Moisture and Thermal Permeability of the Hollow Textured PET Imbedded Woven Fabrics for High Emotional Garments

This study examined the effects of the total porosity, pore size, and cover factor on the moisture and thermal permeability of woven fabrics made from DTY (draw textured yams) and ATY (air jet textured yarns) composite yams with hollow PET (polyethylene terephthalate) yams. The wicking of the hollow composite yam fabrics was found to be superior to that of the high twisted yam fabrics, which may be due to the high porosity in the hollow composites yams, but this was not related to the cover factor. The drying characteristics of the hollow composite yam fabric with high porosity were inferior compared to the high twisted yam fabrics due to the large amounts of liquid water in the large pores, which resulted in a longer drying time of the fabric. The thermal conductivity of the hollow composite yam fabrics decreased with increasing measured pore diameter due to the bulky yam structure. The effects of the hollowness of the yam on the thermal conductivity were more dominant than those of the yam structural parameters. The air permeability increased with increasing measured pore diameter but the effects of the cover factor on the air permeability were not observed in the hollow composite yam fabrics. The effects of porosity on the moisture and thermal permeability of the woven fabrics made from the hollow composite filaments were found to be critical, i.e., wicking and air permeability increase with increasing porosity. In addition, the drying rate increased with increasing porosity and the thermal conductivity decreased with increasing pore diameter, but were independent of the cover factor.