Thermo-physiological properties of 3D warp knitted spacer fabrics for car seat application

Abstract

Thermal comfort properties of 3-Dimensional knitted spacer fabrics have been studied in order to replace the existing polyurethane foams in the car seat and back supports. The influence of different characteristics of spacer fabrics, like structure, areal density, thickness and density on thermo-physiological performance has been studied. The potential thermal behavior is identified with the support of the thermal conductivity and resistance evaluation. The air and water vapor permeability have been measured and analyzed in-order to study the breathable performance of spacer fabrics. Advance statistical evaluation and two-way analysis of variance is used to analyze the significance of various factors on required properties. The result shows that spacer fabric with a hexagonal net structure has more open structure on surface than lock knit fabrics, which results in highly permeable to air with good thermal conductivity. It is also observed that, the hexagonal net fabrics have the ability to pass more water vapor than the fabrics with lock knit structure on the surface. These findings are the important requirements for designing the car seats with required thermal comfort properties using 3D spacer fabrics.