High active sports wear

HIGH ACTIVE SPORTS WEAR-A CRITICAL REVIEW

A.MURALIKRISHNANLECTURER – TEXTILES

P.A.C.RAMASAMYRAJA POLYTECHNIC COLLGE,RAJAPALAYAM, TAMILNADU, INDIAEmail: [email protected]

Introduction • As per the market demand, sportswear can be classified into 4

groups.

– Basic sports wear

– Sports leisurewear

– Performance sports wear

– Sports – Fashion clothing.

• Basic sports wear : Cheaper and more stylish.

• Sports leisure wear : Worn at home and is sold in higher volume atmuch smaller price.

• The performance sports wear is highly technical-oriented clothingwhich enhances the performance with special functionality.

• The functional requirement of performance wear depends on thenature of sport, climatic condition and amount of physical activity. Itis produced in low volume with highest price.

Compiled by A.Muralikrishnan, Lecturer, PACR Polytechnic college, Rajapalayam, Tamilnadu

What are High active sports ?

– Defined as one which is being played for short duration oftime with maximum physical activity like tennis, soccer,running, jumping, foot ball, hockey etc.

– Wear comfort of high active sports wear may affect theperformance of player and hence it becomes one of the mostimportant quality crieterion.

– The fabric used for active sports wear are speciallyconstructed to achieve the necessary dissipation of heat andmositure.


What happened when playing high active sports?• During active sports, 80% of energy is converted into heat.

• Heat stress is of great concern due to high level of metabolic heatgeneration which is in the range of 800 – 1300 W.

• This heat can increase the body core temperature by 1.5 to 2 dec C.

• In addition to this, convection adds further heat to body in warmerareas where environment temperature is higher than bodytemperature

• To control the core temperature of body, heat of vaporization ofwater is used to give cooling effect.

• Sweat generation can go as high as 2.5 L/h

• It has been reported that back area sweat is higher than the chestarea of players.


Mode of heat to body


Functional requirement for high active sports wear

• Should have High sweat absorption property

• Should be able to quick drying and cooling

• Should have high amount of stretch

• Should have sufficient fit and freedom of movement

• Should have soft feel, smoothness, UV resistance,light weight and easy care


What clothing has to do?• Clothing provides a microclimate between the body and

external environment and acts as a barrier for heat and vapor transfer between skin and environment.

• Clothing thermal insulation decreases by 2 – 8% during perspiration, which cause “after chilling effect” to wearer after heavy exercise

• Mode of Moisture vapor transmission:

– Diffusion of moisture due to moisture vapor gradient

– Sorption – desorption by hydrophilic sites

– Forced convection by moving air close to the skin

• Mode of Liquid moisture transmission:

– Wetting followed by wicking


Moisture transmission through textiles


Fibre requirements

• Synthetic fibres shows better performance with significant improvement in the mean skin temperature and comfort sensation rating during exercise.

• Fibre cross sectional shape plays an important role in liquid moisture transmission properties of fabric.

• The most commonly used synthetic fibre is polyester.

• Liquid moisture transmission of polyester is reported to be higher in commercial sports wear knitted with profiled polyester.


Tetrachannel & Hexachannel cross section:

Offers more surface area for liquid to transport and gives better wicking ability and faster drying.

Polyester with trilobal and triangular C/S:

Reported as improved Liquid moisture transmission as compared to normal polyester with circular C/S.


Five leaf shape:

• Filaments with higher shape factor have better wicking rate due to their higher specific surface area.

• Five leaf shape offers higher wicking due to higher capillary forces

Microfibre Polyester: Excellent moisture related comfort like absorption, wicking and rate of drying.

• Small size of capillary in micro denier yarn increases the capillary pressure which drives the water transfer in to capillaries and results in higher wicking.


Micro fibres

• Offers more specific surface area

• Holds high moisture


Fibre modification• Quick absorption and fast releasing of moisture can be made by

addition of small amount of hydrophilic fibres with polyester.

• It gives surprising level of wearer comfort and wearerperformance.

• It is reported that 10 % and 15% cotton blends (P/C) are morecomfortable than 5% and 20%.

• Combinations of PET with thermo-regulating viscose outlast fibregives better wicking ability but poor drying capability.

• Soyabean cotton blended T-shirt had superior wicking thancotton T-Shirt.

• When body began to sweat, the sweat on skin surface wetted thefabric and then evaporated soon to the outer environment thushelping the players to feel much thermal comfort.


