The document discusses army clothing and the important factors that must be considered in their design. Army personnel face extreme weather conditions that can impact performance. Army clothing must provide protection, functionality, and identification. It must allow for moisture vapor transmission and air permeability while being water repellant. Various high-performance materials are used like Coolmax, Triactor, Gore-Tex, and phase change materials to regulate temperature and moisture. The clothing is often constructed in multi-layer designs to provide insulation and protection from both cold and hot environments.

1. COMFORT PROPERTIES
ARMY CLOTHING
Department of Textile and Fibre Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
SUBMITTED TO
Prof. Vijay Baheti
SUBMITTED BY
Kajal Gupta
(2021TTE2672)

2. Army clothing
Primary purposes of army clothing
Army clothing
Protection
functionality
Identification
 Military personnel live in a harsh environment (extreme cold, extreme heat, fire etc).
 These conditions could affect the military troops more than the enemy forces
 Human being cannot perform satisfactorily until they are completely comfortable

3. Siachen glacier Kargil
(Jammu & Kashmir)
Indo-Chinese boarder
Arunachal Pradesh
Indo-Pak boarder
Rajasthan
Indo-Chinese boarder
Sikkim
Weather extremities faced by Army

4.  The absence of unpleasantness or discomfort
Most important factors in clothing comfort
 The movement of heat and water vapour
through a garment
The state of comfort can only be achieved when the most complex interactions between a range of
physiological, psychological and physical factors have taken place in a satisfactory manner
Comfort

5. Comfort
Air permeability
 Material that is permeable to air is also, in general, likely to be permeable to water, in either the
vapour or the liquid phase
 A highly air-permeable fabric have as very open structure
 Aesthetic factors such as modesty, dimensional stability, drape, handle etc may result in
discomfort
Moisture-vapor transmission
Moisture pemrmeability
 It allows water(liquid and vapor phase) to pass through it
 Moisture-vapour transmission is crucial to comfort in both cold and hot weather
Effected by fabric structure and properties, finishing treatments, texturizing, different yarn twists,
blending and mechanical treatments

6. Water repellence and water absorption
 For achieving increased absorbency,
(i) physical modification of the structure (ii)
chemical treatment or modification and (iii) coating
techniques
 For waterproof and water-repellent finishes on
textiles various treatments
Rubber, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyurethane
(PU), silicone elastomer, fluoropolymers, and
wax.
In defense clothing in particular, attempts have been made to find a satisfactory compromise
between the two, but with no outstanding success so far
Comfort
Water repellence and water
absorption in fabric

7. Material Selection
Fibre
 Polyester
 Cotton
 High Tenacity Polyester
 Kevlar
 Coolmax (irregular stumped)
 Meta Aramid
 Nomex
 Triactor
Yarn
 Core spun yarn
 Microfibre yarn
 Technofine
 Yarn structure PRH 50
Coolmax Triactor
Technofine Yarn structure PRH 50

8. Material Selection
Fabric
 80/20; a mix of 80% wool/20% polyester for long wearing.
 Wool fabric: 100%wool, wool & cotton blended wool & polyester blended
 Cotton fabric, Cotton/Polyester, Linen fabric for hot weather
 Aquamiracle is a high-performance fabric that resists sweat stains, provides comfort, sun
protection
 Face side- titanium and zinc core(block UV rays), back side- technofine yarn
 NATO countries used 305 GSM 100% cotton
 In USA for battle dress uniform 237 GSM 50/50 cotton nylon blend fabric used
 67/33 and 65/35 polyester cotton blend are also used with 245 and 195 GSM

9. Multiple layer structures and membranes
Constructed by expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)
impregnated with an oleophobic polymer.
 Membrane is highly porous
Altima - double layer knit fabric consisting of a dry layer and
a moisture absorbing layer. It offers perspiration absorption
 Gore-tex is waterproof, breathable membrane , protect feet from exposure of rain
Material Selection
Gore-tex fabric
Altima fabric

10. Material Selection
Hydroweave
 A performance enhancing fabric that cools through
evaporation
 It is this combination of an outer shell, water absorbing
matting and conductive lining
 As the sweat evaporates from this layer, the fabric
cools the wearer while its shell and lining keep the
wearer dry
Research work has shown that wearing Hydroweave vest, core body temperature can be kept
under control and about 15% increase in work time can be obtained over non-vest condition.
Hydroweave

11. Multilayer coveralls and military combat suit
 Can’t wear multiple layers of clothing to protect themselves ,as their movement in a combat
situation is restricted
 An ensemble known as Extreme Cold Weather Clothing (ECWC) has been developed
 The outer garment will be fleece fabric
 The middle layer provides insulation by trapping air
 The innermost garment ensure sweat wicking
For Harsh cold environment
Ripstop fabrics based
on nylon or polyester
Multilayer coveralls provide protection up to -20°C, they become ineffective below certain lower
temperature

12. For Harsh cold environment
Aerogel-based fabric
 Prime sources are Silica, carbon, titanium and
alumina .
 Silica aerogel has been most promising, mainly due
to its efficient insulation properties to weight ratios.
 Aerogels enhanced thermal insulation and reduced
bulk and weight.
 Aerogel consists of more than 96% air and
remaining 4% is matrix of silicon dioxide
Thermal
conductivity
Porosity(>95%)
Small pore
Size
Fabrics embedded with nanowires and hydrogels could help soldiers to keep warm and
comfortable in colder climates.
Aerogel thermal conductivity

13. For Harsh cold environment
Incorporation of silver nanowires into military
uniforms, such as polyester and a cotton/nylon blend
Applying a mere 3 volts to 1-inch by 1-inch test
swatches of these fabrics -- the output of a typical
watch battery -- raises the temperature by 100
degrees
Incorporating a layer of sweat-absorbing hydrogel
particles made of polyethylene glycol or poly(N-
isopropylacrylamide)
These particles might stop other layers in the fabrics
from getting wet
The problem with silver nanowire mesh is batteries would add too much weight to uniforms.
Powered silver nanowire
mesh in gloves

14. For Harsh cold/hot environment
PCM-based fabrics
 For incorporating PCM in to structure - Coating, finishing,
melt spinning, injection molding etc
 PCMs applied to textiles are n-paraffin waxes having
different melting temperatures (Tm) such as
 Hexadecane (Tm =18°C), octadecane (Tm = 28–30°C),
nonadecane (Tm =32°C).
 Treated fabric with 22.9% add-on is capable of absorbing
4.44 J/g of heat if the microcapsules on the fabric undergo
a melting process
PCM-based textiles are best employed for temporary thermals wing protection rather than for
continuous hot or cold operations such as military operations lasting for few months
Phase change material

15. Conclusion
Army uniforms face a complex set of challenges
They have to offer safety, sturdiness, and comfort in a variety of hazardous condition
 To quickly wick sweat away from the skin, Coolmax uses small, crooked polyester fibres to
provide a large surface area
 Triactor is a newly polyester filament yarn with a Y-shaped cross-section that offers a quick-
absorbing textile surface
 Technofine is a smart polyester yarn with a uniquely shaped W cross-section. The W shape's
overlap accelerates a fabric's capacity to carry water away from the skin.
 Gore-tex fabrics is among the earliest varieties of fabric material to provide better insulation
and breathability
 Hydroweave, cools through evaporation
 Aerogels enhanced thermal insulation and reduced bulk and weight
 Silver nano wire mesh can help in providing heat to the body
 PCM-based textiles are best employed for temporary thermals protection