1. Introduction to Textile in Sports
Textile materials are used in virtually every sports. Today’s sports demand high performance equipment and apparel. The light weight and safety features of sporttech have become important in their substitution for other materials. These high-functional and textiles are increasingly adding value to the sports and leisure industry by combing utilitarian functions with wearing comfort that leads to achieving high level of performance. Textile manufactures today are giving themselves an edge in the increasingly competitive sports and recreation market. Use of textile structural composites in sporting goods is increasing. This is due to their high strength and durability.
Textile materials are used in all sports as sportswear, and in many games as sports equipment and sports footwear. The examples of sportswear are: aerobic clothing, athletic clothing, football clothing, cricket clothing, games shorts, gloves, jackets, pants, shirts, shorts, socks, sweat shirts, swimwear and tennis clothing. The examples of sport equipment are: sails, trampoline, camping gear, leisure bags, bikes, and rackets. The examples of sports footwear are: athletic shoes, football boots, gym shoes, tennis shoes and walking boots.
2. Requirements for Sports Textile Materials [1]
The main requirement of material which is used for sports materials should be comfort to the players.
The main technical consideration for coated or laminated protective sportswear in addition to basic fabric properties such as colour fastness, aesthetics and design are:
Tear & tensile strength(or bruiting strength)
Abrasion resistance (to cold water and washing)
Resistance to delaminating (good coating)
General durability/ flexing
3. Physiological Comfort of Sportswear [3, 9, 10]
Comforts is the most important factor in clothing and especially for sportswear, producers who are able to convince the end use of their product’s comfort benefits, in particular directly at the point of sale, have an advantage.
Many attempts have been made to define comfort, but a satisfactory definition is yet to be obtained. Comfort has been defined by many researches in different ways.
Comfort is influenced by the physiological reaction of the wearer.
Comfort is temperature regulation of the body.
Comfort is the absence of unpleasantness or discomfort.
Comfort is a state of pleasant psychological, physiological and physical harmony between a human being and the environment. All these aspects are equally important. If people feel that uncomfortable then there is absents of any one of them.
There are four basic elements of clothing comfort
Thermo – physiological aspect
Transmission of heat, air and moisture (liquid and vapour)
Sensorial (or) tactile aspect
Mechanical contact of the fabric with skin
Aesthetic properties of fabric (i.e.) drape, luster, colour, crease, pilling, staining, etc..,
4. Fibres Used For Sport Textiles [5]
Three-dimensional bands in polyester used for sports footwear
Bands in Kevlar, carbon, fibreglass, and aramid fibres used as inserts in sports accessories
Carbon ribbons used for sports articles or components
Carbon ribbons used as reinforcements for sports helmets
Carbon inserts for racing footwear
Polypropylene, polyester, rubber, cotton and rafia netting
5. Textile Materials used in Different Sports [1]
Baseball, though an extremely traditional sport, has not escaped the invasion of high technology. The technology in baseball involves the ever-important baseball bat. Engineers have worked to develop composite baseball bats of two types.
5.1.1. Graphite composite bat
The graphite composite bat is made on automated filament winding machines. These machines precisely position strong graphite and glass fibres that are subsequently bonded together with epoxy resin to create a hollow bat structure.
5.1.1. Wood composite bat
The wood composite bat is made up of a high strength inner core fabricated from resin impregnated synthetic fibres and yarns, integrated with an ash wood outer surface.
Todays, tennis rackets are going through some remarkable changes in design of racket. The first composite tennis racket is made of fiberglass composite. Since then there has been tremendous growth in the use of many different textile composite in racket design. The manufactures combined fiberglass with other fibres graphite and ceramics in an attempt to increase the strength and durability of the rackets.
Graphite is current top choice material that combines both lightweight and durability increasing both power and control of the racket. These are 5 times stronger than aluminium once. Other space aged fibres such as Twaron, boron and Kevlar are combined with high performance carbon producing an excellent racket. These are six times stiffer than steel and five times stronger than aluminium.
