Contribution au développement des textiles intelligents fiables et lavables : standards et caractérisation

Nous vivons une époque où la modernisation et la numérisation se développent rapidement. Les entreprises attirent leurs clients grâce à des techniques nouvelles et des gammes de produits personnalisés. Cette concurrence a favorisé le développement de secteurs nouveaux et hybrides pour améliorer la satisfaction des clients. Au cours des dernières décennies, de nouveaux produits, impossibles à imaginer dans le passé, ont emargé. En même temps, l'utilisation des vêtements a suivi l'évolution de l’humanité, depuis son apparition. Le concept de vêtement a débuté par le remplacement des feuilles utilisées pour couvrir certaines parties du corps. Aujourd'hui, ces vêtements sont beaucoup mieux adaptés à l'utilisateur et sont utilisés dans divers domaines, tels que la médecine, le sport, l'armée et différents projets liés à la défense. Ces nouveaux vêtements, avec des fonctions additionnelles, ont complètement changé la façon d'utiliser et de développer des textiles et c'est la raison pour laquelle le textile n'est plus une industrie indépendante, mais un mélange de différentes industries travaillant ensemble sous réserve des fonctionnalités intégrées définies par l'utilisateur. Les textiles polyvalents et à fonctionnalités améliorées peuvent contenir un ou plusieurs composants intelligents, textiles ou non textiles, tissés, brodés, cousus, intégrés ou attachés à l'aide de différentes techniques disponibles. En fonction des besoins, ces composants sont des capteurs, des actionneurs et des antennes, des unités de traitement, des dispositifs de collecte d'énergie et de transmission de puissance. Ces textiles portables avancés sont appelés textiles intelligents, électronique portable, e-textiles, vêtements intelligents, textroniques, etc.Pour progresser dans cette nouvelle partie immergée de l'industrie textile, il est important de comprendre les exigences et les problèmes liés à cette approche hybride. Les textiles intelligents sont constitués de composants provenant principalement des industries textile et électronique. Ces deux industries sont bien développées et disposent déjà de normes et de standards liés à chaque problème. Cependant, ces normes ne peuvent pas être appliquées aux systèmes e-textiles tels quels et une modification, ou le développement de nouvelles normes, est nécessaire pour rendre ces e-textiles fiables et acceptables pour les clients.Cette thèse de doctorat est consacrée à l’étude et à la mise en évidence des difficultés auxquelles le marché des textiles électroniques est confronté en termes de fiabilité et de lavabilité. Les différentes options de lavage disponibles sont analysées avec la mise en évidence des différences entre elles, afin de mieux comprendre comment sélectionner l'option de lavage la plus appropriée pour les systèmes e-textiles. Un accéléromètre a également été utilisé pour des analyses de contraintes dans le tambour de machine à laver pour de mettre en évidence les protocoles de tests mécaniques standardisés disponibles qui peuvent être utilisés comme simulation de dommages équivalents, sans le processus de lavage. Différents composants des e-textiles, y compris les composants détachables et les composants fixes, sont étudiés séparément pour déterminer les contraintes de lavage sur chacun de ces composants en termes de fonctionnalité. Enfin, un modèle de simulation a été proposé pouvant être utilisé pour identifier les dommages causés par le lavage et les prévisions de fiabilité, sans avoir à laver les systèmes e-textiles. Les protocoles standards requis pour leur adaptabilité chez les clients sont discutés et la modification des normes actuelles ainsi que les modifications nécessaires sont présentés dans cette étude.We live in an era where modernization and digitalization are increasing rapidly, and industries attract their customers with novel techniques and customized product ranges. This competition increased the development of new and hybrid fields for customers satisfactions. In recent decades we have a lot of modern innovative notations that ancient peoples can’t even imagine. Similarly, textiles usage, especially as the wearing element, has a vast history in human evolution since ancient times. The wearing cloth concept started as the replacement of leaf used for covering body parts, but now day’s textile wearable have multiple included options along with wearing requirements. Nowadays these user-defined textile wearable are being used in diverse fields ranging from medical, sports, military, and different defense-related projects. These new add-ons completely changed the way to use and develop wearable textiles. That’s why now textile has not remained an independent industry but a mixture of different sectors working together subject to the integrated user-defined functionalities. Multipurpose and improved functionality textiles may comprise one or several textile or non-textile smart components that were weaved, embroidered, sewed, integrated, or attached using different available techniques. Based on requirements, these components can include sensors, actuators, and antennas, processing units, energy harvesting, and power transmitting devices. These advanced wearable textiles are usually named smart textiles, wearable electronics, e-textiles, smart clothing, textronic, etc.It is essential to understand the requirements and problems related to this hybrid industry if we want to progress in this new immerging part of the textile industry. The electronic textile consists the components mainly from the textile and electronic industry. Both sectors are well-developed and already have norms and standards related to each problem. But these standards can’t be applied to the e-textile systems as it is, and modification in these standards or development of new standards is required to make these e-textile products reliable and acceptable for customers.This research is planned to investigate and highlight the difficulties the e-textile market faces in terms of reliability and washability. Different available washing options were studied to highlight the differences among them and understand the most suitable washing option for e-textile systems. The accelerometer device was used for stress analyses in the washing drum to highlight the available mechanical standardized test protocols that can be used as the simulation of equivalent damages without the washing process. Different e-textile components, including detachable and permanently fixed ones, are investigated for the washing stresses separately in terms of their functionality. Finally, a simulation model was proposed that can be exercised for wash damages and reliability predictions without actually washing the e-textile systems. Standard protocols required for their customers' adaptability are discussed, and necessary additions are presented in this study

