Dynamics of Elastic Knitted Fabrics for Sports Wear

The garment stretch and recovery characteristics due to body movements can be indirectly assessed by the dynamic elastic recovery (DER) value of the fabrics at different extension levels. In order to study DER of elastic fabrics, a comparative analysis was made between spandex-plated cotton fabric and spandex core cotton spun (SCCS) fabric. It was found that the spandex-plated cotton fabric has higher DER value than that of SCCS fabric. The results of this study show that this phenomenon is due to the residual energy of the elastane unraveled from these fabrics. The stress values of these fabrics have no significant effect at 95% confidence level. It is concluded that the spandex-plated cotton fabric is suitable than SCCS fabric, for the tight fit garments meant for the sports like Javelin, shot-put, and athletics.