Recent Trends in Traditional and Technical Textiles

Rolled erosion control systems (RECSs) used in erosion control application mitigates runoff erosion through micro-barriers created by cross-laid weft yarns of RECS. Increase in number of cross-laid weft yarns (weft density) of RECSs is expected to improve its performance, so coir and jute RECSs with different weft density were prepared and evaluated for erosion control performance and germination performance. Runoff erosion test was performed in a bench-scale setup designed based on ASTM D 7101 standard, at zero and soil infiltration condition (with and without soil), at three different slope angles of 15°, 30°, and 45°. Whereas, germination test was performed using earthen pots and wheat seeds, based on ASTM D 7322 standard. Increased weft density resulted in improved performance of jute RECSs at all slope angles and infiltration condition, due to increased storage volume and better drapability. But the performance of coarser yarn count coir RECSs reduced at higher slope angle, due to increased flexural rigidity. In germination test, increase in weft density of finer yarn RECSs resulted in improved total rooting and percentage of vegetation, due to lower flexural rigidity and higher moisture holding. Whereas in coarser yarn RECSs, increase in weft density resulted in decreased total rooting and percentage of vegetation. It was also observed that the jute RECSs facilitates faster initial growth and highest total rooting as compared to coir RECSs due to finer and soft jute fibers that facilitate easy vegetation growth and better moisture-holding capacity.

Energy consumption is an important aspect for any industry which directly relates to its profit margin. In the present study energy consumption during filtration of conductive filters has been analyzed at different dust charge levels on laboratory-based pulse jet system assisted with pre-charger. Five types of polyester conductive material viz. PTFE coated media, Stainless Steel Fibre blended with PET media, Stainless Steel Scrim media, Carbon Fibre blended with PET media and Carbon Filament Scrim Media have been characterized at three different charge levels viz. 4, 8, and 12 kV, and without charge. The results showed that there is a significant drop in consumption of energy with the increase in pre-charging. Energy consumption results were further compared with full scale bag house condition by calculating the power utilized for 100 bags. The outcome revealed that among all the materials the performance of PTFE coated media is the best and role of material is most significant toward the energy consumption by the filtration system. Overall energy consumption is reduced with the increase in charge level in the pre-charger. It has also been noted that percentage contribution of energy consumption for fan energy is much higher for full scale bag house as compared to flat media test rig. While for compressor energy, the difference in percentage contribution is comparatively less and for energy due to charge, there is not much variation in percentage contribution.

Due to lower contact area with a skin, rib woven fabrics such as corduroy exhibit relatively good thermal insulation and dry thermal contact properties, but after their use under certain physical effort, moisture will reduce level of their wearing comfort. In the study, the effect of the relative width of the ribs and absorbed moisture on their thermal resistance and thermal absorptivity was investigated. As expected, fabrics with lower contact area exhibit good thermal properties even at the fabric relative moisture 20%.

No country in the world today, developed or developing, can afford to overlook the critical advantages of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for sustainable economic growth and innovation. Beyond nations, the same argument applies to the manufacturing sector. Innovation creates wealth and improves overall quality of life, which is a legitimate expectation of a citizen of any country. AI is set to become the next frontier of innovation as the cost of computing power becomes increasingly affordable. AI’s impact will be immensely beneficial provided the right regulatory framework (privacy and security) and policies (labour, education & training, re-skilling, etc.) are implemented to sustain the AI ecosystem.

Compression therapy is the most widely used treatment for venous leg ulcer (VLU), and it has been utilised in different forms for more than four centuries. There are wide varieties of compression bandages available for the treatment of various diseases. A suitable regime has to be selected for the specific problem based on required pressure level. In this paper, a study was conducted on the pressure behaviour of single jersey tubular bandage by varying the Lycra Denier (20, 30, 40 denier), stitch length (mm) in the structure at different limbs circumference (20, 30, 33 cm) on an artificial limb layered with foam of different hardness (10, 20 and 30). The effect of parameters both individually and interactively on the pressure performance of tubular bandage was statistically analysed. As compared to other constructional parameters, stretch (%) of tubular bandage has the most significant impact in generating required bandage pressure. From ANOVA analysis it is concluded that stretch (%) has almost 40% contribution in imparting overall bandage pressure whereas stitch length, lycra denier and limb hardness has 20%, 20% and 16% contribution respectively.

