Research On The Wicking Of Water In Fabric As Measured By Electrical Resistance

Transport of water through textile materials is related to wet processing, and it is related to comfort, which is very important in usage. So, moisture transport is an important ability of fabric.Wicking is considered to be a result of spontaneous wetting and flow of a liquid into the fiber assemblies. Wicking ability has a big effect on conducting moisture, especially on transporting liquid water. So, the subject of wicking has attracted the views of several investigators.In this paper, an apparatus was developed to study the transporting of water in fabric.Textile materials have high electrical resistance, and water is considered as conductor. So, the content of water in fabric will influence the electrical resistance of the fabric. So measuring the change of the resistance of the fabric will find the rule of the wicking in fabric.In our apparatus, the rise of the liquid water in fabric is linked in an electrical circuit which was coupled with a computer, and so the distance of water rise as a function of time was determined.Fabric in various forms were examined, and the relations between vertical water transport and time in fabric were reported.From the values, we can conclude that the process of wicking in fabric can be separate for two stages. In the first stage, the rate of the wicking is higher than the second stage. From the relation between the wicking level and time, we summed up three targets as R_h R_t and V. The V is the initial wicking rate of the fabric, and the other two targets R_h and R_t are the dividing point of the two stages of the wicking process.And we also research on the influent factor of the wicking in fabric, and search for the mechanism of the wicking effect of the fabric.