Impact of sweat composition on thermo physiological comfort of clothing

Abstract

Moisture transport and drying behaviour of the multi-layer clothing system is crucial for perceived comfort, protection against harmful environmental stress and potential performance of wearer. Thermo-physiological comfort of multilayered ensembles is dependent on the composition of moisture, arrangement and composition of constituent layers and structural properties of the seams that join the layers. Most of the earlier studies on thermo-physiological behaviour of textiles are carried out using the water. However, the sweat generated by human beings is different from water. It also contains vitamins, salts, fatty oils and acids. newlineHence, in the present study, properties critical to the functioning of the outdoor apparels for multi-layered and single layer components i.e., polyester knitted fabric as an inner layer (next to the skin), polyester fleece/polyester spacer as the middle layer and PU coated nylon as the outer layer were tested using sweat solution and the results are compared with the tests done using pure water. newlineIt was observed that both sweat and water show significant difference in terms of their vapour moisture and liquid moisture transmission behaviour. Water vapour transmission rate of the fabrics when tested with sweat solution was significantly lower than that tested with water. Drying rate of sweat solution was also lower than water. For sweat solution, absorption rate was higher for both the inner and the outer surface as compared to pure water for single layer fabrics. Sweat solution also exhibited significantly higher one-way transport capacity (OWTC) and overall liquid transmission behaviour as compared to the water. It was also observed that polyester spacer fabric shows higher overall moisture management coefficient (OMMC) followed by polyester knit, polyester fleece and PU coated nylon fabric. newlineThe performance of multi-layered ensemble was dominated by the impact of PU coated layer. Multi-layered structure with spacer as the middle layer exhibited better water vapour transmissio