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2021, Vol. 51(2) 246–257

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DOI: 10.1177/1528083719878811
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weft-knitted fabrics
for thermal insulation

Vaida Buzaite, Reazuddin MD Repon, Daiva Milasiene and

Daiva Mikucioniene

Abstract
The main goal of the presented study was to develop new multi-layered weft-knitted
structure for thermal insulation and to investigate the dynamic of the heat transfer
through this fabric. For knitting of outer and inner layers of this structure, different
raw materials of yarns were used, i.e. wool, cotton, polyester and acrylic yarns. All the
newly developed multi-layered weft-knitted fabrics show thermal insulation as, after
1 h of observation, temperature on the outer layer of all tested fabrics does not reach
40 C, i.e. the temperature of a heated plate. The results of this research showed that
the nature of the yarns has a significant influence on the air permeability and dynamic
of the heat exchange through the multi-layered structure, as it influences porosity of
the knitted fabric. The results showed that the best fabric was the one where the
outer layers are knitted from woollen yarns and the inner layer from polyester
filament yarns.

Keywords
Multi-layered knitted structure, thermal insulation, air permeability, heat transfer
dynamic

Introduction
Consumers of textile products have become increasingly aware of the importance
of comfort. In addition to aesthetic appearance, comfort is one of the main

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Design, Kaunas University of Technology, Kaunas, Lithuania

Corresponding author:
Daiva Mikucioniene, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Design, Kaunas University of Technology, Studentu
str. 56, LT 51424 Kaunas, Lithuania.
Email: [email protected]
Buzaite et al. 247

properties of clothing. Clothing with poor thermo-physiological wear characteris-

tics not only affects the well-being of humans, but also impairs the physical
performance and may even act as a health hazard. The proper comfort character-
istics of the fabrics increase the significance of attire and are gaining more interest
in the global market. Wrong thermal or moisture management minimises the level
of comfortability [1].
Physiological comfort is the effect of many coefficients related to the human
body, climatic conditions, environment, and clothing [2]. In the case of an equable
heat balance condition of human metabolism system, the rate of heat energy pro-
duced by metabolism should be equal to the rate of heat transferred from the body
to the ambient environment through the clothing. In case the rate of heat loss from
body is higher than the metabolic heat generation, body feels discomfort.
Maintenance of the comfortable heat loss from the human body is a primary
function of the winter clothing [3,4]. The basic heat transfer mechanisms, such as
conduction, convection and radiation, are very well known. They all coexist in the
heat transfer process from a heated surface through a porous fabric attached onto
it [5]. Thermal absorptivity strongly correlates with fabric weave, geometrical struc-
ture and raw material and properties of yarns. Many researches have been carried
out in order to analyse and evaluate the effect of the fibre type and fabric structure
to the thermal comfort of woven and knitted fabrics. Studies of thermal wearing
tests showed that fabric properties influence the subjective wearing sensations and
the microclimate inside the clothing. It was found that thermal comfort of the
textile fabric was influenced by the thickness, water absorption properties and
thermal conductivity of the fabric. However, it was also found that these effects
varied with the environmental conditions and/or physical activity level [2,6].
The thermal resistance of clothing as a set of textile materials depends on the
thickness and porosity of particular layer. Fabrics knitted in combined patterns
have higher thermal resistance than plain plated fabrics because of higher thickness
of the combined structures. By increasing the thickness of fabrics knitted from the
same raw material, thermal resistance also increases, which means that a more
thickly knitted fabric gives warmer sense [6].
A lot of published researches show that thermal comfort conditions may be
predicted by properties of the fabric (and their packages) such as thermal insulation
or biophysical medium buffering indexes [7]. The warmth of a fabric is generated
due to the insulation provided by air trapped between fibres and yarns as well as
between several layers of fabric. If the level of thermal absorptivity increases, the
body feels more cooler. This is desirable in hot weather but not likely appreciated
in cold weather [8–11]. Good thermal insulation can be achieved by using double-
or multi-layered knitted fabrics. A typical double-layered construction of knitted
fabrics includes the following elements: one layer of knitted fabric is made of
conductive and diffusive yarns, which directly adjoins the body, and another one
is made of absorptive yarn, which is not in direct contact with the skin. The role of
this layer is to keep the humidity far from the body and vaporise it to the envir-
onment [12–14].
248 Journal of Industrial Textiles 51(2)

