Non-Fick effect of transient water transport in woven fabrics

This study investigated a new phenomenon of liquid water transport in woven fabrics by using a specially-designed liquid water transport detecting device. It was found that within 6 mm space from liquid water resource, transient transport of liquid water in a woven fabric appears to have non-Fick effect, that is, liquid water transport in a woven fabric processes obvious transient shock effect. After this transient period, water transport in the fabric follows the classical mass transfer theory, and tends to maintain a constant rate. The non-Fick effect of the water transport varied with fabric densities and yarn twists. In general, the lower the fabric density and the yarn twist are, the more obvious the non-Fick effect is. The non-Fick effect of transient transports of liquid water also behaved differently for fabrics made of different fiber materials.