This work is focused to explore the potential of zea mays husk (ZMH) as reinforcement in the thermosetting polymer composite. Most of the work that had been carried out globally on zea mays stover is especially on zea mays husk and that too primarily for ethanol production and upto some extent as reinforcement for composite fabrication after fiber extraction. A novel effort has been made to use ZMH in film form for reinforcement. Araldite epoxy resin and hardener are used as matrix and pretreated ZMH as filler to form the laminate composites. The effect of alkali treatment conditions on ZMH is optimized in terms of ZMH and the respective composite properties. Characterization of ZMH is carried out by XRD, SEM and mechanical properties. ZMH laminate composites are also characterized with SEM and DMA. SEM images confirmed the partial delignification of ZMH after pretreatment. Fractured samples of composite reinforced with NaOH treated ZMH evidenced good interphase between matrix and filler as compared to neat epoxy. DMA test showed effectiveness of ZMH reinforcement in matrix. Flexural modulus of ZMH reinforced composite is found to be 3.45 GPa as compared to 2.43 GPa for neat epoxy composites.

Textile dyeing is a complicated process involving the addition of a large number of dyes and auxiliaries to achieve the exact shade. The wastes generated in this process are huge and polluting to the land and the surrounding environment. The main cause of this effluent problem happens to be the addition of salt in reactive dyeing. Hence rather than finding a method to dispose these hazardous wastes generated it would be better to devise a safer system of dyeing. Salt is inevitable in the conventional method because it masks the zeta potential developed by cotton fabric when immersed in water. This masking of the zeta potential facilitates the negatively charged dye to get attracted to the fabric. But the same effect can be produced with the help of electric current by passing positive charges to the fabric. The quality parameters, such as K/S value, fastness and uniformity, of fabric dyed with help of electrical current is also similar to that of fabric dyed using conventional method. By doing this the TDS content of the effluent is greatly reduced and reduces sludge formation. This also poses a chance for reuse of dye liquor which will minimize the consumption of dyes and reduce cost. It also has an ease of implementation in all dyeing units by slight modification of the present working style.

Compression sportswear worn by elite athletes to enhance performance is based on compression therapy which was widely used for treating venous disorders. Recent research with athletes has shown that compression garments may provide ergogenic benefits for athletes during exercise by enhancing lactate removal, reducing muscle oscillation and positively influencing psychological factors. This study reveals the performance evaluation of a localized compression garment developed with varying pressure at different areas of the body. Different composition of compression fabric made of polyester microfiber, lyocell and elastane has influence on the generated interfacial pressure. It is observed that with increase in elastane % and elastane stretch, the fabric becomes compact and thick with higher thermal resistance and reduced permeability to air and moisture vapour. As the elastane % increases, the moisture content, spreading area and drying rate are higher but the wickability is lower. During field trial, usage of medium and higher elasticity fabrics showed a reduction of 90% in the muscle movement as analyzed through EMG. The experiment resulted with 9% increase in the performance of the volunteer during running and cycling. Hence, it is more advantageous to wear compression garments, where less muscle activation occurs thereby enhancing athletic performance.

Oxy-rich air is required for many industries for various processes. Mixture of pure oxygen with air is a costly process where oxy-rich air is required. In this research an attempt has been made by a novel technique such as preparation of activated carbon/PVP blended polymer loaded, surface modified hollow polyester fibre composite for the production of oxy-rich air. The PVP and activated carbon has an advantage of higher O₂ permeability and O₂/N₂ selectivity. Surface modified hollow fibre is used to enhance the air separation rate. An experimental plan has been developed for the construction of composite with NaOH treatment time, concentration of PVP and concentration of activated carbon as independent variables. Fifteen set of experiments have been derived with independent variables and composites were prepared as the plan. The effect of independent variables on oxygen enrichment and air separation rate is analysed in detail. Highest oxygen enrichment percentage as 38.62 was achieved by 3 h NaOH treated, 15% PVP and 4% activated carbon loaded composite. The highest rate of air separation was given by 3 h NaOH treated, 10% PVP and 4% activated carbon loaded composite.

