may have a better thermal comfort value for cold and dry(winter) as well as hot and humid (summer) weather conditions. Energy dissipationalong the fabric also varied much less for the material from cotton-covered yarn. Thiswork not only identifies differences in the subjective properties of the fabrics in quan-titative terms, but also demonstrates the value of Kawabata’s methods for designingand producing superior quality apparel fabrics.

The term &dquo;fabric quality,&dquo; as it is understood bymanufacturers and consumers, generally reflects thelevel of manufacturing defects present in the fabric andits serviceability as defined by a selected group of prop-erties such as strength, abrasion resistance, resistanceto pilling, etc. This traditional approach to interpretingfabric quality, however, fails to take into account otherimportant aspects associated with the total quality ofapparel materials such as a fabric’s ability to provideprotection from cold or hot weather, its tactile sensa-tion, its three-dimensional shape-forming and shape-retention ability, and the tendency of the fabric to im-pose a load on the human body when it is used as anunder or upper garment and subjected to multi-axialstretch by the movement of the body. These latter vir-tues, in fact, decide the level of comfort and satisfactionderived by the user of a particular garment, and so they

are more important than the normal functional prop-erties in deciding the suitability of fabrics for particularend-uses. Unfortunately, the current practice of judgingfabric quality totally ignores these important virtues.The first step in developing a new generation of ap-

parel fabrics with superior comfort value and satisfac-tory service life therefore lies in recognizing the needfor a broad based definition of fabric quality. An in-tegrated, inclusive approach to evaluating fabric qualityis certainly necessary for the success of ever-expandingresearch efforts to create more and more advancedyarns and fabrics. The need for such an approach be-comes even more apparent when considering the spe-cial characteristics (tactile and aesthetic properties) ofthe products turned out by the new yarn and fabricmanufacturing technologies and finishing treatments.A re-definition of the group of properties contributing

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to the overall quality of apparel fabrics can also enhanceconsumer awareness of the importance of nontradi-tional properties in determining ultimate quality.

Objective evaluation of the hand of apparel fabricswas first attempted by Peirce [ 18] as early as 1930, butthe credit for providing a feasible instrumental tech-nique to evaluate hand quality goes to Kawabata [5].With the help of an expert committee (Hand Evalua-tion and Standardization Committee), he identifiedhand quality attributes (or primary hand qualities suchas fullness, stiffness, crispness, etc.) applicable for se-lected end-uses and the mechanical and surface prop-erties that relate to these attributes. Simultaneously,he also developed a system of sensitive electronicequipment (KES-F) to reliably measure fabric prop-erties that relate to these different attributes. Throughthis approach, Kawabata thus provided an instrumen-tal procedure for quantitative evaluation of tactileproperties of apparel fabrics. Kawabata and Niwa [ 1] Ialso realized that the comfort performance of apparelfabrics is influenced not only by their tactile properties,but also by their inherent ability to transport air, heat,and moisture. The authors thus developed new instru-mental procedures [8, 9, 10, 13] to measure these latterproperties, and in their opinion [ 11 ], the objectivelyevaluated total hand quality and the measured trans-port properties provide a means of defining the truequality of apparel fabrics.The approaches of Kawabata and Niwa certainly

provide exciting opportunities for developing a newgeneration of apparel fabrics. Indeed, the Japanese tex-tile industry and research institutions have already usedKawabata’s methods for a wide range of applications,such as developing new products with superior prop-erties [7, 16, 17], process optimization [2, 14, 15],quality control [3, 4], selecting raw materials [22],minimizing manufacturing costs [ 1 ], etc. We believe,however, that the potential benefits of the KawabataEvaluation System for Fabrics (KES-F) are yet to besignificantly explored by the world textile industry. Itsfuture value to industry lies not only in product en-hancement, but also in developing new productionprocesses, real time monitoring and control of thoseprocesses, automating manufacturing, and promotingthe principle of product engineering. It carries the po-tential to make product engineering a reality in thetextile industry, perhaps as close a reality as it is in theautomobile, aircraft, and general engineering indus-tries.

