Thermal and Wet Comfort of Fabrics Based on Fractal Dimension of Silicone Coating

Abstract

In this paper, thermal and wet comforts of silicone coated windbreaker shell jacket fabrics were studied. Both thermal insulation and evaporative resistance of fabric increased with an increase in coating area due to the barrier effect of the silicone coating layer. Moreover, the coated fabrics with self-similar structures showed different thermal insulation and evaporative resistance under the same total coating area. Fractal theory was used to explain this phenomenon. Optimal thermal-wet comfort properties were obtained when the fractal dimension (D=1.599) was close to the Golden Mean (1.618). When the fractal dimension of coating was lower than 1.599, fabric warmth retention was not high enough. In contrast, fabric evaporative resistance was beyond the value at which people would feel comfortable when the fractal dimension was greater than 1.599.