Elastane fibre

• Elastane is widely used for its superior stretch and recoveryproperties.

• Dynamic elastic recovery (DER) can assess the instantaneousgarment response due to body movement, the elastane bareplaited fabric is found to have higher DER than fabric knittedfrom spandex core-spun yarn.

• In core-spun yarn, wicking and moisture managementincreases as elastane content decreases


Yarn parameters• Yarn twist and yarn linear density are influencing factors in

moisture transmission.

• Moisture management properties tested on MMT, likeabsorption rate, spreading speed and maximum wet circleradius are main parameters to evaluate the moisturetransmission behavior of yarn and fabric.


Yarns with various twists


Effect of twist on moisture absorption• Low twisted yarn have lower wicking ability due to more free

space

• Highly twisted yarn also have lower wicking ability due to nomore free space

• Hence optimum twist is needed for better wicking .

• Microdenier polyester yarn is reported to have bettermoisture vapour transmission as compared to spun polyester,PC and 100% cotton.


Fabric requirements

• Single jersey fabric reported to have better wick ability andhigher absorption as compared to pique and honeycomb.

• SJ structure consists of knit loops only, so loop leg orientationis only towards wale direction, which helps for better wickingcompared to others.

• Cover factor is key structural attribute influencing mosituretransmission. Higher cover factor takes more time to wet andliquid spreads in the smaller radius and resulting in loweroverall moisture management capability


Fabric properties

• Water evaporation rate is found to be higher for thin fabric.

• A thin and porous knit structure is reported to have optimum moisture vapour dissipation properties.


Two layer knitted fabric• 2 layer fabric is most popular in sportswear.

• Inner and outer layer of fabrics are completely separate andunique with distinct functionality.

• Liquid water transfer from inner to outer layer depends onhydrophillicity of both layers.

• More water can be transferred from inner to outer if innershows poor water absorption while outer shows higher waterabsorption.

• The inner layer made of hydrophobic filament and outer layermade of hydrophilic fibres.


Two layer fabric properties• Fabric knitted with PP filament on inner side (skin facing) is

reported to have better wicking, water holding capacity andmoisture vapour transmission when combined with Cotton/ Viscoseon outer layer.

• PP inner and cotton outer is reported to have good overall moisturemanagement capacity due to quick transfer of liquid from inner toouter.

• 30% TENCEL/ 70% Polyester in outer layer gives better moisturetransmission, drying rate, wet cling behaviour, thermal comfortthan 100% polyester outer.

• In winter sports, fabric with wool in inner and polyester in outer isrecommended.

• Plain plated fabric with cotton/bamboo in outer and cool max ininner showed better water absorption .

• In winter sports wear, wool in inner layer and polyester in outerlayer was found to be better.


Biomimetic structure• Biomimetics refers to replicating or mimicking the mechanism

found in nature.


Biomimetic of plant structure• Biomimetics of plant structure in knitted fabrics can improve

the water absorption and one way transport property offabric.

• In this structure, larger loops are formed at the back side andsmaller loops are formed at the face side, so that the loopdensity at the back is lower which results in higher inter yarnspace at the back and smaller inter yarn space at face,mimicking the taper of water conduits in trees.


Swim suit fabric: Fast as a shark• Skin is an amazing material: it's waterproof, it's breathable, it

helps to regulate our body temperature, and it can repair itself automatically.

• One thing it was never designed for was swimming.

• If you have a particularly hairy body, every single one of your hairs will drag and slow you down even more.

• Now you might think super-smooth suits would work better than rough ones as you swim through the pool.


Shark skin effect• “Shark skin consists of tiny, tooth-like scales that prevent

small eddys and vortexes from forming (which slow them down).

• Speedo has replicated this effect with its Fastskin body suits, which allow competitive swimmers to shave crucial seconds off their race times. Others have used this technology to create fast-traveling ship hulls that naturally deter the attachment of underwater organisms.”


• FASTSKIN®, the tight-fitting suit is covered with tiny v-shaped channels, just like the ridges (technically known as placoid scales or dermal denticles) on a shark's body.

• The idea is that water whizzes along these channels, reducing the frictional drag (essentially, turbulence) between the water and your skin, so you can swim faster.

Shark skin effect


Example 2:Why should clothes work like pine cones?

• Get a pine cone and watch whether the spines open andclose.

• If it's going to rain, the spines close up to protect the seedsinside; if it's going to stay dry, the spines open up to improvethe chances of the seeds escaping.