In Indian footwear sector, casual footwear involves those preferred by people for daily wear in schools, colleges or workplace, etc. Casual footwear dominates the market followed by mass footwear. The common styles of men’s workplace casual footwear are moccasin, boot, derby, oxford, brogue, sneaker and gore shoe. While footwear size is obviously important, we tend to overmagnify its importance by the assumption that if the footwear is the right size it will automatically deliver proper fit. From the stand point of the fitter, footwear size consists primarily of two measurements: overall length and ball width. These measurements however do not indicate the true size of the foot or the footwear. Heel width, waist girth, instep, heel to ball, arch length also come in “sizes”. The footwear is presumably “sized” in its various sections to match the corresponding sections of the foot. Thus, the primary objective of the research is to assess lasts of Indian men’s workplace casual footwear including aspects like match of toe shapes and redesign of lasts along with fitness assessment and other aspects closely related to long-term comfort which may be considered in order to improve model accuracy. In order to achieve this demographic and morphological characteristic of feet of subjects belonging to Delhi NCT region were collected. Morphological characteristics were collected using SATRA foot measurement system. Since styles of workplace casual footwear includes boots, certain anthropometric dimensions of the leg were also collected using the procedure outlined in ISO 8559:1989(En) standards.

In this modern era, customers demand improved functional fabrics along with some other properties. The product developments can be done in various methods; the blending of various fibres to make fabric with enhanced properties is one of them. The wet processing can affect the comfort properties of fabrics made out of different fibrous material. Here, the effect of wet processing (scouring and dyeing) was studied on the comfort and other properties of plain-woven fabrics made using weft of 100% cotton,  50:50 cotton/tencel and 50:50 cotton/modal blend was studied. The results reveal that the air permeability decreases in all samples (100% cotton fabric, cotton/modal blended fabric and Tencel/cotton blended fabric) after scouring but no significant change has been seen after dyeing. The overall moisture management capacity increases significantly in all samples after scouring and further increases after dyeing. Fabric strength increases after scouring and decreases after dying. The fabric bending modulus decreases after scouring in all fabric samples and there is not significantly change has been seen after dyeing.

Indians are known as precursors in natural dyeing art. Even though home-grown knowledge mode has been experienced in the past over the years but applications of natural colourants have been reduced due to lack of methodical knowledge of extraction, dyeing procedures and documentation over generations. This leads to failure to commercialisation of natural colourants. All the synthetic colourants being used for dyeing textiles now a days have dire environmental concerns due to their toxicity and non-biodegradability. They generate water pollution, are carcinogenic along with waste disposal problems. Natural colourants are rational solution to all these problems. Thus, it is obligatory to evolve suitable technology for extraction and sustainable applications of natural dyes on textiles. Present study is an approach to extract natural colourants from a variety of plants sources such as Kalanchoe-pinnata, papaya, peepal and banyan using specific extraction techniques to achieve maximum yield in K/S and antioxidant properties. These four natural extracts were tested for their dyeing potential on wool fabric. Dyeing was performed using three different mordanting techniques (pre, meta and post-mordanting) wherein different natural mordants such as harda, amla, pomegranate and orange as well as synthetic mordants such as alum, copper sulphate and ferrous sulphate were used to fix dye on to the textile substrates. A rainbow of natural colours was obtained with varied shades of each colour. Finding of the study shows that all the four natural extracts give satisfactory wash and light colour fastness. The natural mordants give comparable results with synthetic mordants. Thus these natural extracts along with natural mordants can be explored at industrial scale for sustainable colouration of wool.

