In recent years, there has been a resurgence in the opportunities and challenges facing engineers, chemists, and textile scientists responsible for developing and applying new fiber-based materials. The explosive growth of manufactured nonwoven fibrous products, the continued development of textile processing technology, and the increasing applications of nanotechnology in the form of nanoparticles and nanofibers incorporated into fibrous materials have all led to the need for new approaches to characterize the behavior of these materials.
The role of heat and mass transfer is often critical to the manufacture or function of devices, structures, and engineered items incorporating fibrous materials. Two aspects of thermal and moisture transport in fibrous materials are examined in this book: the basic nature of the transport process itself and the engineering factors important to the performance of manufactured articles incorporating fibrous materials.