from the conferences organized by TANGER Ltd.
Dynamic heat storage and release in clothing is essential for maintaining thermal balance and ensuring the comfort, safety, and well-being of individuals in various environmental conditions. By effectively managing heat transfer between the body and the environment, clothing helps support the body's natural thermoregulatory mechanisms and enhances overall comfort and performance. Hence, this study aims to investigate how Phase Change Material (PCM) filled core-sheath staple fibers in ring-spun polyester yarn influences thermoregulation and heat storing properties of the resulting fabric. This study also involves investigating various levels of PCM staple fibers mass percentage (5%, 10%, 15% and 30%) within the fabric to determine the optimal amount that maximizes fabric's ability to regulate body temperature by absorbing, storing, and releasing heat as needed. The results show that fabrics contain fibers filled with PCM exhibits altered temperature profiles compared to fabrics without PCM, with potential delays in both heating and cooling phases due to the absorption and release of heat by the PCM materials. The findings show that the addition of PCM fibers to some extent up to15% to the fabric leads to a progressive decrease in the rate of heat absorption and release and temperature rise or reduction. Fabric with 15% PCM fibers content exhibits several desirable thermal properties including lowest thermal conductivity, highest thermal resistance, thermal effusivity and Far Infrared (FIR) Emissivity among all other fabrics. Fabric with 15% PCM fiber content yields a higher output than fabric with 30% PCM fiber content, despite having lower PCM content. In addition, the fabric results were validated by developing composite plates with different concentrations of PCM-filled staple fibers. Like fabric, composites with 15% PCM-filled staple fibers exhibited the lowest rate of heat absorption and heat loss, making them ideal for cold environments. Overall, this study has the potential to advance our knowledge of thermal regulation in winter clothing, leading to the development of next-generation fabrics with improved performance, comfort, and sustainability.
Keywords: Heat storage, PCM, heat absorption and release; effusivity© This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.