In this work, we used Kawabata’s methods for ob-jective characterization of the handle and comfortproperties of two woven fabrics made from regular

and specially engineered cotton/polyester yarns. Weplanned this work with the following specific objectivesin mind: (a) computing the hand qualities of the ex-perimental fabrics for men’s summer suit and women’sthin dress applications, (b) comparing their thermalcomfort performance under sweating and nonsweatingconditions, (c) comparing their low-stress mechanicaland surface properties, (d) comparing instantaneouscontact sensations (warm/cool feeling) offered by thefabrics, and (e) assessing their relative merits for sum-mer clothing applications.

Materials and Methods

YARN AND FABRIC PRODUCTION

A &dquo;sandwich-type&dquo; staple-core spinning device [21 ]attached to a Roberts Arrow ring-spinning frame wasused to produce the cotton-covered/polyester staple-core yarn. The 100% cotton and 100% polyester rovingsrequired for this yarn were conventionally preparedunder normal mill conditions.To produce the random blend yarn, cotton and

polyester staples were mixed in the blow room in therequired proportions. The blended stock was thencarded, drawn twice, converted into roving, and theroving fed to an unmodified Roberts Arrow ring-spin-ning frame to produce the required yam. The twistmultiple and other spinning process parameters werethe same for both yarns.

Construction particulars of the experimental fabricsare listed in Table I. The fabrics were woven underidentical conditions on a 1.32 m wide Draper loom,then desized, scoured, bleached, and dyed on the samewet processing equipment under similar process con-ditions.

TABLE I. Fabric construction particulars.

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LOW-STRESS MECHANICAL, SURFACE, ANDTHERMAL PROPERTIES

We used the KES-F to measure fabric mechanicaland surface properties. Table II describes the test con-ditions for measuring properties, while Table III liststhe property parameters evaluated under tensile, shear,bending, compression, and surface tests. We made fourwarp and four filling tests to determine the averagevalues of the test parameters listed in Table III. Wealso conditioned the test specimens at 65 ± 2% RHand 22 ± 1 °C before measuring their properties.

TABLE II. Instrument settings and loading conditionsfor fabric evaluation.

We used Kawabata’s new thermal tester &dquo;Thermo-labo-II&dquo; [ 12] to compare the warm/cool contact sen-sation offered by the fabrics and to measure the energydissipation (rate of heat and moisture flow) throughthem. Measurement of warm/cool contact sensation isbased on the fact that fabrics maintained at room tem-perature tend to momentarily absorb a certain amountof heat from the body whenever they make contactwith it. The rate of heat flow, which is believed to reacha peak value (Qmax) approximately 0.2 seconds aftercontact is established by the fabric [ 12], has been foundto relate to the warm/cool feeling offered by the fabric.The thermolabo device uses a constant heat capacityhollow metal box (T-box) in place of the human bodyand measures the maximum rate of heat flow (0num)from the T-box to the fabric surface.We measured energy dissipation through the fabric

using a constant temperature hot plate (BT-box), which

TABLE II1. Mechanical and surface properties involvodin KESF tests.

is also a part of the Thermolabo device. The differencein the electrical power required to maintain the hotplate at the body temperature with and without testspecimen contact is a measure of energy dissipationthrough the fabric. We obtained energy dissipationvalues under both dry and wet contact conditions tounderstand the heat transfer behavior of the fabricswhen they are in contact with dry and wet skin. In thedry method, the fabric was placed directly on the sur-face of the hot plate and the amount of energy dissi-pated through the fabric in 1 minute was measured asa function of the electrical energy supplied to the hotplate during the I minute period to maintain it at the

body temperature. In the wet method, a porous papersubjected to controlled wetting was placed on the hotplate and the fabric specimen was then placed on thetop of the paper. The wet paper was used to simulatewet skin. The paper remained wet for approximately30 minutes after it was placed on the hot plate, andthe energy dissipation values obtained for a particularfabric did not show excess variation within this period.In general, energy dissipation values obtained in thewet state can be expected to be higher than those ob-tained in the dry state because of the additional energyexpended in the form of latent heat of water vaporiza-tion.

