Int. j. eng. sci., Vol(3), No (8), August, 2014. pp.

60-66

TI Journals

International Journal of Engineering Sciences

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ISSN:
2306-6474
Copyright 2014. All rights reserved for TI Journals.

Development of the water absorbing-drying property evaluation

method of fabric by near-infrared spectral image measurement
system Part : Measurement in colored textile, luster textiles,
hydrophobic textile
Shouhei Koyama *
Faculty of textile Science and Technology, Shinshu University, Japan.

Mika Morishima
Faculty of textile Science and Technology, Shinshu University, Japan.

Yuki Miyauchi
Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Science and Technology, Shinshu University, Japan.

Hiroaki Ishizawa
Faculty of textile Science and Technology, Shinshu University, Japan.

*Corresponding author: shouhei@shinshu-u.ac.jp

Keywords

Abstract

Water characteristic
NIR spectral image measurement system
Water diffusion area
Water additional diffusion area
Colored textile
Luster textile
Hydrophobic textile

Water absorbing-drying property evaluation is very important in the textile products. We have developed a
measurement system using near-infrared camera and LED light source to evaluate these characteristics. The
developed system can be measured in the image and time-series changes of water weight and moisture
diffusion area in textile products. We shall prove that the developed system can be measured in various
samples.
This paper shows the result of measuring in textiles in hydrophobic, color and with luster. The developed
system could be measured without being affected by color and luster. The water absorbing-drying properties
can be measured in the wool textile of hydrophobic fibers. We have confirmed that the various textile
products can be measured by using the developed system. Therefore, we propose this measurement system
as a new absorbing-drying property evaluation method of textile.

1.

Introduction

Various textile products are full around us. Among them, clothes to wear every day, bedding to be used at bedtime is the products that we touch
directly. The function required by a use application of the textile product is different. For example, heat retention in winter clothing such as
sweaters, absorbent quick-drying in the sportswear. Since many functions required in textile products, the development of fibrous material with
various functions is researched. The water absorbing-drying property is a notable function in clothes. Therefore, it has been studied worldwide
about the water absorption test of the fabric [1-7]. Water absorption property has a significant impact on the comfort of clothing. This property is
important in underwear, towels and diapers [8-9]. The water diffusion and the speed of drying have a significant impact on sweat-absorbent
quick-drying clothes. These are the important functions in sportswear. Therefore, the water absorbing-drying property is important in assessing
the function of clothing [10-13].
In Japan, the water absorption property and the drying property of textile products are evaluated in different tests. The water absorption property
evaluation of textile products, are standardized in Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS) [14-15]. The water absorption property test method of
textile products of JIS L 1907 is a three ways of Dropping test, Byreck method and Precipitation method [16]. These test methods are chosen by
types of sample textile products. The drying property test method is standardized in JIS L 1096 Testing methods for woven and knitted fabrics.
The advantage of this standard is very easily, but has poor reproducibility and also the problem of individual differences because it is a visual
evaluation. Because the impact of water into the clothing is big, measurement results may vary depending on individual difference. Measurement
of textile products which have very good water absorption property is difficult.
We developed a water-absorbing and drying properties evaluation system capable of solving such a problem [17-19]. The developed system is
not affected by heat in order to use the NIR light. There is no influence of individual difference in this system, because it has not a visual
evaluation. The water diffusion area (WDA) and the water additional diffusion area (WADA) are measured in the developed system, and we
have measured the water information in the sample. These are very important parameters to measure this property, and which is a great
advantage of this measurement system. We can evaluate in new parameter, How to absorb the water in sample, How to diffuse the water in
sample, How to dry the water in sample. These parameters can be measured by near-infrared images using the light absorption of water. We
have measured in white cotton fabric and white cotton pile fabric. In order to propose a new water-absorbing and drying properties evaluation
method by developed system, we measure the other textile products. We shall see the effect on the measurement by the color and luster.
We have measure the cotton black fabric as colored textile product, and measure the cupro and silk with a luster. In addition, we measure the
wool fabric of hydrophobic fiber. We considered the possibility of water absorbing-drying property of textile products from the measurement
results of these samples by using development system.

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Development of the water absorbing-drying property evaluation method of fabric by near-infrared spectral image measurement system - Part II: Measureme...
International Journal of Engineering Sciences Vol(3), No (8), August, 2014.

