Statistical modeling of water vapor transport through woven fabrics

Water vapor transport through textile structures is complicated and governed by various factors, including fabric openness, fabric thickness, pore size, and intrinsic fiber properties. The objective of this study is to understand parameters that are critical in the moisture vapor transport through woven textiles and develop a predictive model that describes water vapor transport of woven fabrics using those parameters. Fifteen woven fabrics with various fabric thickness, weight, fabric construction, and staple fiber type were selected, and the water vapor transmission rate, fabric thickness, fabric count, weight, yarn number, yarn twist, yarn diameter, and pore size distribution were measured. Based on the mechanisms of water vapor transmission through porous textile materials, the fabric cover factor, solid volume fraction, yarn twist factor, and yarn packing factor were computed and used as possible predictor variables in the modeling. Moisture regains of fiber were obtained from literature and used as a possible predictor variable. Statistical analyses were performed to examine the relationship between these parameters and water vapor transmission. Statistical analyses revealed that fabric thickness, fabric cover factor, mean flow pore diameter of fabric, and moisture regain of fiber were significant parameters affecting water vapor transmission through woven fabrics. The adjusted R² value for the final model selected was 0.97. Influence of yarn twist factor and yarn packing factor were shown to be insignificant at the 5% significance level for these experimental conditions.