Three traditional folk embroideries: Phulkari, Bagh and Chope of undivided Punjab, practised then by a group of females of similar or different age groups (Trinjan) in their homes are nowadays kept as heirlooms. These technique for these embroideries employ untwisted flat Silk floss to embroider on hand-spun cotton fabric and have been enriching the cultural fabric of various life-cycle ceremonies followed in Punjab. Ceremonial Phulkari, Bagh and Chope had a ‘Nazar battu’ (to ward away the evil eye) of different  colour and motifs, and the presence of this motif defines the authenticity of home-crafted folk embroidered fabric. This paper will bring forth authentic traditional methods of identifying these heirlooms. The tradition to embroider with Silk floss was an essential merit for a would-be bride of Punjab, so that they become self-sufficient, learn about family affairs while sitting in a group of friends and elders. This cultural activity cultivated habit to maintain art  in dressing themselves and it was customary to own Phulkaris, Baghs or Chope for a would-be bride. Besides the common visual material identity of traditional Phulkari, Bagh and Chope, they differ in visual and technical methods  of embroidery, the details are discussed in the paper. Also, each and every motif Embroidered on them narrates the embroiderer’s meticulous skills expressing their immediate environment, belief system, which makes every piece unique and reflection of individual’s family background, skills,  prefrences, taste and liking. This paper primarily presents methods of visual and technical identification of traditional Phulkari, Bagh and Chope. It further highlights traditional belief, material culture and emerging trends.

In this investigation, optimization of fusing conditions to minimize the shrinkage and maximize the bond strength between a fabric and a fusible interlining before and after the dry-cleaning process has been carried out using the response surface design. To optimize the quality of fused specimens, most important fusing parameters such as fusing time and fusing temperature were selected. Woven interlining was fused on men’s shirting fabric by varying fusing time (10, 12, 14, and 16 s) and temperature (120 ℃, 130 ℃). As per the standard, fusing pressure of 1.5 bar was kept constant. After fusing, the fused fabric was characterized for different properties. Obtained results were analyzed by factorial analysis method. Findings of this will help garment manufacturers in selecting the optimum fusing conditions so that they can maintain the cost and quality of the product at the same time.

The present study “Doodling: Introducing paper art into textiles” involves the collection of student scribbled designs from students’ notebooks. A market survey was conducted for the selection of product range. Sourcing of suitable fabric was done in which different fabrics were evaluated by panel of judges. For selection of background colour for blending, six different colour themes were created and evaluated by judges. A total 10 ranges were designed inspired from students scribbled designs. For selection of ranges, ranges were evaluated by panel of judges. Documentation of both scribbled and developed designs was done. Selected ranges were constructed into final products. Market and consumer acceptability were done and responses from both for living area range were found appreciable, very innovative, unique and exclusive. The objective of dissemination of the gathered data was achieved by conducting workshops for students on doodling art. The workshop conducted received positive responses and ample interest was shown by students for attending more such programs.

Fibres form the basic identity of textiles. These are not confined merely to apparel and household textiles (traditional uses) these days; rather have been recognized as advanced fibres in the field of technical textiles. Different sectors of technical textiles, viz., automotive, medical, geo-textiles, agro textiles and protective clothing, etc. need specific properties for functionality purposes in textile fibres. To cater to the stringent requirements for these specialized applications and the quest to produce sustainable innovative products in respective fields, the world has seen a paradigm shift in the technology and growth of advanced fibres. However, these advanced fibres come with several advantages and disadvantages––defining their scope and limitations––and therefore, provide a room for further research in technological developments pertaining to their manufacturing technologies. This paper focuses on the details of the scope of these advanced fibres and related technological advancements/innovations, which will be worthwhile to provide a window to carry out further research in this area.