Tennis balls are made of woven and needled tennis felts. Slit film fabrics are used for wind break screening for outdoor courts. Tennis net is made of very durable polyethylene monofilament fibres.
There is problem in the traditional ball during cold weather.
The design of football was revolutionized with the use of textile composites. The bladder of the football was made of a multi-layer arrangement of polyurethane. This increased the strength and durability. This lining is made of especially high performance spun polyester. The seams of football are made of Kevlar. The polyurethane does not deform like the conventional butyl rubber bladder.
5.4. Golf and Hockey Equipment
Golfer discovered high performance clubs made of graphite composites. With this improvement in the use of graphite, the flexibility has been greatly increased. Some prominent clubs consist of a mixture of boron and graphite shafts with a high modulus of elasticity. The high modulus and high strength make for a lighter, stiffer shaft. These are very desirable qualities which composites offer to improve the sport of golf. Hockey sticks are made of textile structural composites.
Bicycling enthusiasts believe that the bike frames should be as rigid as possible to prevent the loss of energy and unstable steering. The flexible frame allows for the absorption of the shocks of a mountain bike. The elastic properties of the composite enable the frame to elongate and shorten, while the coil spring compresses and extends. The glass fibre composite attached to the frame of the bicycle acts as a spring to the frame elongation and energy storage. High performance composite materials which have both flexural strength and fatigue resistance increase the durability of bikes. These composites are now used widely in mountain bikes and racing bikes.
5.6. Marine Products [14]
Textile materials are used in various marine products for function and fashion purpose including mooring covers, boat tops, shading, sail covers. The requirements for these textiles include low stretch, high strength failure along with good resistance to weather aging and chemicals, and material must be waterproof.
Woven polyester fabric- has low stretch achieved with elimination of crimp; high tenacity and high initial modulus yarns are used with a plain weave. Woven nylon fabric- main properties are lightweight, limited porosity, good breaking and tear resistance using a plane weave and can be coated to control porosity. Laminates with oriented polyester film. Exotics such a carbon fibre and layered composites.
Spectra and carbon fibres are used in high performance sailboats such as the stars and stripes.
Textile field covers are used to protect the playing surface from rain, snow, blistering sunshine and freezing winds. Fabric weight is critical for field covers. The cover must be light enough to move around but heavy enough to withstand severe weather condition. Polyvinyl chloride is widely used as a coating and laminate. PVC provides waterproof-ness mildew resistance and protects the fabric from ultraviolet rays. Polyester and nylon are most popular common materials as supporting fabrics in cover. Polyester offers good dimensional stability at different temperatures and good UV resistance. Nylon is considered to be more suitable for field cover than the polyester but it is prone to shrinkage.
6. Waterproof Breathable Active Sportswear Fabrics [2,4]
Waterproof breath fabrics are designed for use in garments that provide protection from the environment factors like wind, rain and loss of body heat. Waterproof fabric completely prevents the penetration and absorption of liquid water. Fabrics that can convey water vapour from body perspiration out through the material while remaining impervious to external liquids such as rainwater are widely used in sportswear and similar applications.
Water-resistant and moisture-permeable materials may be divided into three main categories - high-density fabrics, resin-coated materials and film-laminated materials - which are selected by manufacturers according to the finished garment requirements in casual, athletics, ski or outdoor apparel.
6.1. Densely Woven Water Breathable Fabrics
The densely woven waterproof breathable fabrics consist of cotton or synthetic microfilament yarns with compacted weave structure. One of the famous waterproof breathable fabrics known as VENTILE was manufactured by using long staple cotton with minimum of spaces between the fibres1. Usually combed yarns are weaved parallel to each other with no pores for water to penetrate. Usually oxford weave is used. When fabric surface is wetted by water the cotton fibres swell transversely reducing the size of pores in the fabric and requiring very high pressure to cause penetration. Therefore waterproof is provided without the application of any water repellent finishing treatment. Densely woven fabrics can also be produced from micro-denier synthetic filament yarns.
