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Abstract:
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The performance of thermal protective clothing has become a growing concern
to the textile industry during the past several decades. Developments are constantly
being made in the protective fabrics market to improve protection against extreme heat
while maintaining wearer comfort and mobility.
Double needle bar knitted spacer fabrics have been produced from fire resistant
yarns for use in thermal protective apparel. Past research of Raschel knitted spacer
fabrics has revealed desirable characteristics that may be beneficial for thermal
protective clothing.
No research has been conducted to determine how design changes can affect the
thermal protective performance of spacer fabrics. Any research that will provide a
better understanding of the design requirements of thermal protective spacer fabrics will
be beneficial to the textile industry and may lead to the development of more effective
fabrics for protection against extreme heat.
The results of this research indicated that changes in fabric construction
parameters can be used to optimize the thermal protective performance of Raschel
knitted spacer fabrics. Comparison of the spacer fabrics to commercially available
baseline fabrics showed that the spacer fabrics performed competitively in thermal
testing under certain conditions. Physical testing of the research fabrics showed that the
spacer fabrics were stronger than the baseline fabrics. Based on these results, a thermal
protective spacer fabric can be designed that insulates as well as or better than currently
used fabrics but with the physical characteristics of a warp knitted fabric.
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