Finite element analysis of functional yarn with thermal management characteristics

Phase change materials (PCMs) provide thermal management solution to textiles for the protection of wearer from extreme weather conditions. PCMs are the substances which can store or release a large amount of energy in the form of latent heat at certain melting temperature. This research reports the heat transfer property of multifilament yarn incorporated with microencapsulated PCM (MPCM) using finite element method under ABAQUS environment. The results of simulation after post processing have been validated against experimental values which were tested through Differential Scanning Calorimetry. It shows a strong correlation between the predicted and experimental results. The time dependent thermoregulating effect of yarns containing different amount of PCMs has been predicted based on the validated finite element model.