The water vapor permeability of a given material plays an important part in evaluating the physiological wearing comfort of clothing systems or deter mining the performance characteristics of textile materials used in technical applica tions. Many methods are used for measuring the parameters of water vapor transfer through textiles; they vary in effectiveness and are difficult to correlate to one another. This report discusses the mechanism of the water vapor transfer in textiles, and common methods used to determine parameters of the water vapor transfer. Finally, a new measuring method will be introduced and compared to some existing methods.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Umbach, K.-H.1993. "Feuchtetransport und Tragekomfort in Mikrofaser-Textilien," Melliand Textilberichte, 2:174-178.
2.
Wehner, J.A. , B. Miller and L. Rebenfeld.1988. "Dynamics of Water Vapor Transmission through Fabric Barriers," Textile Research Journal, 10:581-592.
3.
Farnworth, B. , W.A. Lotens and P. P.M.M. Wittgen.1990. " Variation of Water Vapor Resistance of Microporous and Hydrophilic Films with Relative Humidity," Textile Research Journal, 60(1):50-53.
4.
1994. ASTM E 96-94: Standard Test Methods for Water Vapor Transmission of Materials, Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Philadelphia , pp. 1-8.
5.
1981. DIN 53 333: Prüfung von Leder, Kunstleder, und Textilien; Bestimmung der Wasserdampfdurchlassigkeit. (8.1981), Beuth Verlag, Berlin.
6.
1993. ISO 11 092: Textiles-Physiological Effects-Measurement of Thermal and Water-Vapour Resistance under Steady-State Conditions (Sweating Guarded-Hotplate Test). (10.1993)ISO Switzerland.
7.
Pause, B.1996. "Portable Device to Measure Parameter of the Water Vapor Transfer through Textiles," Unpublished technical documentation of the developed measurement method.
