Journal of Industrial Textiles

It is well known that the major factor influencing thermal resistance of any textile substrate is the air entrapped in its porous structure. In the case of coated textiles, apart from the air space in the substrate, it is possible to create air space in the polymer coating also.

Blowing agents have been incorporated into coating formulations of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyurethane (PU) and applied on a number of textile substrates like nylon, nonwoven and jute. The effect of increasing the blowing agent proportion in the formulation on thermal resistance of coated fabrics has been studied. The effect on physical properties has also been studied.

It has been demonstrated that incorporation of a blowing agent results in a significant increase in the thermal resistance of coated textiles, without major deterioration of physical properties.

Mechanical properties of woven fabric reinforced glass/graphite-epoxy hybrid composite materials were evaluated. Three different material configurations, all based on the same volume fraction ratio (Vf), were used. The effect of production parameters on impact and stress–strain behavior was investigated. ANOVA analysis was performed to find the influence of each parameter on the mechanical properties and the relations between parameters. Thickness of the composite and hybrid combination had effect on stress–strain and impact properties. Molding pressure gave significant rate on stress properties. Failure mechanisms of the laminates were evaluated. Different failure behavior between hybrid and glass structures was observed. Obvious delamination zones were observed with some samples. Regression models for defined variables and mechanical properties were generated.

The increasing interest in the application of plasma processes on textiles is due both to the necessity of adding value to products and to develop new pollution free technologies. In fact, plasma treatments allow modification of the textile surface behaviour with a flexible process, which can impart particular properties to the fabrics, such as waterproofing, oil repellence, antistatic behaviour, etc. In addition, plasma processes are characterised by the very small quantity of chemicals involved and by the absence of solvent or water, which are usually employed in traditional finishing processes.

In this work the effect of different plasma treatments on the properties of acrylic fabrics for outdoor applications was explored. In particular, the possibility of substituting plasma processes for the traditional cleaning and waterproofing processes of outdoor acrylic fabrics was evaluated.

The properties of the plasma treated acrylic fabrics have been compared with the characteristics of the fabrics traditionally treated.

The resistance of plasma treatments to wear, UV and weather exposure has been also evaluated.