Volume 18, Issue 4

In this research work, thermal properties of plain woven fabrics generated from regenerated bamboo and cotton fiber blended yarns were investigated. Seven mixtures of fiber (100% bamboo, 100% cotton, 10:90 bamboo: cotton, 20:80 bamboo: cotton, 30:70 bamboo: cotton, 40:60 bamboo: cotton and 50:50 bamboo: cotton) were developed to create 60 Tex ring spun yarn. The warp yarns were used as 100% regenerated bamboo and the bamboo: cotton blends were used alternatively in weft to produce plain woven fabrics. The plain structured woven fabrics show eminent thermal comfort properties with the blending of regenerated bamboo fibers. The air permeability of 100% regenerated bamboo fiber was recorded higher than the compared blends; the increased key factor contents of bamboo changed the air properties of the fabric. Furthermore, plain woven fabric of bamboo/cotton (50/50) has shown greater thermal conductivity and heat retention properties. The work reported in this paper is ensuring highpoints of thermal comfort properties of regenerated bamboo (100%) and cotton (100%) with plain woven structured fabrics, and potentially, the fabrics can be used for winter suiting apparel products.

The aim of this study was to determine the increase in vertical and horizontal forces of the presser foot on the seam during the technological process of sewing knit fabrics. The research was performed on three types of knit fabrics: double jersey (rib one plus one), interlock knit fabric, and bleached interlock knit fabric. In order to meet the criterion of seam quality, it is necessary to adjust the above-mentioned parameters optimally. Depending on the type of the knit fabric, the values of the investigated forces change, and by increasing the number of layers and the sewing speed, the force values increase.

The circular economy model has recently gained a lot of attention worldwide from scientists, business people and authorities. The importance of the transition towards a more circular economy has also been noticed in the European Union. The new regulations provide the enabling framework for the circular economy to flourish. At the same time, although there is no standardized approach to creating a circular economy, while defining appropriate policies, care must be taken that they are suitable for particular industries. The limits of the present linear economy model (take-make-waste) are extremely apparent when examining the textile and clothing industry. The transition to a circular economy requires significant changes in both production and consumption models. This article uses a literature review and industry examples to identify and evaluate challenges faced by the clothing and textile industry in adapting to the circular economy model.

Marker planning is an optimization arrangement problem, where a set of cutting parts need to be placed on a thin paper without overlapping to create a marker – an exact diagram of cutting parts that will be cut from a single spread. An optimal marker that utilizes the length of textile material has to be obtained. The aim of this research was to develop novel algorithms for obtaining an efficient marker that would achieve competitive results and optimize the garment production in terms of improving the utilization of textile material. In this research, a novel Grid heuristic was introduced for obtaining a marker, alongside its improvement methods: Grid-BLP and Grid-Shaking. These heuristics were hybridized with genetic algorithm that determined the placement order of cutting parts using the newly introduced All Equal First (AEF) placement order. A novel individual representation for genetic algorithm was designed that was composed of order sequence, rotation detection and the choice of placement algorithm (hyper-heuristic). Experiments were conducted to determine the best marker making method, and hyper-heuristic efficiency. The implementation and experiments were conducted in MATLAB using GEATbx toolbox on five datasets from the garment industry: ALBANO, DAGLI, MAO, MARQUES and MAN SHIRT. Marker efficiency in percentage was recorded with best results: 84.50%, 80.13%, 79.54%, 84.67% and 86.02% obtained for the datasets respectively. The most efficient heuristic was Grid-Shaking. Hyper-heuristic applied Grid-Shaking in 88% of times. The created algorithm is independent of cutting parts’ shape. It can produce markers of arbitrary shape and is flexible in terms of expansion to new instances from the garment industry (leather nesting, avoiding damaged areas of material, marker making with materials with patterns).

This article concerns the widespread matter of biophysical comfort. In this work, 10 double-layer knitted fabrics with potential application in multilayer garments addressed to a specific group of users, such as newborns, were investigated. The materials were constructed with the following raw materials: cotton, polypropylene, polyester, polyamide, bamboo, and viscose. The textiles with a comparable geometrical structure and different composition were tested for their air permeability. In the experimental part, the materials were tested in specific constant ambient conditions using an air permeability tester. In the simulation part, 3D models of actual textiles were designed and air permeability based on the performed simulations using finite volume method was calculated. Both measurements and simulations yielded comparable results and showed that the air permeability of the knitted fabric strongly depends on the thickness and geometrical parameters of yarn.

The aim of this study was to develop V-shape compression socks that should exert graduated lateral compression around the leg. For the development of socks, three types of yarns: main yarn (MY), plaiting yarn (PY) and inlaid yarn (IY) were used. Each yarn contained spandex yarn as the core. Machine adjustments were optimized to achieve the special V-shaped compression socks according to size of the wooden leg. Eighteen socks samples were developed and quantified for pressure exertion at ankle and calf portions using the MST MKIV, Salzmann pressure measuring device. Consequently, only two socks samples were accepted, which had the pressure exertion values of 21 mmHg and 23 mmHg with graduation percentage of 73% and 80%, respectively.