Contribution au développement des textiles intelligents fiables et lavables : standards et caractérisation

We live in an era where modernization and digitalization are increasing rapidly, and industries attract their customers with novel techniques and customized product ranges. This competition increased the development of new and hybrid fields for customers satisfactions. In recent decades we have a lot of modern innovative notations that ancient peoples can’t even imagine. Similarly, textiles usage, especially as the wearing element, has a vast history in human evolution since ancient times. The wearing cloth concept started as the replacement of leaf used for covering body parts, but now day’s textile wearable have multiple included options along with wearing requirements. Nowadays these user-defined textile wearable are being used in diverse fields ranging from medical, sports, military, and different defense-related projects. These new add-ons completely changed the way to use and develop wearable textiles. That’s why now textile has not remained an independent industry but a mixture of different sectors working together subject to the integrated user-defined functionalities. Multipurpose and improved functionality textiles may comprise one or several textile or non-textile smart components that were weaved, embroidered, sewed, integrated, or attached using different available techniques. Based on requirements, these components can include sensors, actuators, and antennas, processing units, energy harvesting, and power transmitting devices. These advanced wearable textiles are usually named smart textiles, wearable electronics, e-textiles, smart clothing, textronic, etc.It is essential to understand the requirements and problems related to this hybrid industry if we want to progress in this new immerging part of the textile industry. The electronic textile consists the components mainly from the textile and electronic industry. Both sectors are well-developed and already have norms and standards related to each problem. But these standards can’t be applied to the e-textile systems as it is, and modification in these standards or development of new standards is required to make these e-textile products reliable and acceptable for customers.This research is planned to investigate and highlight the difficulties the e-textile market faces in terms of reliability and washability. Different available washing options were studied to highlight the differences among them and understand the most suitable washing option for e-textile systems. The accelerometer device was used for stress analyses in the washing drum to highlight the available mechanical standardized test protocols that can be used as the simulation of equivalent damages without the washing process. Different e-textile components, including detachable and permanently fixed ones, are investigated for the washing stresses separately in terms of their functionality. Finally, a simulation model was proposed that can be exercised for wash damages and reliability predictions without actually washing the e-textile systems. Standard protocols required for their customers' adaptability are discussed, and necessary additions are presented in this study.Nous vivons une époque où la modernisation et la numérisation se développent rapidement. Les entreprises attirent leurs clients grâce à des techniques nouvelles et des gammes de produits personnalisés. Cette concurrence a favorisé le développement de secteurs nouveaux et hybrides pour améliorer la satisfaction des clients. Au cours des dernières décennies, de nouveaux produits, impossibles à imaginer dans le passé, ont emargé. En même temps, l'utilisation des vêtements a suivi l'évolution de l’humanité, depuis son apparition. Le concept de vêtement a débuté par le remplacement des feuilles utilisées pour couvrir certaines parties du corps. Aujourd'hui, ces vêtements sont beaucoup mieux adaptés à l'utilisateur et sont utilisés dans divers domaines, tels que la médecine, le sport, l'armée et différents