The clothing parameter that could have a strong influence on the heat exchange
between human body and the environment is the air permeability. The air perme-
ability is one of the most important indicators of the value of textiles because this
physical parameter determines the basic functions of the utility of the textile. The air
in the microclimate between individual items of clothing has a physiological function
[2]. The air permeability, being a biophysical feature of textiles, determines the ability
of air to flow through the fabric. Airflow through textiles is mainly affected by the
pore characteristics of the fabrics. The pore dimension and distribution in a fabric is
a function of the fabric geometry. The structural parameters of knitted fabrics and
majority of physical and mechanical properties depend on the technical characteris-
tics of knitting machine and properties of yarns. The yarn diameter, origin of fibres,
knitting structure, course and wale density, yarn twist level and linear density are the
main factors affecting the porosity of knitted fabrics [15–19].
Most of the studies carried out in the heat and thermal insulation have been
devoted to measure the static thermal properties. However, it is very important to
not only consider the amount of the heat released to the environment but the
dynamic of the heat transmission should also be taken into account, i.e. the time
during which the warmth is lost. However, there are not many investigations in
the field of the heat transfer dynamic through the knitted fabric, especially through
the double- and multi-layered weft-knitted fabrics. The main goal of this study
was to develop multi-layered weft-knitted structure for thermal insulation using
different raw materials and to investigate the dynamic of the heat transfer through
these fabrics.

Materials and methods

Eleven variants of multi-layered knitted structures were developed for this research.
Experimental samples were knitted on the E12 gauge flat double needle-bed knit-
ting machine SES 122-S (Shima Seiki, Japan). After knitting, all samples were
stabilised by using steam a thermo-stabilisation equipment, Cosmotex (Spain).
For all variants, the same three-layer knitting structure but different raw compos-
ition of the layers was used. Woollen yarns were purchased from Filivivi Srl (Italy),
cotton yarns – from Johann Müller AG (Switzerland), acrylic yarns – from JSC
Vernitas (Lithuania) and polyester filament yarns – from Lakshmi Ganapathy
Textiles (India). The characteristics of the yarns used are:

. Folded woollen yarns with 33.3 tex 2 linear density, 210 m1 twist level and z
twist direction (used for inner layer), and 20.8 tex 2 linear density, 260 m1
twist level and z twist direction (used for outer layers).
. Folded cotton yarns with 29.5 tex 2 linear density, 380 m1 twist level and z
twist direction (used for inner layer) and 19.7 tex 2 linear density and 380 m1
twist level (used for outer layers).
. Folded textured acrylic yarn (PAN) with 32 tex 2 linear density, 300 m1 twist
level and z twist direction (used for inner layer).
Buzaite et al. 249

Table 1. Characteristics of multi-layered weft-knitted fabrics.

Wale Pv and course

Ph density (cm1)
Sample code according
to raw material of After After steam
different layers Linear density of yarns knitting stabilisation
(technical face/inner used for different
layer/technical back) layers (tex) Pv Ph Pv Ph

Wool/Wool/Wool 20.8 2/33.3 2/20.8 2 7.0 6.0 7.0 6.0

Wool/PES/Wool 20.8 2/42/20.8 2 7.0 6.0 7.0 6.0
Wool/Cotton/Wool 20.8 2/29.5 2/20.8 2 7.0 6.0 7.5 6.5
PES/Wool/Wool 42/33.3 2/20.8 2 8.0 6.0 8.0 6.0
PES/Wool/PES 42/33.3 2/42 8.0 6.0 8.0 6.0
PES/PES/Wool 42/42/20.8 2 9.0 6.0 9.0 6.0
PES/PES/PES 42/42/42 8.0 6.0 8.0 6.0
Cotton/Wool/Cotton 29.5 2/33.3 2/29.5 2 8.0 6.0 8.5 6.0
Cotton/Cotton/Cotton 29.5 2/29.5 2/29.5 2 8.0 6.0 8.5 6.0
Wool/PAN/Wool 20.8 2/32 2/20.8 2 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5
Wool/PAN/Cotton 20.8 2/32 2/29.5 2 6.0 5.5 6.5 5.5

. Polyester filament yarn (PES) with 42 tex linear density/167 filaments (used for
inner and outer layers).

