Khubab Shaker

Hydrophobic treatment of natural fibers and their composites—A review:

There is a growing interest in the development of natural fiber-reinforced composites, most likely due to their wide availability, low cost, environment friendliness, and sustainability. The market size for natural fiber-reinforced composites is projected to reach

Effect of woven fabric structure on the air permeability and moisture management properties

5.83 billion by 2019, with a compound annual growth rate of 12.3%. The composite materials reinforced with wood, cotton, jute, flax or other natural fibers fall under this category. Meanwhile, some major factors limiting the large scale production of natural fiber composites include the tendency of natural fiber to absorb water, degradation by microorganisms and sunlight and ultimately low strength and service life. This paper has focused to review the different natural fiber treatments used to reduce the moisture absorption and fiber degradation. The effect of these treatments on the mechanical properties of these composites has also been summarized.

Development of seersucker fabrics using single warp beam and modelling of their stretch-recovery behaviour

In this study, six different woven samples were produced on air jet loom with two different weave designs (i.e. 3/1 twill and 1/1 plain), three different picking sequences (i.e. single pick insertion (SPI), double pick insertion (DPI) and three pick insertion (3PI)). All the woven samples were singed, desized, bleached and finished together at industrial scale, as a single lot. The effect of these factors on the wetting, wicking and air permeability (AP) of the fabric samples was analysed. It was revealed that the fabric weave design and picking sequence has statistically significant effect on fabric wetting time, water spreading speed and AP of the fabric. It was found that fabrics woven in twill weave design and with simultaneous 3PI give significantly better AP, shorter wetting time and better water spreading rate as compared to plain woven fabrics and those with double or SPI. It could be concluded that the thermophysiological comfort of woven fabrics may be significantly improved simply by selecting a suitable weave design and picking sequence.

Bioactive woven flax- based composites: Development and characterisation

Seersucker is a thin and puckered fabric used to make clothing for spring. Due to its specific structure, this fabric is held away from the skin when worn, facilitating heat dissipation and air circulation. Seersucker is produced by slack tension weaving using two warp beams. Due to the use of two beams, such fabrics were not possible to weave on conventional (with single warp beam) weaving machines. Additional twin beams arrangement was required for such weaving. The objective of the current study is to produce seersucker fabric on conventional looms using a single warp beam. For achieving this objective, two types of weft yarn: 100% cotton yarns and blended yarns of cotton and elastane (95.67% cotton and 4.33% Lycra) are used in groups. The viscoelastic behaviour of the produced fabric samples is tested using ASTM standard D3107-07. Instant deformation, elastic recovery, creep and relaxation were recorded and plotted as function of Lycra % age.

Development and characterization of three-dimensional woven-shaped preforms and their associated composites

The natural fibre composites are potential alternative of glass fibre composites for structural applications, automobile and furniture industry, but these are susceptible to the bacterial attack. The current study aims to investigate the bio-functionality of composites using flax woven fabric reinforcement along with ZnO nanoparticles. The ZnO nanoparticles were synthesised by sol–gel method and added in different fractions to unsaturated polyester resin before impregnation of reinforcement. The composites were fabricated by vacuum bag moulding technique, and bioactivity was tested in terms of antibacterial activity (zone of inhibition). The ZnO nanoparticles imparted bioactivity to the composites even in the lowest amount (0.02% by weight). These bioactive composites will help to lower the risk for fibre degradation and enhance the service life of composite, by restricting the growth of bacteria.

Impact of hydrophobic treatment of jute on moisture regain and mechanical properties of composite material

Three-dimensional multilayer woven preforms are mostly used in high-performance composite applications due to their better in-plane and out-of-plane mechanical properties. The present study aims to produce and characterize multilayer flax yarn-based three-dimensional-shaped preforms and their corresponding composites. The T- and H-shaped three-dimensional woven preforms were prepared on conventional dobby loom using two types of weaving pattern, i.e., layer-to-layer orthogonal and through thickness orthogonal. Composites were fabricated using open mould technique. Peel strength of T- and H-shaped structures was investigated and compared with laminated structures. Mechanical properties of layer-to-layer-interlocked structures in T and H shapes were found better than TT and laminated structure, both for reinforcement and composite.

Prediction of warp and weft yarn crimp in cotton woven fabrics

This study was aimed to investigate the effect of fluorocarbon, hydrocarbon, and hybrid fluorocarbon on the mechanical properties and moisture regain of jute fiber reinforced composite materials. A significant difference in moisture regain values of treated and untreated reinforcement samples was observed, when the concentration of chemical finish (hybrid fluorocarbs) was 40 g/L. The composite made from treated reinforcement regained very low moisture content as well as exhibited improved mechanical properties (tensile and flexural strength). Having both characteristics (hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups) in hybrid fluorocarbon, the treated jute fibers and corresponding composites showed better properties as compared to counterparts treated by other two chemicals, due to better interface.

A Statistical Approach for Obtaining the Controlled Woven Fabric Width

The aim of this study was to develop statistical models for the prediction of warp and weft crimp percentage of cotton woven fabrics. The developed models are based on the empirical data obtained from carefully developed 60 fabric samples with different yarn linear densities, fabric densities, and weave designs. The predictability and accuracy of the developed models was assessed by correlation analysis of the predicted and actual crimp values of another set of eight fabric samples which was not used for the development of models. The results show fairly good capability and accuracy of the prediction models.

Optimizing the performance of woven protective gloves using grey relational analysis

Abstract A common problem faced in fabric manufacturing is the production of inconsistent fabric width on shuttleless looms in spite of the same fabric specifications. Weft-wise crimp controls the fabric width and it depends on a number of factors, including warp tension, temple type, fabric take-up pressing tension and loom working width. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of these parameters on the fabric width produced. Taguchi’s orthogonal design was used to optimise the weaving parameters for obtaining controlled fabric width. On the basis of signal to noise ratios, it could be concluded that controlled fabric width could be produced using medium temple type and intense take-up pressing tension at relatively lower warp tension and smaller loom working width. The analysis of variance revealed that temple needle size was the most significant factor affecting the fabric width, followed by loom working width and warp tension, whereas take-up pressing tension was least significant of all the factors investigated in the study.

Investigating the effect of material and weave design on comfort properties of bilayer-woven fabrics

Abstract This study investigates the performance level of different protective gloves produced from woven fabrics, and optimizing their performance using grey relational analysis (GRA). The fabric areal density and poly vinyl chloride (PVC) dotting were the variables used to produce nine different glove samples. The performance of developed gloves was evaluated in terms of abrasion resistance, blade cut resistance, puncture resistance and tear strength. It was concluded that cut and puncture resistance are not affected by dotting type or increase in areal density (GSM). Tear resistance is improved by increasing GSM of the fabric, while abrasion resistance increases with increase in the diameter of dot. The grey relational analysis was performed to optimize the performance of gloves. It was found that the glove produced with 559 GSM fabric and 35 dots/inch2 offered best performance against all responses.