projets liés à la défense. Ces nouveaux vêtements, avec des fonctions additionnelles, ont complètement changé la façon d'utiliser et de développer des textiles et c'est la raison pour laquelle le textile n'est plus une industrie indépendante, mais un mélange de différentes industries travaillant ensemble sous réserve des fonctionnalités intégrées définies par l'utilisateur. Les textiles polyvalents et à fonctionnalités améliorées peuvent contenir un ou plusieurs composants intelligents, textiles ou non textiles, tissés, brodés, cousus, intégrés ou attachés à l'aide de différentes techniques disponibles. En fonction des besoins, ces composants sont des capteurs, des actionneurs et des antennes, des unités de traitement, des dispositifs de collecte d'énergie et de transmission de puissance. Ces textiles portables avancés sont appelés textiles intelligents, électronique portable, e-textiles, vêtements intelligents, textroniques, etc.Pour progresser dans cette nouvelle partie immergée de l'industrie textile, il est important de comprendre les exigences et les problèmes liés à cette approche hybride. Les textiles intelligents sont constitués de composants provenant principalement des industries textile et électronique. Ces deux industries sont bien développées et disposent déjà de normes et de standards liés à chaque problème. Cependant, ces normes ne peuvent pas être appliquées aux systèmes e-textiles tels quels et une modification, ou le développement de nouvelles normes, est nécessaire pour rendre ces e-textiles fiables et acceptables pour les clients.Cette thèse de doctorat est consacrée à l’étude et à la mise en évidence des difficultés auxquelles le marché des textiles électroniques est confronté en termes de fiabilité et de lavabilité. Les différentes options de lavage disponibles sont analysées avec la mise en évidence des différences entre elles, afin de mieux comprendre comment sélectionner l'option de lavage la plus appropriée pour les systèmes e-textiles. Un accéléromètre a également été utilisé pour des analyses de contraintes dans le tambour de machine à laver pour de mettre en évidence les protocoles de tests mécaniques standardisés disponibles qui peuvent être utilisés comme simulation de dommages équivalents, sans le processus de lavage. Différents composants des e-textiles, y compris les composants détachables et les composants fixes, sont étudiés séparément pour déterminer les contraintes de lavage sur chacun de ces composants en termes de fonctionnalité. Enfin, un modèle de simulation a été proposé pouvant être utilisé pour identifier les dommages causés par le lavage et les prévisions de fiabilité, sans avoir à laver les systèmes e-textiles. Les protocoles standards requis pour leur adaptabilité chez les clients sont discutés et la modification des normes actuelles ainsi que les modifications nécessaires sont présentés dans cette étude

Smart E-Textile Systems: A Review for Healthcare Applications

E-textiles is a new hybrid field developed with the help of the integration of electronic components into our daily usage of textile products. These wearable e-textiles provide user-defined applications as well as normal textile clothing. The medical field is one of the major leading areas where these new hybrid products are being implemented, and relatively mature products can be observed in the laboratory as well as in commercial markets. These products are developed for continuous patient monitoring in large-scale hospital centers as well as for customized patient requirements. Meanwhile, these products are also being used for complex medical treatments and the replacement of conventional methods. This review manuscript contains a basic overview of e-textile systems, their components, applications, and usages in the field of medical innovations. E-textile systems, integrated into customized products for medical needs, are discussed with their proposed properties and limitations. Finally, some recommendations to enhance the e-textile system’s integration into the medical field are argued