The individual filaments in these yarns are of less than 10 micron in diameter, so that fabrics with very small pores can be engineered.
6.2. Laminated Waterproof Breathable Fabrics
Laminated waterproof breathable fabrics made by application of membranes into textile product. These are thin membrane made from polymeric materials. They offer high resistance to water penetration but allow water vapour at the same time. The maximum thickness of the membrane is 10 micron. They are of two types:
1) Micro porous membranes
6.3. Coated Waterproof Breathable Fabrics
Coated fabrics with waterproof breathable fabrics consist of polymeric material applied to one surface of fabric. Polyurethane is used as the coating material. The coatings are of two types:
1) Micro porous membranes
2) Hydrophilic membranes.
6.4. Performance of waterproof breathable fabrics
Many research has been compared the performance characteristics of different types of waterproof breathable fabrics. After the general conclusions are
Breathable materials are very much better than fabrics coated with conventional waterproof materials.
Breathable fabrics have higher resistances to vapour transport than ordinary woven and knitted apparel fabrics.
Some waterproof breathable fabrics have a lower vapour resistance than some ordinary apparel fabrics.
7. Sportswear for Active Adults goes Hi-tech as Vital Eco-wear redefines Fit-for-purpose Design [7]
Vital eco-wear is developing innovative fabrics incorporating state-of-the-art, bio-functional fibres to produce garments that introduce a new level of fit-for-purpose sportswear. Employing techniques based on Nano-technology, computerized body mapping, and the textile industry's latest equipment for seamless manufacture, vital eco-wear sportswear is designed to meet the particular needs of the type of sport. Each garment incorporates different combinations of fibres and knits to respond to the varying needs of different parts of the body. "Whether the particular body area needs extra support, enhanced stretch, or extra ventilation, the garment will be designed to seamlessly match every need."
Each of Vital eco-wear's 4 product lines
Yoga & More garments are made from ecologically-friendly fabric eco-DEOSOFT - a super-soft fabric containing natural bamboo fibres with anti-bacterial properties that keep the garment naturally fresh and deodorized, while the fibres micro-gaps let the skin breath.
The new Workout & Fitness fabric, Eco-COMFORMANCE, consists of bamboo, micro-polypropylene and elastin, offering high performance with enhanced comfort. In addition to the natural fibres anti-bacterial properties and micro-gaps that let the skin breathe, extra elastin gives these garments the needed elasticity for stretch and control.
Outdoor Action garments are made from Eco-AERODRY - an eco-friendly fabric based on recycled materials, using activated carbon from coconut shells. This gives the fabric high performance properties including wicking, or drawing moisture away from the skin for quick evaporation on the fabric's surface, odor absorption, and even natural UV protection. Eco-AERODRY is designed to keep the wearer cool, dry and fresh.
To meet the needs of Winter Sports, geared toward a more extreme form of outdoor sports, vital eco-wear developed Eco-THERMAL, a fabric consisting of BeCool™ polyamide, polypropylene and elastin. In addition to its advanced temperature regulating properties keeping the body dry and warm, Winter Sports garments include seamlessly built-in areas of extra protection and 3D stretch.
8. High-tech Sports Clothing with a High Comfort of Use Made from Multi-layer Composite Materials [6]
Textiles designed for sports clothing should perform several very different, and even mutually excluding, functions. On the one hand, they must protect their users against heat loss, overheating or soaking, and on the other hand they must meet high requirements in respect of product durability, as well as many other properties contributing to the comfort of use. First of all, such characteristics include:
Protective properties against variable atmospheric conditions existing during the clothes’ use, as well as protection against physical damage, A high resistance to external influences, including tear strength, resistance to abrasion, shape stability, colour fastness, making-up quality, constancy of protective functions, and other features contributing to the service life of such materials, Comfort-providing properties, generally described as wellness, including first of all physiological comfort. This includes protection against over-warming or -cooling, owing to high water vapour permeability, i.e. carrying off perspiration, good warmth retention and adequate air permeability. Moreover, the user’s feeling is positively affected by soft handle and good shape assumption by the fabric and cloth cut that does not limit the user’s ease of movement, as well as the cloth’s aesthetic appeal and practical constancy of protective and aesthetic functions throughout the period of use.
