A study on the interdependence of fabric pore size and its mechanical and comfort properties

The study was conducted to investigate the effect of cotton woven fabric pore size on its mechanical and comfort properties. Using 20/1 Ne cotton yarn, 10 fabrics with varying pore size were produced in plain weave for this study. In order to get variable pore sizes, the thread density was changed along warp and weft direction, keeping the linear density of yarn as constant. It was observed that with increase in pore size, air permeability as well as moisture management increased but the thermal resistance decreased. In general, the comfort properties of cotton fabrics were improved with a higher pore size but for applications requiring heat retention, the fabrics having smaller pore sizes must be preferred. It was further observed that the mechanical properties of cotton fabrics do not depend directly on the pore size, rather they depend on the number of threads, in a particular direction. The number of threads may be controlled to get desired pore size and ultimately the desired properties.