Understanding the Washing Damage to Textile ECG Dry Skin Electrodes, Embroidered and Fabric-Based; set up of Equivalent Laboratory Tests

Reliability and washability are major hurdles facing the e-textile industry nowadays. The main fear behind the product’s rejection is the inability to ensure its projected life span. The durability of e-textiles is based on an approximate lifetime of both the electronics and textiles integrated into the product. A detailed analysis of the wash process and the possibility of predicting product behavior are key factors for new standards implementation. This manuscript is focused on the washability issues of different types of woven, knitted, and embroidered, textile-based ECG electrodes. These electrodes are used without the addition of any ionic gel to the skin to reduce impedance. They were subjected to up to 50 wash cycles with two different types of wash processes, and changes in surface resistance, as well as the quality of ECG waves, were observed To investigate the wash damages in detail, the proposed mechanical (Martindale and Pilling box) and chemical test methods were investigated. The electrodes which increased resistance after washing showed the same trend in the proposed test methods. Copper-based electrodes suffered the most severe damage and increased resistance, as was also visible in an SEM analysis. These proposed test methods can be used to predict robustness behavior without washing

E-Textile Systems Reliability Assessment—A Miniaturized Accelerometer Used to Investigate Damage during Their Washing

E-textiles reveal a new and hybrid sector of the industry that is created by the integration of electronic components or textile-based electronics in our daily life textile products. They are facing problems in terms of washability, reliability, and user acceptance. This manuscript explains the mechanical stresses acting during the washing process and their impact on e-textile systems. Different washing programs were investigated in terms of total process duration. This washing process duration is mainly divided into three diverse washing actions: low-speed rotation, high-speed rotation, and stop time. This investigation was performed to highlight the importance of the washing actions and their percentages in the total washing process. A piece of fabric with a flexible PCB (printed circuit board), equipped with an accelerometer with a Bluetooth communication device and a microcontroller, was placed in the washing machine to analyze the movement of fabric provoked by washing stresses. The PCB was used for fabric movements recording to determine the impact of mechanical stress on e-textile systems during the washing process. From the video analysis, it was concluded that the duration of the low-speed and high-speed rotation actions should be privileged comparing to the duration of the whole washing process. A power spectral density (PSD) analysis based on the accelerometer outputs was realized. Mechanical stresses at different frequencies were identified. Based on this analysis, it could be possible to improve the protocols of mechanical tests (Martindale and pilling box) used to simulate the mechanical stress applied to e-textile systems during the washing process

A review on the manufacturing techniques for textile based antennas

An antenna is a medium of communication in electronic systems and one of its branches is known as wearable antenna (embedded in clothing or other wearables). Antennas are found in a wide range of applications such as medical, military, sports, safety, fitness, satellite communication etc. Textile based antennas are considered a replacement of conventional communication systems in E-textiles as they are more flexible and comfortable as compared to their metallic counterparts and more efficient than transmission wires. Electronic wiring which is commonly used for data transmission is susceptible to damage because of bending or stretching in wearables and may cause interferences between signals and time delays. One of the most significant advantages of wearable antennas is the reduction of bulk of electronic components as they can act as a sensor and communicator at a time. The cost can also be reduced this way. The current work focuses on the review of different manufacturing techniques for wearable antennas. The scope of this review is to highlight main techniques, their advantages and limitations in comparison with each other as well as to describe the available solutions of associated problems. The findings of this review could be fruitful for researchers to find out the best manufacturing technique for antennas in their perspective. Visual Abstrac

Smart E-Textile Systems: A Review for Healthcare Applications

E-textiles is a new hybrid field developed with the help of the integration of electronic components into our daily usage of textile products. These wearable e-textiles provide user-defined applications as well as normal textile clothing. The medical field is one of the major leading areas where these new hybrid products are being implemented, and relatively mature products can be observed in the laboratory as well as in commercial markets. These products are developed for continuous patient monitoring in large-scale hospital centers as well as for customized patient requirements. Meanwhile, these products are also being used for complex medical treatments and the replacement of conventional methods. This review manuscript contains a basic overview of e-textile systems, their components, applications, and usages in the field of medical innovations. E-textile systems, integrated into customized products for medical needs, are discussed with their proposed properties and limitations. Finally, some recommendations to enhance the e-textile system’s integration into the medical field are argued

