A comprehensive study on physical properties of Jacquard knitted camouflage.

Camouflage in textiles is a pattern orchestrated using different materials and designs, primarily used for armed forces clothing for not to be detected by enemies in variable environments. Wearer comfort is the central perspective while developing textiles; however, no significant literature exists on the comfort assessment of knitted camouflage fabrics. Hence this research experimentally investigates the effect of the fabric structure and the material type on the comfort and mechanical performance properties of the engineered knitted camouflage fabrics. Fabrication of camouflage patterns, i.e. snow, desert, forest camouflage, and plain rib (control sample), was done using different combinations of Polyester, Cotton, and Tencel through jacquard knitting. Characterization of comfort and mechanical properties were performed to predict the influence of input parameters, for finding the best knitting structures and materials and exploring the scientific reason behind behaviours of jacquard knitted camouflage fabrics. Comfort and performance attributes were influenced by changing material and knitting parameters i.e. mean air permeability was 5% higher, and thermal resistance was 21% lower for forest camouflage as compared to desert and snow camouflage due to yarn movements in jacquard patterns. Similarly, the mechanical properties also showed to be affected by changing experimental parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]