Sorption properties of materials for sails manufacturing

Abstract

The rapid development of sailcloth and a great number of combinations that are present in them due to the use of different fibers and structures are the basis of an extremely complex system that was developed for objective evaluation of their quality and usability. One of the properties that describe the quality of the materials used for making sails as a parameter which determines the usability of the material and may affect the maintenance of the sails are the sorption properties. Therefore, in this paper the contact angle of wetting and adhesion work for twelve different sailcloths, which thanks to their mutual differences (structural and / or material composition) fully present a wide range of textile intended for the manufacture of sails and which are now available on the market, were investigated. The results of the research show that the method of determining the wetting contact angle (by drops) is suitable method for the determination of sailcloth' sorption properties as well as a method for determining the differences between the face and the back side of the material intended for sail making which, if present, are undesirable properties for sailcloth.