It is rather difficult to make all the mentioned features compatible, and optimised solutions can be found only by using composite materials, i.e. multi-layer systems with appropriately selected types and characteristics of the component materials used to manufacture clothing of that type.
8.1. The multi-layer model system [11]
The model systems consist of three layers: an external or top layer, a middle layer that functions as a barrier, and a back layer. Usually described as the lining. These layers are joined together, either by the technique of point laminating or while making up the clothing, to form a specific multi-layer composite material.
The top layer must show good physical and mechanical properties to provide durable protection of the user against all external, mechanical and atmospheric effects, as well as great aesthetic appeal and as high a constancy as possible throughout the whole period of use. This layer, depending on its structure and raw materials, can also fulfil barrier functions, including resistance to wetting and water penetration inside the composite material, as well as windproof capability. A typical example of such a material may be woven fabric made from multi-filament polyester yarns, principally micro-fibres, with a high structure cover factor and high strength, sometimes with an additional waterproof finish or soil-release finish.
The middle layer, with barrier properties, can be of two basic types:
a) A water- and windproof layer consisting usually of polymeric membranes or coats on a carrier such as polyester knitted fabric, with high water vapour permeability and low air permeability. Mostly, these are water- and windproof and simultaneously ‘breathing’ micro-porous hydrophobic polyurethane coats/membranes with a high water vapour permeability or hydrophilic coats/membranes with a compact structure and a generally lower water vapour permeability, but higher water-tightness. Both types of materials are made by the technique of reversible coating and transferred onto light, usually knitted textile carriers.
b) A thermo-insulating layer with a high warmth retention, used in sports clothing to be used under lower temperature conditions (e.g. in the spring/autumn or winter periods). This layer mostly consists of fluffy polyester non-woven fabric or raised knitted fabric of the Polar type. These knitted fabrics have single-sided or two-sided developed piles, usually from polyester micro-fibres. Their fluffiness provides particularly high warmth retention.
The back layer of the system, fulfilling the role of lining, may for example be a thin polyamide woven/knitted fabric, but Polar knitted fabric or fur fabric is also possible.
9. Development in Textile Materials for Sportswear [8]
The evolution of fibre developments have gone through the phases of conventional fibres, high functional fibres and high-performance fibres. Polyester is the single most common fibre used for sportswear and active wear. Other fibres suitable for active wear are polyamide, polypropylene, acrylics and elastanes. Fibres from renewable resource based polymers such as corn-based polylactide (INEGO) and polytrimethylene terepthalate (SONARA) as well as wood-fibre based Lyocell are also finding markets in the sport and leisurewear market sectors. Wool and cotton fibres are still finding applications in leisurewear. Synthetic fibres can either be modified during manufacture, e.g., by producing hollow fibres and fibres with irregular cross-section or optimally blended with natural fibres to improve their thermo-physiological and sensory properties. Synthetic fibres with improved UV resistance and having anti-microbial properties are also commercially available for use in sportswear.
Improved fibre spinning techniques in melt spinning, wet spinning, dry spinning as well as new techniques such as gel spinning, bi-component spinning, micro-fibre spinning have all made it possible to produce fibres, yarns and fabrics with unique performance characteristics very suitable for use in sportswear and sport goods. New technologies for producing micro-fibres have also contributed towards production of high-tech sportswear. By using the conjugate spinning technique, many different types of sophisticated fibres with various functions have been commercially produced which has resulted in fabrics having improved mechanical, physical, chemical and biological functions. The technique of producing sheath/core melt spun conjugate fibres has been commercially exploited for producing added value fibres.
