Compression and Thermal Properties of Recycled Fiber Assemblies Made from Industrial Waste of Sweater Products

Abstract

Two kinds of recycled fiber assemblies made from knitted sweaters fabrics are exam ined by measuring compression, thermal, and air resistance properties, and they are compared with a pure wool assembly and a wool-blend assembly. For recycled fiber assemblies, the initial volume for a constant weight and stiffness to compression process are smaller than those of other samples at the same apparent fiber density. The effective thermal conductivities of recycled fiber assemblies are smaller than those of wool fiber assemblies. Recycled fiber assemblies show larger specific air resistance than the other samples when the volume fraction is the same. A recycled fiber mass has a unique structure, that is, some yams extracted from fabrics remain in the fiber mass. These yams do not show any decrease in compression, thermal, and air permeability properties compared with commercial fiber assemblies. These crimped yams in the fiber mass contribute to softness at the high fiber density apparent in compression.

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