Volume 17 (2017): Issue 4 (December 2017)

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)/Kevlar fabric or fabric composites with excellent tribological properties have been considered as important materials used in bearings and bushing, for years. The components’ (PTFE, Kevlar, and the gap between PTFE and Kevlar) distribution of the PTFE/Kevlar fabric is uneven due to the textile structure controlling the wear process and behavior. The components’ area ratio on the worn surface varying with the wear depth was analyzed not only by the wear experiment, but also by the theoretical calculations with our previous wear geometry model. The wear process and behavior of the PTFE/Kevlar twill fabric were investigated under dry sliding conditions against AISI 1045 steel by using a ring-on-plate tribometer. The morphologies of the worn surface were observed by the confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). The wear process of the PTFE/Kevlar twill fabric was divided into five layers according to the distribution characteristics of Kevlar. It showed that the friction coefficients and wear rates changed with the wear depth, the order of the antiwear performance of the previous three layers was Layer III>Layer II>Layer I due to the area ratio variation of PTFE and Kevlar with the wear depth.

The main purpose of this study is the selection of a proper fabric for the reference clothing for ergonomic tests of protective clothing. For research, seven fabric of different raw material content and different structure were chosen. We studied the handle of fabrics produced from blend of polyester/cotton and polyester/Tencel, which were designated by letters from A to G. The assessment of handle of the fabric was performed based on the mechanical properties of fabrics using Kawabata evaluation system (KES-system). It was proven that one of the tested fabrics (F) made of polyester and cotton fibers (85% PES / 15% cotton) with the reinforced twill weave is characterized by the highest total hand value (THV).The high THV results from the low value of koshi (stiffness) and the highest value of numeri (smoothness) and fukurami (fullness). However, in terms of physiological comfort, the lower value of fukurami is more preferred. It turned out that the fabric with the higher value of fukurami (including fabric F) is characterized by the lower air permeability and higher water vapor resistance. At the end, we decided that the reference clothing will be made of cotton/polyester fabric G with the lowest mass per square meter because of the very good physiological comfort parameters and the satisfactory sensorial comfort parameters.

An experiment was carried out using glass fiber (GF) as reinforcing materials with unsaturated polyester matrix to fabricate composite by hand layup technique. Four layers of GF were impregnated by polyester resin and pressed under a load of 5 kg for 20 hours. The prepared composite samples were treated by prolonged exposure to heat for 1 hour at 60-150°C and compared with untreated GF-polyester composite. Different mechanical test of the fabricated composite were investigated. The experiment depicted significant improvement in the mechanical properties of the fabricated composite resulted from the heat treatment. The maximum tensile strength of 200.6 MPa is found for 90°C heat-treated sample. The mechanical properties of the composite do seem to be very affected negatively above 100°C. Water uptake of the composite was carried out and thermal stability of the composite was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis, and it was found that the composite is stable up to 600°C. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy shows the characteristic bond in the composite. Finally, the excellent elevated heat resistant capacity of glass-fiber-reinforced polymeric composite shows the suitability of its application to heat exposure areas such as kitchen furniture materials, marine, and electric board.

In this paper, a non-subsampled wavelet-based contourlet transform (NWCT) is applied in warp-knitted fabric defect segmentation. Compared with the traditional contourlet transform, wavelet transform takes the place of Laplacian pyramid in NWCT and the directional filter bank is non-subsampled. The wavelet transform with improved wavelet threshold is put to use, and the original fabric image can be decomposed into low-frequency approximate coefficient A and high-frequency detail coefficients V, H, and D. The high-frequency detail coefficients are processed by the non-subsampled directional filter bank to get directional sub-band coefficients. Afterward, the effective sub-band coefficients based on regional energy are chosen to reconstruct V, H, and D. And the reconstructed fabric image will be achieved by inverse non-subsampled wavelet-based contourlet transform. The adaptive threshold method and morphological processing are used to obtain the legible defect profile. The experiment demonstrates that NWCT can achieve the positive segmentation regarding the common defects, such as broken warp, width barrier, and oil, and has excellent performance on these directional defects and regional defects. It is acknowledged that NWCT will provide a new way to detect warp-knitted fabric defects automatically.

