Investigating the Influence of Fabric’s Dynamic Elastic Recovery on the Body Free Movement: The Effect of Knit Structure and Loading Direction

The dynamic elastic recovery (DER) of fabrics is considered as a factor to evaluate garment resistance against body movement and restraining the body’s movability that can affect the wearers’ performance during physical activities. In this study, the effect of the loading direction on the DER of weft knitted fabrics with different knit structures, including Rib 1 × 1, Rib 2 × 2, Interlock and Full Milano under three strain levels of 20, 30 and 40% is investigated. Fabric resistance against body movement was assessed by measuring the pressure exerted by the garment on the arm in various hand positions, while lifting weights. The obtained results presented that in all samples, course and wale directions have the highest and lowest tensile modulus, respectively, and the highest tensile modulus is associated with the Full Milano and Interlock; however, Rib 2 × 2 has the lowest value. In terms of DER, the rise of strain level leads to a reduction in DER. The lowest DER belongs to the Full Milano and Interlock; conversely, Rib 2 × 2 has the highest DER. Evaluation of the applied pressure on the arm reveals that the DER of the fabric and fabric resistance against body movement are related oppositely. Therefore, knit structures with higher DER, such as Rib 2 × 2, applied lower pressure on the arm. In addition, the increase in strain level and the quantity of lifting weight can enlarge the exerted pressure on the skin. Furthermore, hand position due to causing extra strain in the fabric, can increase the applied pressure.