Performance of weft knitted fabrics from glass yarn in terms of architecture, cam setting and number of yarn ply

In recent years, weft knitting is used to produce technical textile and composite dry preforms due to their rapid, low-cost and versatile fabric manufacturing technique. Different loop formations like tuck- and skip-stitches and loop length size display variable performances for physical and mechanical properties of knitted fabrics. This study revealed the effect of cam setting and number of yarn ply onperformance of weft-knitted fabrics from glass yarn. Change in cam setting from loose to tight level increased fiber content, and stitch-density; while it decreased loop length. Fabrics knitted via tight cam setting level exhibited less air permeability, and higher bursting strength than fabrics knitted via loose cam setting. Fabrics from 3-ply yarn showed less air permeability and higher bursting strength than fabrics from 2-ply yarn. Due to their stiff and brittle nature; glass fibers can easily be broken during weft knitting process that creates broken fiber ends on the fabric surface, and deteriorates the performance of resultant fabric. The overall conclusion is that the fabrics with tuck stitches are the thickest structure and they had the highest fiber content. Number of yarn ply is not effective parameter on fabric properties as much as cam setting is. The cam setting of the knitting machine affects loop lengths that modify fabric performance at statistically significant level. Keywords: Glass yarn, weft knitted fabrics, bursting strength, air permeability, loop strength