With the aim of enabling the easy spinning of polysulfonamide (PSA) fibers, FFL-13 oil was successfully prepared. Specific resistance, the coefficient of friction, carding machine, electrostatic, cohesion, scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic analyses were conducted in this study. Results showed that increase in oil concentration, ambient temperature, and humidity induces decrease in PSA fiber-specific resistance and gradual increase in the antistatic property. Relatively high oil concentration and ambient humidity may cause fibers to become sticky and show increased roller winding. As oil concentration increased, fiber cohesion increased and fiber gliding properties showed an initial increase and subsequent decrease. The ideal oil concentration was determined to be 0.6%. This study proves that STM may effectively be used to determine the optimal oil concentration.

The publication presents a theoretical study of the susceptibility of rheological models of threads to dynamic stretching in the context of modern, highly efficient textile technologies. Input parameters of the four analyzed models, the Kelvin-Voigt model, the Maxwell model, Standard model 2, and the Zener model, corresponded to the actual values of the coefficients of viscosity, elasticity, kinematic and dynamic loading, and stretching speed for the analyzed polyester silk threads produced in a knitting process, with knitting speeds from 700 to 1,600 courses/min. The research proves that the tested thread models behave differently in the stretching process-the Kelvin-Voigt model is sensitive to both the increases in kinematic loading and viscosity coefficient, Standard model 2 is only susceptible to dynamic stiffness, and the Zener model is significantly sensitive to kinematic loading. All responses of the models increase with the increase in stretching speeds. The obtained results indicate substantial “accuracy tolerance” in setting input parameters while identifying dynamics of the knitting process on warp-knitting machines.

Cardiovascular diseases are the most frequent cause of death worldwide. Cases of cardiac arrest can often be attributed to undetected cardiac arrhythmia. Detecting rare episodes of arrhythmia necessitates long-term ECG measurements along days or weeks. However, due to the relatively small number of electrodes used for these ECGs, abnormal episodes can still go unrecognized. This article thus describes the development of underwear with ten inbuilt textile ECG electrodes, allowing for the measurement of long-term 12-lead ECG. As against the constructs of other research groups, the position of electrodes offers the same detection directions as the common 12-lead ECG equipment in hospitals or medical practices. Long-term tests have shown the suitability of the sensory underwear variants for men and women to detect reliable ECG signals without disturbing the patients’ comfort.

This study investigated the elastic elongation and elastic recovery of the elastic warp knittedfabric made of PET( polyethylene terephthalate) and PBT(polybutylene terephthalate) filament. Using 50/24F PET and 50D/24F PBT in two threadingbars, the tricot, locknit and satin warp knitted fabrics were produced on the E28 tricot warpknitting machine. The knitting parameters influencing the elastic elongation under 100N wereanalyzed in terms of fabric structure, yarn run-in speed and drawing density set on machine.Besides, dyeing temperature and heat setting temperature/time were also examined in order toretain proper elastic elongation and elastic recovery. The relationship between elastic elongationand knitting parameter and finishing parameter were analyzed. Finally, the elastic recovery ofPET/PBT warp knitted fabric was examined to demonstrate the elastic property of final finishedfabric. This study could help us to further exploit the use of PET/PBT warp knitted fabric in thedevelopment of elastic garment in future.

