IMB 2000, 30th May 2000
1st IMB Forum:
Of all the sectors monitored by the organisers of IMB, Technical Textiles is the only one reporting growth. It has previously been neglected because approximately 66% of the sector is outside the garment industry.
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Tyrecord: an application of technical textiles. | The sector has a major interest in the technical aspects of manufacturing: developments in chemical fibres and finishing treatments (affecting mechanical, thermal, chemical, electrical, biological and other properties). The fabrics produced have generally a high value, when compared with most fabrics in the garment sector. |
The purpose of the seminar was to review the whole field: definitions, areas of use, variety of processing technologies, market potential and on-going technological developments.
Presentation 1:
Market opportunities for
"classic" manufacturers of machines for the clothing
industry for processing technical textiles
Jürg Rupp, Editor-in-Chief, ITS Publishing.
Textiles materials are classed as "technical textiles" when they are not used for classic clothing in the fashion sense. Fabrics for heat protection, weather protection, dust protection, etc are regarded as "Technical Textiles".
Manufacturing processes require considerable expertise not commonly found in normal clothing manufacture. An atmosphere of confidentiality is widespread, to protect commercial interests. "Verticalisation" is common: the manufacturer’s preference is to have control over all the processing activities (from yarn to finished product). Most applications require quality issues to be given the highest priority, and many manufacturers find quality assurance easier to manage in vertically-structured companies.
Techtextil defines 12 main application areas for technical textiles:
The most thorough study of the whole sector is "The World Technical Textile Industry and its Markets: prospects to 2005" prepared by DRA for Techtextil, Messe Frankfurt (April 1997). An 11-page summary report is available on the Web.
A major issue for manufacturers of technical textiles is communication relating to application areas. In many cases, the people involved in the applications are engineers, and it is vital that full information regarding performance and capabilities are available for subsequent product development activity.
Presentation 2:
Yarns and Fabrics for Technical Textiles
Jörg Wildhaber, Sulzer Textil AG.
In 1997, technical textiles amounted to 14.2% of the global textile production. Five major types of chemical fibre are used: PA 6.6, Aramid, Polypropylene, PES (polyester) and glass. A relatively small volume (<10%) of cotton, wool, jute and linen are used in technical textiles.
| Much of the presentation involved looking at
particular applications and identifying fabric
characteristics and production machinery (always Sulzer
looms: projectile, rapier and air-jet weaving
mechanisms). Product categories examined were: airbags,
protection fabrics, coated fabrics (usually PES weave
with PVC coatings), electro-glass fabrics, agrotextiles
and filter fabrics.
Air jet weaving from Sulzer: |
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Much of the presentation involved looking at particular applications and identifying fabric characteristics and production machinery (always Sulzer looms: projectile, rapier and air-jet weaving mechanisms). Product categories examined were: airbags, protection fabrics, coated fabrics (usually PES weave with PVC coatings), electro-glass fabrics, agrotextiles and filter fabrics.
The Sulzer web site dealing with Technical textiles is at www.sulzertextil.com.
Presentation 3:
Sewing yarns for technical textiles
Alex Pyper, Amann & Söhne GmbH & Co.
| AMANN has supplied threads to traditional market sectors for many years, and has seen considerable recent growth in the area of technical textiles. This has been led by the great expansion in the manufacture of airbags (67 million in 1997, a projected 97 million in 2001), with other application areas following (sun shades, filters, quilting, tents, protective clothing). |  |
Standard sewing threads for technical textiles, as supplied by AMANN are:
Specialist sewing threads for technical textiles, as supplied by AMANN, include nomex , kevlar, polypropylene, electrically conducting threads, high temperature threads, etc. This is a rapidly developing area of product development.
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Examples were given of the technical requirements for various products. For example, canopys and sunshades need to have very strong threads that are resistant to ageing. Degradation can occur, not only as a result of UV light but also because of abrasion. |
Many properties of these specialist yarns make them less versatile than sewing threads for clothing. One example of this limitation is dye colourability. Consequently, these specialist yarns must be carefully selected at the product development stage and they are by no means universally applicable.
Presentation 4:
Cutting for Technical Textiles
Walter Herrmann, Textile, Clothing and Fashion
College, Zurich.
Materials are generally stiffer, thicker and harder that textiles for fashion clothing. Some key issues in cutting are: high precision of the cut, automatic edge stabilisation, the automated transfer of cut parts for further processing.
The technologies in use include: knife cutting, laser cutting, ultrasonic cutting, roller-blade cutting die press cutting and water jet cutting. The supplier of cutting equipment that were featured were Kuris, Bullmer and Lectra. Various configurations of cutting knife were noted; there is a need for compensation for blade deformation during cutting; comments were made regarding purpose-designed bristle backing; CAD systems may need to be adapted to handle large parts; etc.
As an example of the way suppliers offer packaged solutions to technical textiles’ problems, see the Lectra website at www.lectra.com/En/45000.htm
Presentation 5:
Making-up of Technical Textiles
Hans-Jürgen Koch, Koch Membranen GmbH & Co.
Particular emphasis was placed on membranes (thin, pliable sheets of material, which are clamped at the edges). The speaker’s company specialises in such materials, particularly for use in buildings.
Coated fabrics are a particular category of membrane. Cutting is carried out manually or automatically (using laser, ultra-sonic, water-jet or knife-blade techniques). The joining techniques are gluing, welding, sewing or tucking.
Most of the presentation was concerned with membranes used as a construction material. Some applications cover large spans without support. The main example here related to roofing Wimbledon Stadium. The textile is woven polyester (with a strength of 12 tonnes per square metre). Individual pieces have to be cut with the correct bias, so that it hangs correctly. Seaming is carried out using ultrasonic welding of overlapped pieces with the insertion of PVC tape. Other building applications are designed to enhance lighting, darkening, acoustics, shadows, and aesthetics.
| The last part of the presentation focussed on Joey, the prototype helium-filled airship (the CargoLifter project). The fabric used is TPU-coated balloon fabric with a strength of 28 tonnes per metre width strip. Internally, there are impermeable gas cells made of CSM-coated polyamide fabric. The membrane surface is approximately 1,000 square metres, the weight is approximately 130 grams per square metre and the helium loss is less than 1% per year. |  |
Report for:
North West Advanced Clothing Web,
Hollings Faculty,
Manchester Metropolitan University,
Old Hall Lane,
Manchester, M14 6HR.