2.

Measurement method

2.1 Measurement system and Spectral image analysis

The development system is used to the NIR light which does not damage the organic material. NIR spectral image system is composed of
1450nm NIR LED surface lighting (KLV, LM8C50X58-20IR), NIR image camera (Electrophysics corp. Micron Viewer 7290A-06), filters (cutoff wavelength: 600nm), electronic balance (SARTORIUS: CP225D) and sample holder. Specifications of the NIR LED surface lighting and the
NIR image camera are shown in Table1 and 2. The detected light is measured as an image of 640 480 pixels on a PC. In order to evaluate the
water absorbing-drying property of the sample, it is necessary to take out the water information in the sample. In other words, if water
information is analyzed from the measured image, we can measure the water absorbing-drying property of the textile product.
The measured image is analyzed as follows. This image is analyzed by multi-functional general-purpose image analysis software (LIBRARY,
Cosmos32) and concentration displacement measurement software (LIBRARY, Gray-val). The analyzing processes are the image calculating
processing, the median filter processing and the image threshold. We use the total of black pixels of after analyzing process as the WDA. Then,
the threshold will be added in stages by each 2, and takes each image threshold. Pixel number which determined in black by each image
threshold is added, then, the value obtained by doubling the total value is calculated. This calculated value is used as the WADA. WADA is
calculated to reflect the water weight. We will examine water absorbing-drying property of fabric from the WDA,WADA and measurement
images. The sample is placed on a stand of the O-ring in the electric balance. Water is dropped into the center of the sample. The dropping
amount of water by the micropipette is 50l. In addition, as a basic measurement conditions, the measurement time is 3600 seconds, the image
measurement time interval is 6 seconds, the measurement time interval of the water weight is 30 seconds.
Table 1. Specifications of the NIR light source

Min.
Forward Voltage
Reverse Current
Total Radiate
Peak Wavelength
Half Width
Viewing Half Angle
Rise Time
Fall Time

1400

Typical
0.8
0.2
1450
100
55
10
10

Max.
1.3
10
1500

Unit
V
A
mW
nm
nm
deg.
ns
ns

Table 2. Specifications of the NIR image camera

Sensor

Lead-oxysulfide vidicon

Spectral Sensitivity

0.4 2.2 m

Vertical Resolution

525 TV lines

Horizontal Resolution

650 TV lines

Dynamic Range

50:1

Scanned Area

9.5 12.7 mm2

Damage Threshold

1 mW/cm2 (CW), 10 mJ (pulsed)

Decay lag after 50 ms

45 60 %

Scanning

2:1 interlace

Signal to Noise Ratio

50 db

Deflection Distortion

2% in circle of picture width

Dark Noise

2.5 mV

Power

6 W, 500 mA

Size (L W H)

9" 4" 3" (22 10 7 cm)

Weight

1.52 kg, 3.2 lb.

2.2 Measurement sample

In measurement samples, we use to the fabric textile of silk, cupro, wool and cotton black colored fabric. The textile weave of all samples is
plain weave. Table 3 shows the detailed information of these samples. The size of the sample measurement is 100 mm 100 mm. Each sample
is hand-washed in order to remove the dirt. The washed Samples are dried. Then, these samples have left for 24 hours in the room of the
temperature 20 degrees and the humidity 65%RH.
Figure 1 shows the absorption spectra of distilled water, cotton, silk, wool, and cupro by NIR spectrophotometer. The infrared spectra of silk and
wool are similar in order to consist of protein. Then, for cotton and cupro are made of cellulose, the infrared spectrum is similar. Infrared light of
1450nm is absorbed almost in the water, because transmittance of water in 1450nm is 5%. Conversely, transmittance of the other samples is less
than 60%. A large difference of the absorbance is seen between water and other samples in 1450 nm. Therefore, we will be able to measure of
water information in textile products.

Shouhei Koyama *, Mika Morishima, Yuki Miyauchi, Hiroaki Ishizawa

International Journal of Engineering Sciences Vol(3), No (8), August, 2014.

Table 3. Samples

Yarn counts (tex)

Warp
Weft
Cotton
Silk
Cupro
Wool

2.3
6.7
19

2.3 2
8.3
15

Density (picks/inch)
Warp
Weft
140
141
72

98
89
69

Color
Black
White
White
White

Figure 1. NIR spectra of samples and water

3.