Wash Analyses of Flexible and Wearable Printed Circuits for E-Textiles and Their Prediction of Damages

The development of specific user-based wearable smart textiles is gaining interest. The reliability and washability of e-textiles, especially electronic-based components of e-textiles, are under particular investigation nowadays. This is because e-textiles cannot be washed like normal textile products and washing electronic products is not common practice in our daily life. To adopt the e-textile products in our daily life, new standards, based on product usage, should be developed especially for flexibility and washability. The wearable motherboards are the main component for e-textile systems. They should be washing reliable and flexible for better adoption in the system. In this manuscript, flexible wearable PCBs were prepared with different conductive track widths and protected with silicone coatings. The samples were washed for 50 washing cycles in the household washing machine, and provoked damages were investigated. The PCBs were also investigated for bending tests (simulating mechanical stresses in the washing machine), and resultant damages were discussed and co-related with washing damages. The bending test was performed by bending the FPCBs at 90° over the circular rod and under the known hanging load

E-Textile Systems Reliability Assessment—A Miniaturized Accelerometer Used to Investigate Damage during Their Washing

E-textiles reveal a new and hybrid sector of the industry that is created by the integration of electronic components or textile-based electronics in our daily life textile products. They are facing problems in terms of washability, reliability, and user acceptance. This manuscript explains the mechanical stresses acting during the washing process and their impact on e-textile systems. Different washing programs were investigated in terms of total process duration. This washing process duration is mainly divided into three diverse washing actions: low-speed rotation, high-speed rotation, and stop time. This investigation was performed to highlight the importance of the washing actions and their percentages in the total washing process. A piece of fabric with a flexible PCB (printed circuit board), equipped with an accelerometer with a Bluetooth communication device and a microcontroller, was placed in the washing machine to analyze the movement of fabric provoked by washing stresses. The PCB was used for fabric movements recording to determine the impact of mechanical stress on e-textile systems during the washing process. From the video analysis, it was concluded that the duration of the low-speed and high-speed rotation actions should be privileged comparing to the duration of the whole washing process. A power spectral density (PSD) analysis based on the accelerometer outputs was realized. Mechanical stresses at different frequencies were identified. Based on this analysis, it could be possible to improve the protocols of mechanical tests (Martindale and pilling box) used to simulate the mechanical stress applied to e-textile systems during the washing process

Washable embroidered textile electrodes for long-term electrocardiography monitoring

The improvement of human health condition is an important objective that remains relevant since the origin of human being. Currently, cardiovascular diseases are the first cause of death worldwide. For this reason, permanent real-time monitoring of heart activity (Electrocardiogram: ECG), its analysis and alerting of concerned person is a solution to decrease the death toll provoked by heart diseases. ECG signal of medical quality is necessary for permanent monitoring and accurate heart examining. It can be obtained from instrumented underwear only if it is equipped with high quality, flexible textile based electrodes guaranteeing low contact resistance between the skin and them. This work is therefore devoted to the design and test of wearable textile embroidered bands following defined protocol for ECG long-term monitoring. These bands were investigated in three configurations: band without any adding layer to protect lines between electrodes and the connector, band with lines protected by simple yarn, band with lines protected with thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). Bands were worn around chest by healthy subjects in a sitting position and ECG signals were acquired by an Arduino-based device and assessed. Washability tests of connected underwear were carried out over 50 washing cycles in a domestic machine and by using a commercial detergent. Influence of encapsulation process on the electrical properties of textile electrodes during repetitive washing process has also been investigated and analyzed. All the ECG signals acquired and recorded have been reviewed by a cardiologist in order to validate their quality required for accurate diagnosis