The main characteristics of the tested knitted fabrics are presented in Table 1.
The values of the wale and course density on the technical face and technical
back sides were the same. The structure of knitted pattern is shown in Figure 1.
As it can be seen in this figure, inner layer is made of long floats oriented in 45
between two outer layers and infixed into these layers by using tucks. It gives
pronounced third dimension, i.e. approx. 5 mm or even more thickness of the
knit, which is very important for the fabrics designed for thermal insulation.
The thickness was measured according to the standard EN ISO 5084:1996, with
the 0.001 mm measurement error.
All experiments were carried out in a standard atmosphere for testing according
to the standard ISO 139:2002. The structural parameters of knitted samples were
analysed according to the British Standard BS 5441:1998.
The air permeability of the knitted samples was evaluated using L14DR device
(Karl Schroder KG, Germany) according to Standard LST EN ISO 9237:2007.
The air flow was measured in the circle-shaped area of 5 cm2 at 100 Pa pressure.
Twenty tests for each experimental point were performed. Absolute error of the
measurements was calculated with the confidence level of 0.95. The air permeability
250 Journal of Industrial Textiles 51(2)

Outer
layer

Inner
layer

Outer
layer

Figure 1. Knitting structure and real view of the multi-layered knit.

values were calculated according to the formula

qv
R¼  167 ð1Þ
SB

where R – air permeability, dm3/(m2s); qv – average air flow, dm3/min (l/min); SB –

tested area, cm2; 167 – coefficient for calculation from dm3/(cm2min) to dm3/(m2s).
The heat exchange dependence on the structure and raw material of knitted
fabrics was investigated using the IG/ISOC (Giuliani Technologies, Italy) attach-
ment designed for investigation of the heat insulation. The measurement error of
Buzaite et al. 251

Table 2. Results of the air flow measurement.

Wool/ Wool/ Wool/ PES/ PES/ PES/ PES/ Cotton/ Cotton/ Wool/ Wool/
Wool/ PES/ Cotton/ Wool/ Wool/ PES/ PES/ Wool/ Cotton/ PAN/ PAN/
Sample code Wool Wool Wool PES Wool Wool PES Cotton Cotton Cotton Wool

Air flow q, 14.40 13.65 12.85 10.85 10.15 9.65 9.90 9.45 8.15 7.30 6.90
(dm3/min)
Absolute error,
a 0.50 0.49 0.49 0.36 0.49 0.67 0.45 0.51 0.36 0.47 0.31

the digital thermometer with a platinum thermo-sensor is equal  (0.071 7 0.076)


C. The sample of knitted fabric was laid down on a heated plate (technical-back
side down), and the thermo-sensor was superimposed on the outward side of the
fabric. The plate was heated up to 40 C, and this temperature was maintained
during the experiment. The changes of temperature were observed during 3600 s
(1 h) period and recorded every 10 s.

Results and discussion

It is well known that the air permeability of textile materials is related to fibre
composition, linear density of the yarns, knitting pattern and structural parameters
of the fabric. In order to investigate the influence of raw material of outer and inner
layers of the newly designed multi-layered knitted fabrics on the air permeability of
these fabrics, air permeability tests were performed according to the methodology
presented above. The results of measured air flow through the fabrics are presented
in Table 2, and the dependence of the air permeability of the multi-layered knitted
fabric on the raw material of different layers is presented in Figure 2.
As it can be seen from the results presented in Figure 2, fabrics, both outer layers
of which are made of woollen yarns, have apparently the best air permeability:
Wool/Wool/Wool (481.0 dm3/(m2s)), Wool/PES/Wool (455.90 dm3/(m2s)) and
Wool/Cotton/Wool (429.19 dm3/(m2s)). However, the air permeability of the
fabric with woollen yarns in outer layers and acrylic yarn in the inner layer as
well as woollen and cotton yarns in the outer layers and acrylic yarn in the inner
layer is the lowest of all newly developed multi-layered fabrics (accordingly
230.50 dm3/(m2s) and 243.82 dm3/(m2s)). This is because the acrylic yarn is tex-
tured and, despite the fact that linear densities of woollen, cotton and acrylic yarns
used for the inner layer are similar, the bulk structure of the textured acrylic yarn
decreases the porosity of the fabric. Especially, when such textured yarn is used for
densely filled inner layer (see Figure 1). It is also confirmed by the fact that wale
and course density as well as the air permeability of these fabrics are also the
lowest. The air permeability of the fabrics with polyester yarns in the outer and
inner layers and cotton yarns in the outer layers varies in the margins of error
(339.01–315.63 dm3/(m2s)). However, on comparison of air permeability of the
fabrics with cotton yarn in the outer layers, it can be seen that Cotton/Wool/
252 Journal of Industrial Textiles 51(2)

Air permeability R, dm3/(m2·s) 600

500
400
300
200
100
0

Figure 2. Dependence of the air permeability on the raw material of inner and outer layers of
multi-layered knitted structure.

