Abstract:

Textile wicking models perform the bridge connecting the capillary ststem with the macroscopic textile wicking behavior. Presently, quite a lot of textile wicking models exist, and their theoretical basis and application range are waried and przzling to most people. Thus, existing models were classified and reviewed. The testing methods and influencing factors of textile wicking pwoperties were primarily summarized, and then textile wicking models were classified into three groups according to their basic principles. For each group, the saaumed condition, theoretical principle, and applied range were descussed. Firstly, the capillary-force based models were built up based on the opinion of macroscopic force balance, whereas the idealized capillary model performed far away from the realistic capillary system that are commonly hierarchical and complex, thus application of capillary-force based models was limited so far. Secondly, the pressure based models were built based on the Washburn equation and generally to analyze the pressure and pressure difference combined with the Laplace equation and Poiseuille law. The pressure based models were usually used to predict the flow, welocity of flow, and distance of the fluid through textile structures. Yarn and fabric were usually considered as one unit in the pressure based models, and empirical data of the structural parameters were adopted as representatives of corresponding structures. Hence the pressure based models could be modified to be suitable for more kinds of textiles. Thirdly, the energy based models were built based on the principle of conservation of energy and were usually used to analyze the degree of energy conversion during a wicking process. Finally, the development directions of studies on textile wicking modiling were predicted.

Key words: textile material, wicking peoperty, modeling, wicking theory