Material and Structural Functionalization of Knitted Fabrics for Sportswear

Comfort is an important quality criterion, especially for sportswear. It influences well-being, performance and efficiency. The necessary dissipation of heat and air flow, at high metabolic rates, must be designed and planned in advance. The influence of structure, density, mass and thickness of fabric were considered as well as yarn material composition, yarn linear density, yarn evenness and yarn hairiness. The influence of the mentioned parameters on thermal properties and air permeability was calculated. From the correlation analysis, it can be concluded that yarn’s linear density, yarn short fibers hairiness, and mass per unit area of knitted fabric has the greatest impact on heat resistance. The yarn linear density, the yarn hairiness of the longer protruding fibers, and the thickness of the knitted fabric have the greatest impact on air permeability. A statistically significant model of multiple linear regression equations was offered to predict the thermal comfort of knitted fabric.