Volume 21, Issue 3

The research was focused on the heating capacity of developed, isolated from water penetration, knitted textile heating element with incorporated conductive silver (Ag)- plated yarns, which can be used in manufacturing heating textile products intended for recreation, sports, or health care for elderly. The aim of the investigation was to obtain an appropriate temperature on a human skin, generated by the textile heating element surface at a lower voltage depending on a variety of wearing conditions indoor. Depending on the supplied voltage to the heating element, an incoming electric energy can be converted into different heat. Therefore, the electrical and achieved temperature parameters of heating elements are very important by selecting and adapting required power source devices and by setting the logical parameters of programmable controllers. The heating–cooling dynamic process of developed textile heating element was investigated at different simulated wearing conditions on a standard sweating hot plate and on a human skin at applied voltages of 3V and 5V. It was discovered that a voltage of 5 V is too big for textile heating elements, because the reached steady state temperature increases to approximately 39–40°C, which is too hot for contact with the human skin. The voltage of 3 V is the most suitable to work properly and continuously, i.e., to switch on when the adjusted temperature is too low and to turn off when the necessary temperature is reached. Based on the values of reached steady-state heating temperature, the influence of the applied voltage, ambient air flow velocity, and heating efficiency, depending on various layering of clothes, was determined. Recorded temperatures on the external surface of the heating element provided the possibility to assess its heat loss outgoing into the environment. It was suggested that heat loss can be reduced by increasing thermal insulation properties of the outer layer of the heating element or using layered clothing. On the basis of the resulted heating characteristics, recommended parameters of power source necessary for wearable textile heating element were defined.

This article presents the results of research carried out based on consumer assessment of the quality of clothing using sensory analysis. The study aimed to determine the role of the brand and information about it in assessing product quality and identify the quality parameters that distinguish brands of a similar quality level. An attempt was also made to classify popular brands of clothing available on the Polish market based on the parameters that determine their quality. A significant impact of the brand name on the sensory assessment of clothes’ quality has been reported. The study has shown that assessors attribute higher rating values to quality features when they know the product brand; moreover, the brand and its information shortens the assessment time, which may suggest that it simplifies and facilitates consumers’ decision-making process. The result analysis has led to the identification of three groups of the factors determining the quality of clothing products: fabric composition, workmanship, and all other variables. It has also led to the separation of three clusters, characterized by different levels of product quality, for which sets of features distinguishing a given category were determined.

The weaving process is constantly evolving in terms of productivity, quality, and possibilities of fabrication of different fabric structures and shapes. This article covers some issues that have still not been resolved and represents distracting factors in the woven fabrics production. In the development of woven fabric using the CAD technology, it is inevitably a deviation of the virtual image on the computer screen from the woven sample. According to comprehensive industry analyses, the findings of many authors who contributed to the resolution of these problems can be concluded that these problems are still present in the development and production of striped, checkered, and jacquard woven fabrics. In this article, jacquard, multicolor woven fabrics were investigated, with deviations in pattern sizes and shades of color in warp and weft systems compared to virtual simulation on the computer, as well as the tendency of the weft distortion arising from the weaving process leading to the pattern deformation.

The stored energy provided by the fabric assemblies will greatly influence the thermal protection performance (TPP) of firefighters’ protective clothing under low-intensity radiation heat exposure. In this study, two test methods, namely radiant protective performance (RPP) and stored energy test (SET), were used to investigate the TPP of the fabric assemblies. The results indicated that T SET value was lower than T RPP value because of the release of the stored energy in the fabric assemblies after heat exposure. Increasing the fabric layer numbers, air gap between the fabric assemblies would increase the time of T RPP and T SET , indicating that the thermal stored energy weakened the TPP of the firefighters’ protective clothing. Moreover, the T RPP and T SET of the fabric system would be increased when the moisture barrier was cut in the fabric combination system. These findings suggested that stored energy should be considered in analyzing the TPP of fabric assemblies..

Textile fabrics were subjected to bio-pretreatment using high-activity laccase from Cerrena unicolor for comparison to standard alkaline scouring and organic absorber of ultraviolet (UV) radiation based on 1,3,5-triazine derivatives. The basic aim of the study was the development of textiles made of natural cellulose fibers (mainly flax or its blends with cotton) to provide barrier properties against UV radiation. Controlled application of enzymatic pretreatment of woven fabrics made of natural cellulose fibers allows for an efficient removal of impurities from these fibers, resulting in the improvement of sorptive properties and good penetration of dyeing agents, UV organic absorbers and other chemical modifiers, into the textile structure. In this way, products with UV-protection properties (ultraviolet protection factor >40) are obtained. These innovative barrier materials can be used for outdoor textiles that protect professional people from harmful effects of UV radiation.