Cotton fabric has approx. 14% better air permeability (315.63 dm3/(m2s)) than the
Cotton/Cotton/Cotton fabric (272.21 dm3/(m2s)).
It was unexpected that the air permeability does not depend on the thickness of
the tested multi-layered knitted fabrics (results of the thickness are presented in
Figure 3). Thickness of the fabrics with acrylic and cotton yarns in the inner layer
was the smallest. Air permeability of these fabrics also was the lowest. However,
thickness of the fabrics with woollen yarns in outer layers (Wool/Wool/Wool,
Wool/PES/Wool and Wool/Cotton/Wool) is similar, i.e. vary in the ranges of
error, but air permeability of these fabrics is the highest. Moreover, fabrics with
polyester yarn in the inner layer (Wool/PES/Wool, PES/PES/Wool and PES/PES/
PES) have almost the same thickness but absolutely different air permeability. Air
permeability of the Wool/PES/Wool fabric is approx. 30% higher than the PES/
PES/Wool and PES/PES/PES fabrics. Thus, it can be concluded that the raw
material and the structure of the yarns used have the main influence on the air
permeability of such multi-layered knitted fabrics.
Next step of this research was to establish the influence of the raw material of
different layers on the thermal insulation of the multi-layered knitted fabrics, first
of all on the heat exchange dynamic through the fabric. The main goal was to find
the best variant of the raw material composition in different layers of fabrics
used for thermal insulation. All the investigated multi-layered knitted fabrics
showed good thermal insulation results, as none reached 40 C (temperature of
the heating plate) after 1-h period. As it can be seen from the results presented
in Figure 4, after 1-h observation, the best result was seen in the fabrics Wool/
Wool/Wool, Wool/PES/Wool, PES/Wool/Wool and Cotton/Wool/Cotton. During
1 h, the temperature of the upper layer (outward side) of these fabrics was increased
Buzaite et al. 253

Thickness, mm 5

Figure 3. Thickness of the multi-layered knitted fabrics.

38

36

34
Temperature, °C

32

30

28

26
0 360 720 1080 1440 1800 2160 2520 2880 3240 3600
Time, s
WOOL/WOOL/WOOL WOOL/PES/WOOL
WOOL/COTTON/WOOL PES/WOOL/PES
PES/WOOL/WOOL PES/PES/WOOL
PES/PES/PES COTTON/WOOL/COTTON
COTTON/COTTON/COTTON WOOL/PAN/COTTON
WOOL/PAN/WOOL

Figure 4. Dynamics of heat exchange depending on the raw material of different layers.
254 Journal of Industrial Textiles 51(2)

37
35.5
38 36

36

36

36
34.5

34.5
35 35

35

35

35
36

33.5
34 34 34

34

34

34
33.5 33.5 33.5

33
34 32
32

32

32

32

32

32

32
Temperature, °C

31
32
30

27

27

27
28
26

26

26

26

26

26

26

26
26
24
22
20

60 900 1800 3600

Figure 5. Dependence of the temperature on the outer layer of heated multi-layered fabric on
the raw material of different layers of multi-layered knitted fabrics at various times of observation.