• This fabric has many tiny spikes on the outer layer whichwould open to cool down the body during hot climate.

• Then again flatted down to trap air and provide insulation incold climate.


• The fabric could be made with an outer layer of tiny spikes,only 1/200th of a millimeter wide.

• When it's hot, the spikes would open up to let out the heat,cooling you down.

• When it's cold, the spikes would flatten back down to trap airand provide more effective insulation

Pine cone effect


Finishing requirements

• Hydrophobic inner and hydrophilic outer was created bypolymerization of acrylic acid on polyester fibre. Highperformance of moisture and odor control is reported.

• Polyester fabric with incorporated activated carbon: Morecomfortable in mild sports

• MMF resil HJHP: Increases the absorbency in polyester whenused along and gives better wicking when used with otherfinishes like Resil nanocelle G6.

• Nano dry finish for Nanotex LLC: for maximum absorption ofsweat

• Fragnance finishes: Microencapsulated peppermint is claimedto have muscle easing properties and


Performance enhancement by sports wear

• It was reported that clothing with higher moisture absorptionenhances the performance and pitching speed of baseballplayers. Good correlation reported between moisturemanagement and physiological response of athlete.

• A fabric with better moisture management increases athlete’scardio-respiratory fitness and performance.

• Colour of sports wear can also influence the performance ofplayer.

– Red colour enhances the performance by stimuli oftestosterone dependent signal.


Compression athletic wear (CAW)

• It improves the performance in number of active sports likejumping, power lifting and running.

• An athlete showed faster running speed over 10 km withlower heart rates and reduced post exercise muscle sorenesswhen wearing CAW.

• Compression shorts resist fatigue due to reduced muscleoscillation during landing in sports like sprints or jump events.

• Biomematic swim wear is reported to increase the swimmer’sspeed with reduced net active drag force as compared tonormal swim suit.


Compression athletic wear


Innovative sportswear products

• Various sports wears are developed by using following high performance fibres.

– Coolmax

– Thermolite

– Thermocool

– Sports wool

– Toray Moisture management fabrics.


Coolmax from dupont • Coolmax active fibre is engineered with 4 channel and 6

channel polyester fibres which forms a transport system with increased surface area.

• This will help to pull moisture away from the skin to the outer layer of fabric and keeps the wearer cool and dry


Mechanism of coolmax fibre


Thermolite fibre• For active sports in cold climate, thermolite is very popular

• Hollow core fibres traps in air for great insulation and provide warmth and comfort without adding weight.

• The large surface area allows the fast evaporation of perspiration and wear stays dry 50% faster than cotton


Thermolite -working

mechanism




• Sportwool is a unique fabric developed by CSIRO, Australia.

• Basically two layer moisture manangement fabric with wool on inner side and synthetic fibre on outer layer.

Sportwool fibre


• Stunner QD is nylon woven fabric which Quickly absorbs, disperses and evaporates perspiration for quick drying.

• Nylon and cotton also mixed for getting combined properties of High strength of nylon with cotton-like soft touch.

Moisture management fabrics


• Field sensor TM has brushed inner side which provides insulation and moisture management, thus suitable for winter active sports wear.

• Quickly absorbs perspiration and carries perspiration rapidly to the fabric's outer surface

• Disperses perspiration throughout the outer surface for rapid evaporation


• Smooth texture and a sense of quality in software

• Natural and soft stretch

• Water absorption, ultra-fast drying of the skin surface due to back special tucking structure

• Lightness and high anti-scale performance



Micro encapsulation with outlast PCM• Fabric coating with micro encapsulated PCM buffer changes in

humidity and temperature in microclimate and environment.

• It absorbs excess body heat when temperature starts rising and releasing it when temperature falls during cooling


Conclusion

• High active sports wear is very vast and challenging field in which required functionality can be designed by suitable choice of raw materials and structure.

• Number of MMF developed to maximise the comfort of athlete

• A fresh approach is required which should aim to develop performance enhancing innovative products with maximum wear comfort.


References

• M Mashahia and A Das, “High active sports wear – A critical review”, Indian Journal of Fibre & Textile Research, Vol.39, 2014, pp. 441-449

• www.coolmaxfabric.com

• www.invista.com

• www.csiro.au

• www.torayentrant.com

• www.outlast.com


http://www.coolmaxfabric.com/

http://www.invista.com/

http://www.csiro.au/

http://www.torayentrant.com/

http://www.outlast.com/

THANK YOU


Engineering

High active sports wear