Effect of oxygen plasma on woollen fabric properties

229-231Woollen fabric was subjected to oxygen plasma treatment separately at 50W and 100W power and low pressure using glow discharge. The treated samples were tested for shrinkage, weight loss and wicking and dyed with Nylomine Acid Red B-5B. The colour fastness and perspiration tests were also carried out. The plasma-treated samples exhibited excellent wicking properties and significantly reduced shrinkage. The sample treated at higher power settings showed more weight loss. The dyed samples showed satisfactory fastness properties

Development of closely woven breathable linen fabric for water storage applications

335-339Dry-spun linen yarn was used to develop linen canvas water holding bags. Four varieties of linen -based canvas fabrics were developed using fabric engineering concept in different constructional parameters and weaves. It was observed that the fabric woven in oxford weave with twist level varying from 16 turns/dm to 18 turn s/dm exhibited superior performance in terms of waterproofness, water vapour permeability and water retaining capability. The study also showed the importance of fabric engineering concept to achieve optimum level of functional requirements.</span

Studies on combined flame-retardant and water-repellent treatments on cotton drill fabric

197-207Bleached cotton drill fabric was treated with phosphorus-based flame retardant followed by water and oil repellents to achieve flame-retardant, water-repellent and oil-repellent properties for critical applications such as nuclear biological chemical protective suits. The results indicate that by an effective combination of above finishing agents, satisfactory performance could be achieved, although it is very difficult to understand the nature of reaction that takes place between a phosphorus-based flame retardant and the fluorocarbon-based water repellant. The treated fabrics were evaluated for flammability, water repellency and oil repellency. The effect of different add-on levels on important physical propert ies was also studied. The flame-retardant behaviour was persued through thermal studies. The flame- retardant and water-repellent treated fabric with a total add-on level of 17.7% gave satisfactory results in terms of functional and physical properties.</span

Influence of wool-synthetic fibre blends on thermal insulation

287-295Five different types of wool fibre blended blankets and four different types of knitted undergarments have been prepared and their thermal insulation evaluated by Thermolobo technique using dry and wet methods. It is observed that the optimum thermal insulation can be achieved in wool-acrylic blends, both in woven and knitted constructions. A comparison of woven and knitted constructions shows that the knitted clothings offer better advantages because of the more entrapped air. Data have been statistically analyzed to relate the observed performance to the operative mechanisms of thermal transport

Studies on the composites produced from co-weaved poly ether ether ketone and glass fiber fabric

The extruded poly ether ether ketone (PEEK) and glass fiber yarns were used to obtain the co-weaved hybrid fiber fabrics. Compression molding technique was employed to obtain the glass-PEEK composites from the hybrid fiber fabric. Composites having different thickness values of 3.3, 3.6, and 4.5mm have been fabricated by varying the number of layers (15, 17, and 20 layers) of co-weaved fabrics. The mechanical properties such as flexural strength and inter laminar shear strength as a function of number of layers of fabric have been evaluated. Low-velocity (2.1 m/s) repeated drop weight impact tests were carried out on the fabricated composites at 5 and 10 J incident energy. The number of drops to failure was observed to be more in 5 J compared to 10 J incident energy. Effects of frequency on the viscoelastic behavior were investigated using dynamic mechanical analyzer by sweeping at different frequency and temperature ranges. Master curves were generated by time-temperature superposition of the experimenta

Flammability evaluation of cotton fabrics in vertical and horizontal burning modes

396-401<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;font-family:Fd579630-Identity-H;mso-bidi-font-family:Fd579630-Identity-H">The burning behaviour of cotton fabrics has been evaluated using the horizontal and vertical modes of burning. The performance of fabrics has been studied in terms of rate of burning and temperature of burning fabric by placing the thermocouples at a distance of 0, 0.5 and 1.0 cm from the burning fabric. The results show that the weight of fabric affects the rate of burning and the temperature of burning fabric. The rate of burning is found to decrease, whereas flame temperature increases with the increase in mass of fabric. The rate of burning is found to be independent of spacing both in horizontal and vertical modes o f burning. </span