The article is focused on testing of selected properties of linear and planar textiles from modified cotton yarns. In this article, the influence of woven fabric construction on wettability and possibilities of detection of moisture in the woven fabric is analyzed. Improving the physiological and hygienic properties for woven fabrics can be achieved with a specially designed textile structure in combination with a permanent surface finish of sub-set of yarns. Inserting of hydrophilic and hydrophobic set of threads in the woven structure makes possible controlled water transport. Controlled transport of water ensures good clothing comfort. Using such woven fabric, accumulation of water on the skin does not occur during the process of thermoregulation of the human body. The properties and behavior of the designed fabric will be determined by surface finishing of the warp and weft yarns (sub-set of yarns), which are supporting elements of the fabric.

The principal objective of the research was to determine the influence exerted by the implementation of standard quality management systems on the improvement of selected logistics processes in small and medium-sized enterprises, which operate in the textile industry. Empirical research was carried out by the authors in the year 2017 on a group of small and medium-sized enterprises that operate in the textile industry in Poland and Slovakia. The research involved 33 organizations (20 Polish, and 13 Slovak ones). The research process and the analysis of the acquired results made it possible to address the research questions posed and to state, among others, that standardized quality management systems exert a relatively large influence on perfecting selected subsystems and logistic processes in the researched organizations.

The article presents an overview of electrospinning process development from the first investigations in the field of behaviour of liquids in an electrostatic field to the electrospinning methods and investigations in the 21st century. The article presents the history of electrospinning process development, the main problems that are solved, and also indicates the gaps in the field of standardisation of nanofibrous web structure measurement and estimation. There are a lot of works in which authors analyse influences of various parameters on the electrospinning process or on the structure of electrospun web, whereas the majority of them do not analyse the quality of structure using mathematical criteria. Such a situation leads to different conclusions and makes it impossible to compare various works by different authors. Despite numerous studies in electrospinning, investigations in the electrospun nanofibrous web estimation are not sufficient. Until now, a unique standard method for measuring and estimating the fibre diameter and web porosity has not been developed. The necessity of such a method and standards is obvious, and the lack of such a standard could have a negative influence on the electrospun product introduction into the market.

This article aims at the image processing of surface uniformity and thermally bonded points uniformity in polypropylene spunbonded non-wovens. The investigated samples were at two different weights and three levels of non-uniformity. An image processing method based on the k-means clustering algorithm was applied to produce clustered images. The best clustering procedure was selected by using the lowest Davies-Bouldin index. The peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) image quality evaluation method was used to choose the best binary image. Then, the non-woven surface uniformity was calculated using the quadrant method. The uniformity of thermally bonded points was calculated through an image processing method based on morphological operators. The relationships between the numerical outcomes and the empirical results of tensile tests were investigated. The results of image processing and tensile behavior showed that the surface uniformity and the uniformity of thermally bonded points have great impacts on tensile properties at the selected weights and non-uniformity levels. Thus, a sample with a higher level of uniformity and, consequently, more regular bonding points with further bonding percentage depicts the best tensile properties.

Our study presents a new pattern-making approach that is composed of three major steps: to establish the new torso classification; to improve the pattern shaping method; to solve the problem of misfit of female dresses. New additional measurements were obtained from full bust, waist and hip circumferences and divided between front and back parts separately from 3D body scanning data. By creating 8 new torso subtypes Y1, Y2, A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, and C2, which reflect the body characteristics and torso morphology through distribution of bust girth between the front and the back, we have developed the Chinese female torso classification. On the basis of the new classification and the Japanese method of pattern block drafting, we improved the method of calculation of waist darts and the shaping of two kinds of female dresses: first kind doesn’t have the horizontal waist seam (one-piece dress) and second kind has the waist horizontal seam (two-pieces dress containing from the top and the skirt). The new torso subtypes and new pattern block shaping approach are taken into attention as the body characteristics will significantly improve the quality of clothes. New method of pattern pieces shaping in according with the characteristic features of a 3D virtual avatar allows to integrate this virtual pattern-generating approach into the pattern-making systems.

Cotton fibre maturity is the measure of cotton’s secondary cell wall thickness. Both immature and over-mature fibres are undesirable in textile industry due to the various problems caused during different manufacturing processes. The determination of cotton fibre maturity is of vital importance and various methods and techniques have been devised to measure or calculate it. Artificial neural networks have the power to model the complex relationships between the input and output variables. Therefore, a model was developed for the prediction of cotton fibre maturity using the fibre characteristics. The results of predictive modelling showed that mean absolute error of 0.0491 was observed between the actual and predicted values, which show a high degree of accuracy for neural network modelling. Moreover, the importance of input variables was also defined.