Fabric flammability is one of the most important criteria for the wearer safety. The basic objective of the apparels is to provide the basic protection to environmental conditions. But the modern age garments must also define the personality of the wearer. The textiles are also used for various purposes like home furnishing and bedding, transport, civil engineering, medical and defense. So the capacity of the burning of flammability must be evaluated at the manufacturing stage. Hence, researchers have been trying to determine the flammability capacity by measuring different flammability parameters like ease of ignition, the rate and extent of flame spread, the duration of flaming, measurement of heat release and heat of combustion. These flammability parameters are to be tested as per the numerous existing standards. These existing test methods are based on the manual measurement, which leads to human error at different stages of testing. So this project aims to determine the key flammability parameters like burning time, burning rate, burning area, char length and the complete thermal profile of the burning sample by using image processing technique. The measurement has been done by developing a customized vertical flammability tester and capturing the videos of the burning samples and then processing the videos by using customized developed software in MATLAB platform. The flammability parameters have been evaluated for the 100% cotton fabrics, 100% polyester fabrics and blends of the cotton and polyester fabrics. These fabric flammability parameters are compared for safe use in apparels. It is observed that the cotton fabrics are most safe for apparels whereas the 100% polyester fabrics are most dangerous in nature.

Fashion and apparel industry has been witnessing a lot of transitions in past few decades with clothing not merely regarded as an entity for protection and self-adornment but the whole concept has been reformed with the inception of smart wearable technologies becoming an integral part of today’s fashion parade. Sportswear is one such highly innovative and functional class of clothing which involves a lot of fiber, yarn and fabric engineering to match the needs of a sportsperson. The basic requirement of sportswear is comfort to the wearer along with easy mobility. Comfort can be engineered into sports textile by the selection of such fiber, yarn and fabric variables that contribute to effective thermal, moisture vapor and liquid moisture transmission through clothing. Furthermore, there has been a quest for enhancing the functionality and performance of sportsperson and monitoring their physiological parameters via specifically engineered and designed sportswear. The present study has been undertaken to integrate the concept of smart wearable technology into sportswear intended for sportsperson indulging in low to dynamic physical activity. Accordingly, a sportswear assembly comprising solicit-sports panel integrated t-shirt, shorts, wristband and baseball cap have been designed and developed to explore the moisture management properties desirous of sportswear and energy harvesting principle of solar panel (via its integration into sportswear). The moisture transmission properties of different knit structures have been analyzed and based on objective evaluation; the most suitable structure has been selected for the design and development of sportswear. The designed sportswear has been incorporated with energy harvesting device and the smart sportswear so developed is subjectively tested and evaluated in real time situations.

Demonetization drive has directly or indirectly affected the entire Indian textile and apparel industry, but the major impact of demonetization on Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and the unorganized sector is evident. MSME sector of the textile industry is majorly driven by the contractual labor as well as a daily wager. Due to the cash crunch, textile and apparel industry was unable to pay wages and meet daily expenses for running their mills. The negative effects of demonetization are workforce layoff, closure of small units, reduction in manufacturing activities, increase in production cost, rise in raw cotton prices in some areas. The positive outcomes are that cashless transaction has been increased significantly and around 5 lakhs bank accounts have opened in the major textile clusters like Tirupur, Surat, Ludhiana and Bhiwandi. The major objective of this review is to study the impact of demonetization drive on the textile and apparel supply chain.

Natural fibers like coir, kenaf and cotton are biodegradable and eco friendly. The effective utilization of the natural fiber in different filed of applications is gradually increasing due to the environment friendliness. Needle punched nonwoven samples was developed with coir/cotton and coir/kenaf fibres with 90/10 blend ratio. The areal density of the needle punched nonwovens is 950 g per square metre and thickness of the samples is around 15 mm. The water holding capacity of the samples was tested at different time levels (5–45 min). Water retention property of soil with and without needle punched nonwoven bed was tested with different time levels. The effect of coir/cotton and coir/kenaf fibres-based needle punched nonwovens with soil on plant growth also studied. The results show that, the water holding capacity % of the coir/cotton needle punched nonwoven is 35.34% and the coir/kenaf needle punched nonwoven are 22%.