There has been a strong growth in development and use of high functional materials used in sportswear and outdoor leisure clothing. The performance requirements of many such products demand the balance of widely different properties of drape, thermal insulation, barrier to liquids, antistatic, stretch, physiological comfort etc. The research in this field over the past decade has led to the commercial development of a variety of new products for high functional end-uses. By designing new processes for fabric preparation and finishing, and as a result of advances in technologies for production and application of suitable polymeric membranes and surface finishes, it is now possible to successfully combine the consumer requirements of aesthetics, design and function in sportswear for different end-use applications. Many smart double-knitted or double-woven fabrics have been developed for sportswear in such a way that their face closer to human skin has optimal moisture wicking and sensory properties whereas the outer face of the fabric has optimal moisture dissipation behaviour.
In addition to the innovations in highly functional manmade fibre based fabrics, advances have also been made in cotton and wool fabrics for sportswear.
The light-weight breathable high functional fabric has been developed world wide. Today there are two main technologies for achieving waterproof breathable fabrics; microporous coating or laminates and hydrophilic, non-porous moisture –drawing coating or laminates. High functional fabrics are generally characterized as being waterproof/moisture permeable, sweat absorbing and with high thermal insulation at low thickness values. These fabrics are now extensively used in making sportswear and sports shoes. The hydrophilic polyester membrane is vacuum vaporised with aluminium to achieve a high level of body heat reflection in the garment. In these types of laminated fabric, multi-functionality in one and same material is obtained as characterized by thermal insulation, breathability, perspiration transport, absorption and quick dry properties.
Laminated fabrics made from monolithic breathable membranes which react to build up of heat and moisture If the micro-climate temperature rises, the openings between the polymer molecular segments expand thereby increase the moisture permeability of the laminated fabric. As the temperature then drop, the pores in the fabric close thereby trapping heat in the micro-climate surrounding a person.
Today’s garments with high stretch and recovery for sportswear play an important role in optimizing an athlete’s performance by providing freedom of movement, maximizing comfort, minimizing the risk of muscle fatigue and reducing friction or drag.
Fabric stretch can be achieved by a number of different methods. These include
Fibre elongation characteristics derived from its molecular chain geometry as in the case of synthetic elastomers known as elastane,
Bi-component polymer spinning which can create fibres with a helical crimp,
Yarn crimping such as texturing,
Fabric structures such as circular knits and
Finishing such as stretch silicone treatment or application of stretch laminates.
Recovery of a fabric after stretching is as important as stretching.
For many applications in sportswear there is need for less comfort stretch as compared with elastane fibre such as Lycra, but more comfort stretch than obtained using standard mechanically textured yarns. Today some stretch yarns are available which have been manufactured by using the bicomponent spinning technology. The two polymers in either side-by-side or sheath-core configuration in such bicomponent fibres, have inherently different rates of shrinkage. When such yarns are subjected to steam or high temperatures, they undergo self-crimping and long-lasting stretch and recovery properties.
The PTT (Polytrimethylene terephthalate which is aromatic polyester made by the polycondensation of 1, 3-propranediol (PDO) and terephthalic acid. PTT fibres show a significantly higher level of elastic recovery compared with PP and PET fibres. With the advent of new types of stretch fabrics having a range of stretch and recovery from low to very high, it is now possible to engineer seamless and stitchless casual and performance sportswear with variable stretch/power dependant on their applications.
The sportswear industry and its material suppliers are the foremost leaders of innovative product development within the textile and clothing sector and has been a launching pad for many new ideas and concepts in material and product design. The casual and performance sportswear of today have become truly engineered products designed to fulfil the consumer’s requirements of multi-functionality within the spectrum of comfort, lightweight, soft, injury–preventive, thermoregulatory, elastic, antimicrobial, durable and aesthetic.
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