In order to create realistic loop primitives suitable for the faster CAD of the flat-knitted fabric, we have performed research on the model of the loop as well as the variation of the loop surface. This paper proposes an interlacing point-based model for the loop center curve, and uses the cubic Bezier curve to fit the central curve of the regular loop, elongated loop, transfer loop, and irregular deformed loop. In this way, a general model for the central curve of the deformed loop is obtained. The obtained model is then utilized to perform texture mapping, texture interpolation, and brightness processing, simulating a clearly structured and lifelike deformed loop. The computer program LOOP is developed by using the algorithm. The deformed loop is simulated with different yarns, and the deformed loop is applied to design of a cable stitch, demonstrating feasibility of the proposed algorithm. This paper provides a loop primitive simulation method characterized by lifelikeness, yarn material variability, and deformation flexibility, and facilitates the loop-based fast computer-aided design (CAD) of the knitted fabric.

In this study, the effect of UV irradiation on mechanical properties of both natural and synthetic fabrics is investigated. Also the UV degradation of fabrics before and after TiO₂ padding is studied. Cotton is used as natural fabric, and polyester, polypropylene, and polyamide were used as synthetic fabrics. After deposition with TiO₂, prepared samples were irradiated by different dosage of UV light and the changes in fiber surface and the adhesion of nanoparticles is tested. The scanning electron microscopy, elemental analyses of Ti, and other methods were used. In some cases, the effect of stabilization of nanoparticles on fibers by UV light was realized. Reasons of this stabilization are the surface changes of polymer fibers-increase in surface roughness and oxidation of surface.

The main goal of this researcher is estimating of the possibility of long-lasting (even until 200,000 s) stress relaxation by empirical investigation, which was performed for a few thousands of seconds. The empirical investigations of longlasting stress relaxation of different types of yarns (multifilament polyester, cotton and woollen) at different levels of elongation, i.e. at 3%, 5%, 7% and 10%, were carried out. The method of long-lasting relaxation behaviour prediction by the break-point of relaxation rate as well as the linear dependence of second part of relaxation were used. It was found that the behaviour of relaxation can be described using time logarithmic scale by two straight lines, and the value of stress relaxation in long time period could be estimated by the second line. The break-point of relaxation rate of all kinds of yarns occurs in the area of 100-200 s after relaxations started. The obtained results showed that the place of relaxation break-point depends on the level of elongation but does not depend on the type of yarns.

In the fast-changing internet era, private sale websites attracted an enormous interest from the consumers in especially online marketing of apparel goods. The retailers may garner more benefit if the prior issues for the consumers when they are purchasing apparel products online is known. Reviewing the literature, this study presents the factors in three groups in a hierarchical manner considering the multidimensional aspect of online purchasing of apparel products from private sale websites and then determines the prior issues for the consumers by making pairwise comparisons among these factors using analytical hierarchy process on a sample group of 100 Turkish respondents. The findings revealed that “privacy/security” in terms of online shopping criteria, “product information” in terms of apparel products criteria, and “discount ratio” in terms of private shopping criteria took highest scores of importance when the aspects were analyzed individually. Nonetheless, the parameters regarding the online shopping criteria were found to be more important than the criteria regarding the apparel products and private shopping criteria. In the end, it was also observed that these items that were found to have highest importance were actually corresponding to the risks of the situation.

This article reports the results of investigations carried out to produce yarns consisting of staple carbon fiber (CF) obtained from process waste for the manufacturing of composites suitable especially for thermoset applications. For this purpose, a comparative analysis is done on processability between 100% staple CF and 60 weight% staple CF mixed with 40 weight% PVA fibers in carding, drawing and spinning process. The hybrid yarns are produced by varying twist level. The PVA fibers of the hybrid yarn are then dissolved using hot water treatment. The mechanical properties of yarns consisting of 100% staple CF and hybrid yarns consisting of staple CF and PVA before and after hot water treatment are investigated. Furthermore, test specimen is also prepared by impregnating 100% staple CF yarn and the hybrid yarns (after the dissolving of PVA) with epoxy resin. The results of the tensile test of the yarns in consolidated state reveals that the hybrid yarn produced with 80 T/m after hot water treatment exhibits approximately 75% of the tensile strength of virgin filament tow, and it is expected that the hybrid yarns can be applied for the manufacturing of thermoset based composites for load bearing structures.