Water absorbing-drying property evaluation of textile fabric by development system

3.1 The water absorbing-drying property evaluation of cotton black colored fabric

(A) Time series change in full time

(B) Time series change until 300 seconds

(C) Digital camera image and calculated images at a certain time in cotton black colored fabric
Figure 2. Time series change of WDA and WADA in cotton black colored fabric, and calculated images at a certain time

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Development of the water absorbing-drying property evaluation method of fabric by near-infrared spectral image measurement system - Part II: Measureme...
International Journal of Engineering Sciences Vol(3), No (8), August, 2014.

The white color samples have been used in measurement so far. Since the water is overlapped in the color of the sample, visual evaluation is
difficult. In this section, we examine the impact on the measurement by the color of the sample.
The measurement result of cotton black colored fabric is shown in Figure 2. The water in cotton black colored fabric is clearly visible by the
calculated image of Figure 2. In this sample, maximum WDA is 258 seconds, maximum WADA is 90 seconds. The water spread uniformly to
258 seconds after dropping water on this sample. At this time, the water dries from after 90 seconds. From the calculated images, the water dries
from the surface of the sample.
We examine the impact of color here. Correlation coefficient with changes over time in water weight and WADA in cotton black colored fabric
is 0.89. Because it is correlated highly significant, WADA reflects the water weight without being influenced by the color. There is no
absorption peak at 1450nm in absorption spectrum of cotton black colored fabric. In the infrared light of 1450nm, cotton black colored fabric can
be measured in the same state as the white colored fabric. From the above results, the developed system can be measured without being impacted
by color. This characteristic is very meaningful.
3.2 The water absorbing-drying property evaluation of textile fabric with luster
There is no luster in cotton. There is a textile product with a luster depending on the material. Since the luster is shining on the surface,
impacting the visual evaluation. In this section, we examine the impact on the measurement by the luster of the sample. We measure the plain
weave fabric of silk and cupro as textile products with luster.
Figure 3 and Figure 4 show the measurement results in the silk and cupro textiles. Correlation coefficient with changes over time in water weight
and WADA in silk and cupro textile is each 0.92. From these results, a very significant correlation was measured in each sample. In the silk
fabric of Figure 3, the dropped water diffuses within the sample. The max time WDA and the max time WADA are the same time in 96 seconds.
The inflection point was observed during the drying. The inflection point in WDA was 606 seconds, and it was 678 seconds in WADA. The
WDA and WADA showed a tendency like about the same in silk fabric. From these results, the water absorbed by the silk textile, which dry
after spreading in the horizontal direction. In other words, there is no impact by the thickness of silk textile. The thickness of this silk textile is 1
mm. This result of silk textile is reasonable, since this value is thinner than the other samples.
Figure 4 shows the measurement results in the cupro textile. The max time WDA is 258 seconds, and the max time WADA is 90 seconds. These
times are the same as the cotton black colored fabric. The inflection point during the drying was 1212 seconds in WDA, and which was 984
seconds in WADA. WDA of cupro textile decreases slower than WADA. This phenomenon is not seen in silk, it is similar to the cotton black
colored fabric.
Cupro textile is the regenerated fibers using cellulose of main component. Water infiltrates in the inside fiber, because cellulose is excellent in
water absorption. Therefore, water diffuses to the inside and surface of the sample. Water on the surface of the sample is drying, but the water
inside the sample is diffuse. For this reason, WDA is gradually decreased in the same trend slower than WADA. In this way, similar results in
the cotton textile and cupro textile are obtained. Therefore, it is accurately measure the characteristics of cupro textile. We could be measured in
both cupro and silk textile by the developed system. The developed system can be measured without being impacted by luster.

(A) Time series change in full time

(B) Time series change until 300 seconds

(C) Calculated images at a certain time in silk fabric

Figure 3. Time series change of WDA and WADA in silk fabric, and calculated images at a certain time

Shouhei Koyama *, Mika Morishima, Yuki Miyauchi, Hiroaki Ishizawa

64

International Journal of Engineering Sciences Vol(3), No (8), August, 2014.

