Formation of Textile Structures for Giant-Area Applications
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Formation of Textile Structures for Giant-Area Applications Abdelfattah M. Seyam, Professor NC State University Raleigh, NC 27695-8301, USA ABSTRACT Recently, textile machine manufacturers introduced to the market significant technological advances. Examples of such advances are higher speeds, higher level of automation, new concept of jacquard weaving that enables control of individual warp threads, CAD systems, and wider machines than seen before. This paper reviews the new development of formation systems of textile structures with emphasis on technologies that enables the production of giant-area fabrics. The review includes broad range of technologies (weaving, knitting, needlepunching, hydroentanglement, meltblowing, etc.). Additionally, the paper sheds the light on the potential of the textile technologies to manufacture electrotextile fabric structures. INTRODUCTION Textile structures are characterized by their high strength, flexibility, and conformability to almost any desired shape. They can be manufactured continuously at high speed with extremely low production cost. Textile structures are produced and used in forms such as fibers, films, yarns, twisted structures, braids, wovens, knits, nonwovens, or a combination thereof. They can be modified and structured with piles, spaces and multi-layers to accommodate inserts and devices. They exist everywhere around us in many forms. There are numerous end uses of textile structures for small-areas (such as apparel, seat covers and seat belts) large-area (such as rugs, parachutes, weather balloons, and Parafoils) and giant-areas (such as carpets, wall covers, house wraps, geotextiles, scientific balloon, air supported structures and tensioned structures). For the last twenty years, the textile industry has provided simple electrotextile products [1]. Electrically conductive and semiconductive fabrics have been utilized in a range of applications such as electromagnetic interference, static dissipation, and microwave attenuation. Each of these fabrics was designed to address a problem in a passive manner. Recently, more advanced electrotextile products have appeared in the markets such as thermal blankets and jackets for human and animal use, computer keyboard, smart shirt to monitor physiological conditions, etc. Researchers are conducting research and development in electrotextiles to come up with new generation of multi-functional and active “smart textiles” that are able to harvest energy for selfpowering, sense, response, and adjustment to stimuli such as pressure, temperature, or an electrical charge. The purpose of this paper is to review recent advances in fabric forming technologies (weaving, knitting, needlepunching, hydroentanglement, and meltblowing). Additionally, the paper sheds the light on the potential of the textile technologies to manufacture giant electrotextile fabric structures at the speed of fabric formation that the textile industry provides today.
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SIMPLE CLASSIFICATIONS OF TEXTILE FABRICS Textile structures may be form
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