The effect of structural parameters on air permeability of bifacial fabrics

In our recent study, a bifacial fabric with a knitted structure on one side and a woven structure on the other side of the fabric was designed and manufactured for apparel applications. The physical properties of the bifacial fabrics were previously reported. In this study, bifacial fabrics with two different weft densities of 18 and 22 picks per cm in the woven structure and loop lengths of 10 and 11 mm in the knitted structure were prepared, then the air permeability of the fabrics was analyzed. The extension of the analysis of variance techniques was applied to the data. It was found that there were highly significant differences in the air permeability of bifacial fabrics with different weft densities and loop lengths, while the interaction between these two factors was not statistically significant in their effects on the air permeability. Briefly, increasing loop length increased air permeability, while air permeability decreased with an increase in weft density. This finding shows that fabric’s parameters can be manipulated to affect air permeability of the bifacial fabrics, and further to influence comfort properties of such novel fabrics.