Effect of manufacturing parameters and thermal treatment on the properties of tubular braids and tubular knits

Textile techniques can be applied to create two-dimensional or three-dimensional tubular fabrics. Three-dimensional tubular knits can be used in many fields, such as for medical textiles, conductive textile, composites, and tissue engineering. This study aimed to examine the effects of different yarn types on various fabrics and of different temperatures on the variations in the properties of textiles. Four types of wrapped yarn (P150, P75, S140, and S70) were made into tubular braids and knits, after which the products were thermally treated at various temperatures (120°C, 140°C, and 160°C). A shrinkage measurement, a porosity test, a braid angle test, and a tensile test were performed to evaluate the tubular braids and knits. The test results indicated that the thermal treatment temperature did not affect the porosity of the tubular braids and tubular knits. The porosity of the tubular braids was between 40.32% and 48.27%, while that of the tubular knits was between 10.15% and 35.57%. In addition, the tensile strength of both fabric types increased by 40–50%, while their displacement increased by 200–250%. In the future, the efficacy of tubular braids and tubular knits for use as vascular grafts will be examined.