Abstract:

Objective Cotton fabrics used in workwear and outdoor clothing often tear or wear out due to low inherent strength and poor abrasion resistance of the cotton fiber. In order to address this limitation, a three-layer composite yarn comprising a polyamide-filament core, a cotton sheath, and an outer polyamide wrap was developed. This yarn was spun using a modified ring frame. Then influences of filament tenacity and fabric weave (plain vs. twill) on the mechanical properties and comfort performance of the resulting cotton (50%)textiles were investigated.
Method Wrap-spun polyamide 6 filaments with increasing tenacity values (41.94, 55.86, and 70.43 cN/tex) were combined with combed cotton roving (5.0 g/(10 m)) using an ring frame, producing core-wrapped yarns with a linear density of 18.3 tex. These yarns were then woven into both plain and twill fabrics. Their performance was compared to two industrial controls, i.e., a polyester/cotton core-wrapped yarn and a polyester/cotton (50/50) blend yarn, both using the same yarn linear density and thread density. Various fabric properties were evaluated, including tensile and tearing strength, Martindale abrasion resistance, pilling grade, air permeability, water vapor permeability, drape, vertical burn behavior, and tensile strength retention at -196 ℃. Overall wear performance was assessed using fuzzy comprehensive evaluation based on eight weighted indices.
Results Composite yarns made with progressively stronger polyamide 6 filaments exhibited a near-linear increase in breaking strength, reaching 652.40 cN which is 178.4% higher than that of the polyester/cotton control. These yarns also withstood 346 abrasion cycles before failure, tripling that of the benchmark. The outer polyamide wrap not only transmitted filament strength but also reduced yarn hairiness by 53%, indicating effective confinement of the cotton fibers. When yarns of identical fineness but differing structures were woven into plain fabrics with identical warp and weft densities, the warp and weft breaking strengths of the fabric (F1P) woven from core-wrapped composite yarns increased by 50.10% and 26.42%, respectively, compared to the control group. It was also found that the high-tenacity twill (F4-W) fabric resisted forces 1.6-fold (warp) and 1.4-fold (weft) greater than the control fabric, a benefit attributed to both the filament tenacity and the longer float lengths of twill that help redistribute load. Abrasion durability under friction increased as well. After 25 000 Martindale cycles, the composite yarn fabric exhibited a lower mass loss rate than the control group, regardless of whether it was plain weave or twill weave. Macroscopic inspection revealed only sparse fuzz on the composite fabrics, in contrast to the severe pilling and fiber breakage observed in the benchmark. All composite variants achieved ISO pilling grades of 4-5. Comfort properties were primarily influenced by the fabric weave rather than filament grade. The air permeability and water vapor permeability of composite yarn fabrics showed little difference compared to the control group. Twills were consistently 1.5 to 2.7 times more permeable and demonstrated greater drapability (51.6%-66.7%) than that of the plain woven fabric. Safety testing confirmed strong thermal shock resistance across all fabrics made from the composite yarns. All fabrics exhibited carbonization without molten dripping, and warp strength loss remained below 2% after four hours at -196 ℃. Finally, fuzzy comprehensive evaluation using eight weighted indices ranked the high-tenacity polyamide twill (F4-W) the highest in overall wear performance, followed by the polyamide 6 twill (F3-W)and the polyamide 6 plain weave (F3-P).These findings confirm that filament strength and weave design act as orthogonal but synergistic factors in engineering high-strength, abrasion-resistant, cotton fabrics for workwear and outdoor sportswear.
Conclusion By tightly wrapping cotton staples with high-tenacity polyamide filaments, the use of wrapping filament in yarn making suppresses fiber slippage and hairiness while effectively transferring filament strength to the fabric. As a result, warp and weft breaking strength, tearing strength, and abrasion resistance exceed those of polyester/cotton blended fabrics. Breaking strength is primarily determined by filament tenacity, while comfort characteristics are governed by the weave structure. These findings establish high-tenacity polyamide twills as scalable, high-load solutions for workwear and outdoor apparel.

Key words: core-wrapped composite yarn, woven fabric, polyamide 6 filament yarn, wearability, high-strength wear-resistant fabric, ring spinning, fuzzy comprehensive evaluation