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HAND VALUES

We used sixteen of the eighteen property parameterslisted in Table III in Kawabata’s hand prediction equa-tions for the men’s summer suit application [6] tocompute the primary and total hand qualities of theexperimental fabrics. We also computed primary handqualities for the women’s thin dress application, usingthe appropriate hand prediction equations and the as-sociated constant coefficients [6]. Table IV describesthe primary hand qualities associated with the two dif-ferent end-uses and the fabric properties that relate tothe individual hand qualities.

Results and Discussion

LOW-STRESS MECHANICAL AND SURFACEPROPERTIES

Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 and Table V illustrate the majordifferences in properties exhibited by the two fabrics.The fabric made from the cotton-covered yam showed

higher bending rigidity, especially in the warp direction(B-1), higher tensile resilience, also predominantly inthe warp direction (RT-1 ), higher compressive resil-ience (RC), lower shear rigidity and shear hysteresis(G and 2HG), and lower tensile elongation (EM). Thewarp direction surface roughness peaks of this fabric(Figure 4) showed a lower amplitude, and the thicknessreduction achieved at higher compressive loads (Figure3) was also lower for this fabric. Tensile, bending, andshear properties differed most in the warp directionbecause of the greater thread density of the warp yarns.The differences observed in fabric properties can belargely attributed to the difference in the bulk and cov-ering properties of the two yarns. Earlier work [ 19, 20]

TABLE V. Selected mechanical and surface properties ofexperimental fabrics.

° Indicates warp direction. b Indicates filling direction.

has shown that cotton-covered yams produce fabricswith superior cover factor and abrasion resistance

properties. The cotton-covered yam we used also

showed superior cloth cover, which was evident to thenaked eye. Two inherent virtues-reduced air spacebetween the yams and enhanced yam-to-yam con-

TABLE IV. Primary hand qualities associated with men’s summer suit and women’s thin dress applications.

I Relevant to the women’s thin dress application only. ,

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577

tact-characteristic of the fabric containing the cotton-covered yam gave this fabric higher bending rigidity,higher tensile and compressive resilience, and lower

FIGURE 1. Warpwise tensile and recovery behavior. - fabricmade of random blend yarn, - - - fabric made of cotton-coveredyam.

’

FIGURE 2. Warpwise bending and recovery behavior. - fabricmade of random blend yarn, - - - fabric made of cotton-coveredyarn.

tensile elongation. Shear rigidity, shear hysteresis, andacross the warp surface roughness of the fabric werelower because of the lower yarn crimp, which in turnwas a consequence of the special bulk and softnessproperties of the cotton-covered yarn.

PRIMARY AND TOTAL HAND QUALITIES _

.

The hand values presented in Table Vi are a truereflection of the low-stress mechanical and surfaceproperties of the fabrics. The applicable range of valuesfor the primary hand qualities listed in Table VI is 0-

FIGURE 3. Compression and recovery behavior fibric madeof random blcnd yam, - - - fabric made of cotton-covered yam.

FIGURE 4. Surface roughness across warp yam: (top) hbic madeof cotton-covered yam, (bottom) fabric made of random blend yam

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578

10, and the range for the total hand quality is 0-5. Thehigher the value of the primary hand quality withinthe 0-10 range, the greater the intensity of this partic-ular hand (tactile) feeling. The higher the total handvalue within the 0-5 range, the better the hand quality.Table VI shows that the fabric representing the cotton-covered yam gives higher values for all primary handqualities and for total hand quality associated with themen’s summer suit application. This fabric also giveshigher values for all primary hand qualities associatedwith the women’s thin dress application, except forShinayakasa, which reflects a combined feeling ofsmoothness, flexibility, and softness.