Hemiplegia is the lifelong paralysis, caused by brain stroke that affects one side of the body. Stroke exerts a great threat to patient’s health and lives, and hemiplegia after stroke may severely affect their activities of daily life including self-dressing that causes fatigue and frustration and ultimately ended with “dependence on others.” This situation damages the sense of dignity, especially for women, while independently dressing intimate apparel like bra. The research through the design approach is used as the conceptual framework to design and evaluate bra for the women with hemiplegia. Three design criteria were identified from which specifications were developed, and their interrelationships explored through an interaction matrix. This article presents a research work on improving bra design, adjusted to the special needs and demands of an individual with hemiplegia, by using bi-layer knitted fabric, magnetic fasteners, and shape-memory alloys. The findings of the current study showed that adaptive bra design offers independence, concealment of the disability, and comfort and psychological contentment. This adaptive bra promotes the harmony between functionality and esthetics.

The article presents changes that took place in the textile and apparel (T&A) industry in Poland in the years 2004–2020. To describe the changes, we adopted the supply chain management perspective, which allowed for a global view of the changes taking place. We discuss the basic characteristics, such as the size and structure of the industry, innovation, production value, and the use of information and communications technology (ICT). In the research, we used the databases of the Central Statistical Office (GUS) on the sold production of the T&A industry, as well as imports and exports. Our research shows that, at the level of basic characteristics, the industry is close to the European model. However, it is characterized by a smaller share of small companies in the structure of enterprises. The research showed an upward trend in the production of sold textiles and, to a lesser extent, apparel. At the same time, the operation of the Polish T&A industry is influenced by the import of finished products and raw materials from China, Germany, Bangladesh, and Turkey. The export is directed to the German, Czech, Romanian, and Ukrainian markets. The article provides an overview of the development trends in the Polish T&A industry in the broad context of international conditions.

Textile yarns are subjected to numerous types of forces during knitting, usually leading to yarn damages, such as decrease in tensile, bending, shearing, and surface properties, which are closely related to different yarn properties, knitted structures/actions, and machine settings. This article comprehensively evaluated yarn damages in the computerized flat knitting process. Five different commercially available and commonly used yarns including cotton, wool, polyester, acrylic, and viscose were selected as raw materials, and the tensile, bending, shear, and frictional properties were investigated and compared before knitting and after being unraveled from plain- and rib-knitted fabrics, respectively. The results show that knitting actions/structures exhibit different damage extents for all different raw materials. It has been observed that the modulus is declined by 3–30% for bending, 2–10% for tensile, and 8–80% for shearing due to flat knitting action, respectively. The frictional coefficient of yarns also increased from 6 to 23%. As compared to yarn before knitting, the yarns unroved from plain and rib structures have been damaged to a great extent as a result of the loss of mechanical properties. The results are completely in agreement with the statistical analysis that clearly represents the significant loss in yarn properties during the knitting process. The microscopic analysis of the yarns clearly illustrates the effect of knitting action on yarn surface and mechanical properties. For yarn’s cross-sectional shearing properties testing, this article self-designed an innovative “Yarn Shear Testing Device.” The methodology and results are of great importance for improving the quality of knitted products, evaluating knitting yarns’ knittability, and in the development of high-performance technical textiles.

The surface characteristics of fabrics are important from the point of view of the sensorial comfort of clothing users. Surface friction and surface roughness are the most important surface parameters of fabrics. These parameters can be measured using different methods, the most important and well-accepted method being that using the Kawabata evaluation system (KES)-FB4 testing instrument. In this work, the surface roughness and surface friction of the seersucker woven fabric have been determined using the KES-FB4. However, the measurement procedure needs modification. On the basis of the results, the influence of the repeat of the seersucker effect and the linear density of the weft yarn on the surface parameters has been determined.

The most attractive structural feature of the three-dimensional (3D) angle-interlock woven structure is that the straight weft yarns are bundled by the undulated warp yarns, which induces the overall good structural stability and a stable fabric structure. Thus the 3-D angle-interlock woven composite (3DAWC) prepared by the vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) curing process has excellent mechanical properties by using the fabric and epoxy resin as the reinforcement and matrix, respectively. The low-velocity impact damage properties of the composites under different drop-weight energies (70, 80, and 100 J) were tested experimentally. The load–displacement curves, energy–time curves, and the ultimate failure modes were obtained to analyze the performance of resistance to low-velocity impact, as well as the impact energy absorption effect and failure mechanism, especially the structural damage characteristics of the 3DAWC subjected to the low-velocity impact of drop weight. By analyzing the obtained experimental results, it is found that the fabric reinforcement is the primary energy absorption component and the impact energy mainly propagates along the longitudinal direction of the yarns, especially the weft yarn system, which is arranged in a straight way. In addition, as the impact energy increases, the energy absorbed and dissipated by the composite increases simultaneously. This phenomenon is manifested in the severity of deformation and damage of the material, i.e., the amount of deformation and size of the damaged area.

