Development and characterization of warp knitted spacer fabrics for helmet comfort liner application
N. Muthu Kumar, G. Thilagavathi, S Periasamy
Abstract
The inner padding layer of the motorcycle helmet is one of the important components that control the factors of comfort during wearing the helmet and provides a perfect fit and stability of the helmet on the head. The inner padding consists of a low-density flexible polyurethane layer attached to a soft fabric layer that is in direct contact with the head. The present study aims to replace foam in the comfort liner of a helmet with spacer fabrics to avoid the risk of heat stress during the use of the helmet. In this work, 9 warp-knitted spacer fabrics were produced by varying the course/cm (10, 12 & 14) and thickness (3, 3.5, and 4 mm). Air permeability, thermal, and water vapour resistance of the developed spacer fabrics were characterized along with compression properties and compared with commercially available standard liner. The results showed that warp-knitted spacer fabrics had better energy absorption compared to the standard liner. Also, the developed spacer fabrics had better breathability and evaporative heat transfer compared to the standard liner.