Conventional textiles

Spandex Fibers. Spandex fibers are suppHed for processing into fabrics in four basic forms as outlined in Table 3. Bare yams are suppHed by the manufacturer on tubes or beams and can be processed on conventional textile equipment with the aid of special feed and tension devices. In covered yams, the spandex fibers are covered with one or two layers of an inelastic filament or staple yam the hard yam provides strength and rigidity at full extension, which faciUtates knitting and weaving. 

Special mention must be made of poly(lactic acid), a biodegradable/bio-resorbable polyester, obtained from renewable resources through fermentation of com starch sugar. This polymer can compete with conventional thermoplastics such as PET for conventional textile fibers or engineering plastics applications. Hie first Dow-Cargill PLA manufacturing facility is scheduled to produce up to 140,000 tons of Nature Works PLA per year beginning in 200245 at an estimated price close to that of other thermoplastic resins U.S. l/kg.46 Other plants are planned to be built in the near future.45... 

The use of Kevlar has been confined to specialised applications 98), where high mechanical performance and lightweight properties are essential, because of its present relatively high cost compared with conventional textile materials. These applications can be conveniently divided into two main categories, one where the fibres alone form the final product such as in cables and fabrics and the other where they act as reinforcing elements for the production of composite structures. 

Summaries of chemical and physical properties of different polyester fibers are available (107). Polyesters display excellent resistance to conventional textile bleaching agents and are most resistant to cleaning solvents (107). Mold, mildew, and fungi may grow on finishes applied to polyester fabrics but do not attack the fiber itself (3). Again, insects that devour natural fibers normally do not affect polyester fibers although they may cut their way out of the fabric if trapped. 

DOW CORNING 1111 Emulsion when used as a system, can be applied with conventional textile padding equipment. For best results, the pad bath should give a pickup of about 0.5 to 1.0 percent silicone solids, based on the dry weight of the fabric. For hand modification only, less pickup is required. 

Acrylic fibers are polymers with greater than 85% aerylonitrile content, while those containing 35 to 85% acrylonitrile are known as modaeryhe. Aeryhe fibers eontain minor amounts of other comonomers, usually methyl acrylate, but also methyl methaerylate and vinyl aeetate. These comonomers along with ionic monomers such as sodium styrene sulfonate are ineorporated to enhance dyeability with conventional textile dyes. Modaeryhes usually eontain 20% or more vinyl chloride (or vinylidene chloride) to improve fire retardancy. 

This section describes how a biomimetic approach inspired a disruptive innovation that draws on conventional textile technology to engineer counterintuitive... 

After the stretching process the films may be annealed and are then slit into the desired number of tapes by rotating or stationary knives. Tapes for weaving or knitting polypropylene or high-density polyethylene are wound on bobbins, which are used in more or less conventional textile machinery. 

Since the 1990s, much research has been undertaken to develop enzymatic processing methods as an alternative to replace conventional textile processing methods. As described in Section 4.3, some of these processes have become routine industrial processes. Technical or cost constraints may prevent some of the bioprocessing techniques that have been developed from being viable industrially. 

Heat and flame protection of conventional textile fibres 247... 

The mechanical and electrical properties for the polyaniline fibers spun using the methods published by Monkman and coworkers [59-61] are encouraging as they approach those of conventional textile fibers such as nylon-6. However, in our laboratory it was found that direct implementation of the reported... 

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