J .

TABLE VI. Objectively evaluated hand values for men’s summersuit and women’s thin dress applications.

a Represents the random blend yam.

THERMAL PROPERTIES

The 0m~ values in Table VII indicate transient heatflux or the maximum rate of heat flow from the bodyto the fabric surface after contact is established betweenthe two. The higher the 0max value (i.e., the greater thepeak value of the momentary heat flow), the coolerwill be the contact sensation. Based on the average Maxvalues for the two fabrics, we can infer that the fabricmade of the cotton-covered yarn gives a cooler contactsensation. Also, the CV% values suggest that the fabricmade of the cotton-covered yarn offers a more uniform

(less varying) contact sensation. The warm/cool contactsensation offered by the fabric from the cotton-coveredyarn is therefore favorable for summer clothing appli-cations.

Energy dissipation and thermal insulation valuesgiven in Table VII suggest that the fabric from the cot-ton-covered yarn transmits slightly less energy throughit under dry contact (nonsweating) conditions and moreenergy under wet contact (sweating) conditions. Resultsalso reveal that dry and wet energy dissipation along

TABLE VII. Thermal properties of experimental fabrics.

I Represents the random blend yam.

the fabric is much less variable for this material. Energydissipation values thus suggest that the fabric contain-ing the cotton-covered yarn may have better thermalcomfort values for both summer (hot and humid) and o

winter (cold and dry) weather conditions.

. Conclusions

The two fabrics showed significant differences in low-stress mechanical and surface properties, hand quali-ties, and thermal characteristics. Differences in fabric

properties mostly reflected differences in yarn physicalproperties. The results obtained for dry and wet energydissipation, hand quality, and warm/cool contact sen-sation demonstrated the superiority of the fabric madefrom cotton-covered yarn for both summer and winter

clothing applications. The two end-uses considered inthis work (men’s summer suits and women’s thindresses) may not be the ideal end-uses for the two fab-rics ; their choice was mainly governed by the avail-ability of hand prediction equations. Even for theseend-uses, it is clear that the fabric made from the cot-ton-covered yarn offers better handle and thermal

comfort properties.

Literature Cited

1. Camaby, G., Kawabata, S., Niwa, M., Mori, M., Saito,K., and Walls, R. K., The Utilization of New ZealandWools in Tropical Fabrics, in "Objective Measurement:Applications to Product Design and Process Control,"TMSJ, Osaka, Japan, 1986, p. 75.

2. Dhingra, R. C., Liu, D., and Postle, R., Measuring andInterpreting Low-Stress Fabric Mechanical and SurfaceProperties, Part II: Application to Finishing, Dry Clean-ing and Photodegradation of Wool Fabrics, Textile, Res.J. 59, 357-368 (1989).

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3. Ito, K., Process Control in Tailoring Based on ObjectiveData About Fabric Properties—Progress in the Last Year,in "Objective Evaluation of Apparel Fabrics," TMSJ,Osaka, Japan, 1983, p. 89.

4. Ito, K., The Use of Objective Measurement of FabricMechanical Properties for Process and Quality Controlin an Apparel Company, in "Objective Specification ofFabric Quality, Mechanical Properties and Perfor-mance," TMSJ, Osaka, Japan, 1982, p. 331.

5. Kawabata, S., Ed., "The Standardization and Analysisof Hand Evaluation," HESC, The Textile MachinerySociety of Japan, Osaka, Japan, 1975.

6. Kawabata, S., Ed., "The Standardization and Analysisof Hand Evaluation," 2nd ed., HESC, The Textile Ma-chinery Society of Japan, Osaka, Japan, 1980.

