Studies on moisture transmission properties of PV-blended fabrics

Moisture transmission properties are most important for fabric comfort. We have studied the moisture transmission properties of the plain-woven fabric produced with polyester-viscose-(PV) blended yarns. PV-blended yarns of varying blend proportion, yarn count and twist levels have been used for fabric manufacture. A three-variable Box and Behnken factorial design technique has been used to study the interaction effects of the above variables on the aforesaid characteristics of fabrics. The interactive effect of these three variables on the air permeability, water vapour permeability, in-plane wicking and vertical wicking of PV-blended fabrics has been studied and the response surface equations for all the properties have been derived; also, the design variables have been optimized for all the moisture transmission-related properties. Most of the moisture transmission characteristics were found to be affected significantly by blend proportion, count and twist levels at 95% level of significance with the present variables.