Drape behaviour of functional knitted fabrics for sport clothing

The influence of polyester/functional fibre blends on the drape properties of knitted fabrics for sport clothing application has been studied. Several knitted fabrics have been produced using polyester fibre blended, in different percentages, with functional fibres like Outlast, Dry release, Aquator, Polybutylene terephthalate and Bioactive. The drape and flexural rigidity behaviour of the materials produced have been evaluated to optimize the composition of functional knitted fabrics based on polyester/functional fibre blends. It is observed that the knitted fabrics produced with polyester/Outlast blends show the most interesting drape behaviour. On the other hand, polyester/polybutylene terephthalate and polyester/Aquator fabrics show lower drape behaviour due to the types of fibre used. Moreover, relationships between the amount of functional fibre and the drape and flexural rigidity behaviour are also established. The study is useful to design sport clothing for professional football players.The authors acknowledge the support given by the Alssan Program, High Level Scholarship Program of the European Community for Latin America (Scholarship No. E05D056514BR)