7. Kawabata, S., Fabric Hand and Quality Associated withShingosen, a New Type of PET Fiber, in "Proc. Twenty-First Textile Research Symposium at Susono City,"TMSJ, Osaka, Japan, 1992, p. 109.

8. Kawabata, S., in "Proc. Fourteenth Textile TechnologySymposium at Mount Fuji," TMSJ, Osaka, Japan, 1985,p. 39.

9. Kawabata, S., in "Proc. Thirty-Third Annual Meetingof the Textile Machinery Society of Japan," 1980, p. 29.

10. Kawabata, S., Direction of Recent Development in Ob-jective Measurement, in "Objective Measurement: Ap-plications to Product Design and Process Control,"TMSJ, Osaka, Japan, 1985, p. 29.

I1. Kawabata, S., and Niwa, M., Fabric Performance inClothing and Clothing Manufacture, J. Textile Inst. 80(1), 19-41 (1989).

12. Kawabata, S., Niwa, M., and Sakaguchi, H., Applicationof the New Thermal Tester "Thermolabo" to the Eval-uation of Clothing Comfort, in "Objective Measurement:Applications to Product Design and Process Control,"TMSJ, Osaka, Japan, 1985, p. 343.

13. Kawabata, S., Niwa, M., and Sakaguchi, H., in "Pro.Third Japan/Australia Symposium on Objective Mea-surement," TMSJ, Osaka, Japan, 1985, p. 343.

14. Mahar, T. J., Dhingra, R. C., and Postle, R., The Inves-tigation and Objective Measurement of Fabric Mechan-

ical and Physical Properties Relevant to Tailoring, in"Objective Specification of Fabric Quality, MechanicalProperties and Performance," TMSJ, Osaka, 1982, p.301.

15. Matsui, Y., Fabric Finishing on the Basis of objectiveMeasurement of Fabric Mechanical Properties by Co-operation with Apparel Company Engineers, in "Objec-tive Evaluation of Apparel Fabrics," TMSJ, Osaka, Ja-pan, 1983, p. 301.

16. Mori, M., Fabric Design and Production on the Basis ofObjective Measurement of Fabric Mechanical Propertiesin Cooperation with Apparel Company Engineers, in"Objective Evaluation of Apparel Fabrics," TMSJ,Osaka, Japan, 1983, p. 55.

17. Niwa, M., Wang, F., Ayata, M., Miki, M., and Kawabata,S., Fabric Hand and the Optimum Silhouette Design forLadies Dress, in "Proc. Twenty-First Textile ResearchSymposium at Susono City," TMSJ, Osaka, Japan, 1992,p. 122.

18. Peirce, F. T., The "Handle" of Cloth as a MeasurableQuantity, J. Textile Inst. 21, T377-T416 (1930).

19. Ruppenicker, G. F., Harper, R. J., Sawhney, A. P. S.,and Robert, K. Q., Comparison of Cotton/Polyester Coreand Staple Blend Yarns and Fabrics, Textile. Res. J. 59,12-17 (1989).

20. Sawhney, A. P. S., Harper, R. J., Ruppenicker. G. F.,and Robert, K. Q., Comparison of Fabrics Made withCotton Covered Polyester Staple-Core Yarn and 100%Cotton Yarn, Textile Res. J. 61, 71-74 (1991).

21. Sawhney, A. P. S., Robert, K. Q., Ruppenicker, G. F.,and Kimmel, L. B., Improved Method of ProducingCotton-Covered/Polyester-Staple-Core Yarn on a RingSpinning Frame, Textile Res. J. 62, 21-25 (1992).

22. Uemura, M., Buying Control of Fabrics on the Basis ofFabric Objective Measurement in an Apparel Com-pany—Present and Future, in "Proc. Second Australia-Japan Symposium on Objective Evaluation of ApparelFabrics," Parkville, Australia, 1983, p. 387.

Manuscript received January 8. /993; aocepted FHWWy /<. lfJ9J.

’ z

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