The Wicking of Water in Yarn as Measured by an Electrical Resistance Technique

Abstract

An apparatus was developed to study water-transport behaviour along yarns. The rise of the liquid water in the yarn triggered an electrical circuit which was coupled with a personal computer, and so the distance of water rise as a function of time was determined. To smooth the data, the method of least squares was applied and the theoretical equation of the flow through the vertical cylindrical capillary was used. Polypropylene filaments and polyester yarns in various forms were examined. The rate constants and the relations between vertical water transport and time in different yarns are reported.