Mechanical and tactile properties of plain knitted fabrics produced from rayon Vortex yarns

We investigated and compared rayon Vortex, ring-spun, and open-end spun yarns, and plain knitted fabrics produced from these yarns. Yarn tensile, compression, bending, and torsion tests were conducted, and differences between spinning systems were observed for bending and torsion properties. Evaluation by hand indicated that the Vortex fabric was much smoother than fabric made from open-end yarn, but less smooth than the fabric produced from ring-spun yarn. Fabric smoothness was related to both its air resistance and the hairiness of its yarn. Fabric air resistance is found to be a useful index to describe the tactile properties of knitted fabrics.