(A) Time series change in full time

(B) Time series change until 300 seconds

(C) Calculated images at a certain time in cupro fabric

Figure 4. Time series change of WDA and WADA in cupro fabric, and calculated images at a certain time
3.3 The water absorbing-drying property evaluation of hydrophobic textile fabric
There are textile products that do not absorb water by the material or processing. We had measured textile fabrics which absorb the water.
Therefore, it is expected that measurement result of the hydrophobic fiber is different from the past result. When measured hydrophobic textile
products by Byreck method, the result of the absorption height is 0. From this result, we can be determined that the textile fabric is made from
hydrophobic fiber.
It is necessary that we know in advance the results when measuring the hydrophobic fiber product by the developed system. In this section, we
examine to the measurement of hydrophobic fiber product by the developed system. We measure the plain weave fabric of wool as hydrophobic
textile fabric. Figure 5 shows the measurement results in the wool textile. The correlation coefficient of water weight and WADA is 0.96.
WADA reflects the water weight even if the hydrophobic fiber product is measured. WADA and the WDA did not increase from later of the
water dropping. Rather, these are the decrease only at same speed. Therefore, maximum WDA and maximum WADA did not appear.
Then, black pixel has appeared, even if the threshold increased. This indicates that much water is present in the range of black pixels. In other
words, water is present in the vertical direction. This is significantly different from the other samples. From the measurement images, the range
of black pixels is very small than calculated image of other samples.
The size of the black pixel is approximately the same when compare the calculated image of 3600 sec and 12 sec in the threshold 6. From these
results, the dropped water is not diffused in sample, it is remaining in a narrow range. When we confirmed visually, the dropping water was not
immediately penetrated in the wool textile. The dropped water was remains on top of the sample. These causes are due to the structure of wool.
Wool is covered with epidermal cells called the cuticle. The cuticle is a three-layer structure of the Epi-cuticle, Exotic-cuticle, Endcuticle. Since the Epi-cuticle in the outermost surface has a characteristic of water-repellent, does not absorb the liquid water. From this feature,
the dropped water remains in the state of water droplets on a sample. Therefore, WDA and WADA are not become widely by this characteristic.
The decrease of WDA and WADA, be due to natural drying of water. The contact surface area of air and water is small, because WDA and
WADA are not spreading. If this surface area is small, the amount of natural drying of the water is less. Therefore, the drying speed of water
from hydrophobic fiber product is slower than the other samples. Then, measurement results reflecting accurately the characteristics of wool
have been obtained from these results. We have extended the measurement until water to evaporate. WDA and WADA were reduced at a speed
of uniformly after 3600 seconds. Then, the water was evaporated in 14000 seconds.
From these results, when measuring the hydrophobic fiber product by developed system, it was found that WDA and WADA are not increased,
and these are decreasing at a speed of uniform. Thus, when these symptoms occur, we can know from a result of measurement that the sample is
hydrophobic fiber. From these, we confirmed that the developed system can be measured of the hydrophobic textile products.

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Development of the water absorbing-drying property evaluation method of fabric by near-infrared spectral image measurement system - Part II: Measureme...
International Journal of Engineering Sciences Vol(3), No (8), August, 2014.

(A) Time series change in full time

(B) Time series change until 300 seconds

(C) Digital camera image and calculated images at a certain time in wool fabric
Figure 5. Time series change of WDA and WADA in wool fabric, and calculated images at a certain time

4.

Conclusion

In this paper, we measured the various samples by using the developed system. As a result, it could be measured without being impacted by the
color and luster of textiles. In addition, the water absorbing-drying property of the hydrophobic textile product also can be measured. This is an
excellent characteristic of the developed system. We use a sample of 100 mm square for the experiment, we can set the sample stage directly
without destroying the textile products. This measurement method is very simple, since only measure by setting the fiber product in the sample
stage. The characteristics of this system is unaffected by thermal radiation, can be measured without the use of dye. In addition, the
characteristics of water absorbing-drying property of textile can be measured in time series change and image evaluation. The developed system
with these characteristics is an ideal the water absorbing-drying property evaluation method of textile products.
Further research is to measure the textile products of other types. We will measure the textile fabric, which changed the parameters as density
and thickness of the thread. The effect of the water absorbing-drying property by each parameter might be able to elucidate by using this
developed system, because this system can measure the location of the water in time series change. By this, textile product with excellent the
water absorbing-drying property might be developed. If the more functional textile products have be developed, we will be able to live a richer
life. We believe this measurement system is an effective evaluation method including various possibilities.

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