A study of the nature of fabric comfort: Design-oriented fabric comfort model.

摘要

This study aims at taking a new approach to the analysis of fabric comfort phenomenon. This approach is based on the following definition of comfort, developed in the initial phase of this study: "The state at which the fabric/garment has a minimum mechanical interaction with the skin, and an optimum positive interaction with the environment; the environment here being the surrounding media and the localized against-skin media".; The above definition agrees with the main directions of comfort research that have been followed by researchers over the last seventy years: Neurophysiological (tactile behavior), and thermophysiological (thermal behavior). In light of the above definition, it follows that the common factor that can truly ties all the aspects associated with fabric comfort is fabric/skin interaction. The question now is how to translate this factor into a characterization index of fabric comfort and how to establish design parameters of textile fabrics that reflect this interaction. The analysis made in this study primarily aimed at addressing this fundamental question. This was accomplished through developing a structural model to explore the different factors influencing fabric comfort. The dependent variable of this model represents a unified comfort characterization index reflecting the fabric/skin interaction. This index is called the A-Ratio and is determined by the ratio between the true area of fabric/skin contact, At, and the corresponding apparent area, Aa. The general form of the structural model is as follows: AtAa=&parl0; CM&parr0;a+1a K-1a MaP1 a where P is the lateral pressure on the true area of contact in Pa (or N/m2), Ma is the number of asperities per unit apparent area, and CM is a parameter associated with the distribution of the lateral pressure on the contacting area, K is a surface hardness index, and a is a material-related parameter that depends on the nature of material deformation under pressure.; The above structural model is suitable for analysis of fabric comfort at microscopic level. At a macroscopic mode, the model has to be expanded to accommodate the various structural factors associated with different fabrics and garments. In this study, this was partially achieved through experimental analysis in which the area of contact was tested using an innovative technique, and other comfort-related parameters were also tested to develop correlations with the A-Ratio. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)