Warp-knitted fabrics have gained increasing attention due to their excellent properties, and their production is strongly dependent on the warp-based electronic let-off system. Most of the existing control systems are single speed electron let-off structure, which brings a series of issues such as broken yarn, missed needle, and running thread caused by let-off delay, making it hard for manufacturer to produce the required fabrics. To fill the gap, this article proposes a new framework of a multispeed electronic let-off system for warp knitting based on closed-loop control strategy. As a demonstration of the capacity and generalizability of this newly proposed methodology, the 01-type four-channel acoustic vibration analyzer is used to test and analyze the time of switching, the let-off amounts, and the change in warp tension during the process of switching let-off amounts, including the explanation and comparison of difference values of let-off quantities. It is shown that the proposed method for the production of warp-knitted fabrics is a useful method for achieving digital manufacture of warp-knitted fabrics.

On the medical device market there are several types of stationary and portable incubators that can be used in the care of infants. The prototype of a textile incubator made as part of this work consists of five material layers. The textile incubator is equipped with a functional heating and cooling mat, which is made on the basis of 3D channeled weft-knitted fabric. Its function is to generate heat and maintain it inside the textile incubator or to cool the baby's body while using therapeutic hypothermia. The mat is equipped with hoses transporting the heating or cooling medium. The mat, depending on variable input parameters, can emit heat in the range from 1.15 W to 86.88 W. In case of the cooling function, it can receive heat in the range from −4.32 to −27.96 W. This indicates a large adjustment range of the amount of heat supplied and received, which is a positive feature, and enables programming the heat balance to ensure comfort for the baby. The analysis of temperature measurements on the mat surface confirmed that maximum temperature differences do not exceed 1.6°C.

The kinematics of the heald frame of a rotary dobby with two different modulator types are analyzed and compared. Kinematic mathematical models of the modulator main shaft, cam unit, and heald frame driven by the rotary dobby with a cam-slider modulator and a cam-link modulator were constructed based on two different cam contours derived from measured points on the conjugate cams of the two modulators. The motion characteristics of the two modulators and a null modulator, the cam unit, and the motion transmission unit are analyzed. The purpose of the present study was to establish the kinematic models, investigate the motion characteristics, and analyze their differences. At the same time, a calculation method for each motion transmission process was established and numerical models were developed. The results demonstrated that the two different modulators produce almost the same heald frame motion characteristics. Despite that both modulator types can be adapted to the requirements of a loom, the cam-link modulator can produce a more stable and reliable motion.

Layer composites reinforced with fabrics – laminates are construction materials in which mechanical properties can be shaped by designing their microstructure appropriately. However, the multi-phase microstructure of laminates makes it difficult to calculate the strength of the laminate constructions, especially when the reinforcement is a fabric. The article presents a special calculation model for determining the strength of an exemplary construction element made of laminate reinforced with a roving fabric with a plain weave made of carbon fibers. The computational model reflected in a simplified way the laminate microstructure, i.e. the number and orientation of the reinforcement fabric layers and its weave, and enabled a simulation of the behavior of the construction element under load up to fracture, which occurred as a result of breaking the reinforcement and interlayer crack – delamination. The simulation results were compared with the results of experimental stand tests. A method of modifying the computational model for laminates reinforced with non-plain weave was also suggested.

Fiber injection molding is an innovative approach for the manufacturing of nonwoven preforms but products currently lack a homogeneous fiber distribution. Based on a mold-integrated monitoring system, the uniformity of the manufactured preforms will be investigated. As no universally accepted definition or method for measuring uniformity is accepted yet, this article aims to find a suitable uniformity index for evaluating fiber injection molded nonwovens. Based on a literature review, different methods are implemented and used to analyze simulated images with given distribution properties, as well as images of real nonwovens. This study showed that quadrant-based methods are suitable for evaluating the basis weight uniformity. It has been found that the indexes are influenced by the number of quadrants. Changes in sample size do not affect the indexes when keeping the quadrant number constant. The quadrants-based calculation of the coefficient of variation showed the best suitability as it shows good robustness and steady index for varying degrees of fiber distribution.