from initial 26 C up to 34 C. For the next group of the fabrics (PES/Wool/PES,
PES/PES/Wool and PES/PES/PES) the temperature was increased to 35 C after
1 h . Wool/Cotton/Wool, Wool/PAN/Wool and Wool/PAN/Cotton fabrics
reached 36 Cat the same period. The worst result was seen in the multi-layered
fabric with cotton yarns in all layers – Cotton/Cotton/Cotton. After 1-ho obser-
vation, it reached 37 C. Some dependence of the thermal insulation on the thick-
ness of the tested multi-layered fabrics can be observed, i.e. the thermal insulation
of the fabrics with lower thickness (see Figure 3) is worse. However, what is import-
ant is not only this final result, but the dynamic of the heat exchange through the
multi-layered knitted fabric during the particular time of observation.
Figure 5 presents the results of the temperature reached by the upper layer of the
newly developed multi-layered fabrics after 1, 15, 30 min and 1 h. It is important to
know how such insulation material can protect in the long-term cold conditions.
At the initial moment (0 s), the temperature of the upper surface of the multi-
layered knitted fabrics was 26 C. After 1 min, the temperature of the upper surface
of the fabrics with cotton yarns in the structure (Cotton/Cotton/Cotton, Wool/
PAN/Cotton, and Wool/Cotton/Wool) reached 27 C. However, the surface of the
fabric Cotton/Wool/Cotton remained at the initial (26 C) temperature. After
15 min, the highest (33–34.5 C) surface temperature reached the fabrics Cotton/
Cotton/Cotton, Wool/PAN/Cotton and Wool/Cotton/Wool. After 30 min, the
temperature of the upper surface of the Cotton/Cotton/Cotton fabric was even
36 C, and after 1 h – 37 C. It means that this multi-layered fabric, where all
layers are knitted from the cotton yarns, has the worst thermal insulation.
Buzaite et al. 255

38
36
R² = 0.5012
34
R² = 0.3955
32
Temperature, °C

R² = 0.2441
30
28
26 R² = 0.2456

24
22
20 Thickness, mm
4 5 6
60 900 1800 3600

Figure 6. Dependence of temperature on the surface of the outer layer of the heated multi-
layered fabric on fabric thickness.

The lowest (only 31 C) temperature after 15 min reached the fabric Wool/PES/
Wool. This particular variant showed the lowest temperature after 30 min (32 C)
and also at 1 h (34 C). It means that such distribution of the raw materials in
different layers gives the best thermal insulation, despite the fact that linear density
of the polyester yarn used for knitting of the inner layer was approx. 30% lower
than that of the other fabrics with acrylic, woollen or cotton yarns in the inner
layer. The filament polyester yarn used for the inner layer formation gives the
fabric additional rigidity and helps to keep the dimensional form.
After further investigations, it was found that there is no correlation between the
heat exchange dynamic and permeability to air. The same results were also
obtained in [12]. Also, there is no direct correlation between thermal insulation
and thickness of the multi-layered fabric made of different raw material yarns. In
Figure 6, such tendency can be seen – when the thickness of the fabric increases, the
thermal insulation also tends to increase. The correlation strengthens after longer
time of observation (after 1 h, coefficient of determination R2 of the dependence of
the thickness on temperature of the upper surface of the fabric is 0.5012). Thus,
thermal insulation of the multi-layered weft-knitted fabrics with tightly filled inner
layer cannot be predicted only by fabric thickness or air permeability without
deeper analysis of the raw material of yarns used for knitting of different layers.

Conclusion
The main conclusion of this research is that the all newly developed multi-layered
weft-knitted fabrics showed very good thermal exchange dynamic and can be used
for thermal insulation; however, the best thermal insulation property has the fabric
outer layers which were knitted from the woollen yarns with 20.8 tex 2 linear
density, and the inner layer was knitted from polyester filament yarn with linear
density 42 tex. On the one hand, it can be explained by the fact that the good
256 Journal of Industrial Textiles 51(2)

thermal insulation is a characteristic for woollen fabrics. On the another hand, the
filament polyester yarn used for the inner layer formation gives the fabric add-
itional rigidity and maintains the dimensional form of the multi-layered structure,
thus ensuring more air gaps between the yarns. The heat exchange dynamic
through this fabric was the slowest, and the temperature of the upper surface of
the fabric after 1-h observation was the lowest (34 C, i.e. 6 C lower than tempera-
ture of the heating plate). The best air permeability of all tested structures was also
peculiar to this fabric. However, it was found that the thermal properties of multi-
layered weft fabrics knitted from yarns of different raw materials cannot be pre-
dicted or compared according to the air permeability. There is some correlation
between the thermal insulation and thickness of the fabric; however, it can be used
for prediction of the thermal properties only for fabrics with the same raw
composition.
In the next step of this research, authors will analyse the influence of the inner
layer density, i.e. the number of the floats in the pattern repeat of the fabrics
presented in this work, on the thermal insulation, air permeability and other com-
fort properties.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express appreciation to JSC ‘Gija’ and particularly G. Pacevičius
and A. Baleckis for their technical support in knitting of newly developed multi-layered
fabrics.

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, author-
ship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication
of this article.

ORCID iD
Daiva Mikucioniene https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2219-2643

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