Water proof breathable fabric
- · Make protective garments that provide protection from the environmental factors like wind, rain, loss of body heat.
- · Completely prevents the penetration and absorption of liquid water.
- · Term breathable implies that the fabric is actively ventilated and help to wearers with greater comfort.
- · Passively allow water vapour to diffuse through them yet prevents the penetration of liquid.
- · For consumer, comfort is an increasingly important consideration when buying performance apparel.
- · For manufacturer, a garment which is both water proof and breathable can often command a significant price premium.
- · However, price differences have narrowed over the years as waterproof breathable garments have become more affordable than in the past.
- · Water proof and moisture permeability are mutually contradictory. It is therefore proved to be a major challenge for manufacturers to produce a material which has both these properties.
- · In the past, fabrics which offered protection from wind and rain did not breath and this made them uncomfortable to wear.
- · But, great strides have been made in waterproof breathable technology over the past 30 years.
- · Water proof and moisture permeability are mutually contradictory. It is therefore proved to be a major challenge for manufacturers to produce a material which has both these properties.
Moisture transport mechanism
- · Mechanism similar to the wicking of liquid capillaries.
- · Capillary action is determined by (its diameter, surface energy of its inside face).
- · The smaller the diameter or the greater the surface energy, the greater the tendency of a liquid to move up capillary.
