Regulation of the fabric wet adhesion property through structural design of desirable scale: A theoretical suggestion

Abstract

It is a universal phenomenon existing in both manufacture and everyday life that fabrics tend to adhere under wet condition. The phenomenon is closely related to the interaction of the fabric surface structure and the liquid. Among the complex structures and numerous varieties of fabrics, the features of typical fabric structures are employed to establish a geometrical model (including structural configuration of spherical protrusion, cylinder, loop, and pore) in order to investigate wet adhesion property under the existence of massive liquid media. Through mechanical analysis on material-liquid bridge system (consisting of fabric material, liquid bridge adhering to the material, and the solid-liquid interface), a quantitative computational theoretical model is built with parameters including critical distance $D$ , radius of the structure R*, apparent receding contact angle ${\theta }_a$ , wetted sphere angle $2\beta$ , and so on, finding the rules and proposing a series of preferred ranges of regulating structural parameters to effectively achieve desirable fabric wet adhesion property in different circumstances. The research findings could be applied to the scientific prediction and on demand regulation of fabric wet adhesion property. They are of great significance with regard to improving the convenience of fabric wet processing, application properties under wet environments, apparel health and comfort for human body, and so on.