Smart Textile Classification and Application

Smart textiles is the modification of fibers, fabrics and special articals which is produceing day by day in different way and different techniques. Many intelligent textiles already feature in advanced types of clothing, principally for protection and safety and for added fashion or convenience. Smart materials or textiles can be defined as the materials and structures which have sense or can sense the environmental conditions or stimuli, whereas intelligent textiles can be defined as textile structures which not only can sense but can also react and respond to environmental conditions or stimuli.

 These stimuli as well as response, could be thermal, chemical, mechanical, electric, magnetic or from other source.

Classification of Smart Textiles:

According to functional activity smart textiles can be classified in three categories: ? Passive Smart Textiles: The first generations of smart textiles, which can only sense the environmental conditions or stimulus, are called Passive Smart Textiles. ? Active Smart Textiles: The second generation has both actuators and sensors. The actuators act upon the detected signal either directly or from a central control unit.

Active Smart textiles are shape memory, chameleonic, water-resistant and vapour permeable (hydrophilic/non porous), heat storage, thermo regulated, vapour absorbing, heat evolving fabric and electrically heated suits. ? Ultra Smart Textiles: Very smart textiles are the third generation of smart textiles, which can sense, react and adopt themselves to environmental conditions or stimuli. A very smart or intelligent textile essentially consists of a unit, which works like the brain, with cognition, reasoning and activating capacities.

The production of very smart textiles is now a reality after a successful marriage of traditional textiles and clothing technology with other branches of science like material science, structural mechanics, sensor and actuator technology, advance processing technology, communication, artificial intelligence, biology etc.

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Smart textile in Medicine: Due to astounding technological developments, technical textiles are extensively used in the healthcare industry today.

In the field of medical application, technical textiles are not just used in contact with the skin, but also fulfill important functions within the body (intra-corporal applications like implants). Technical textiles offer medical and hygiene industry with unparalleled protection, comfortable. These highly specialized and bio- compatible technical textiles, used for medical and hygiene applications are called “MEDTECH. ” The characteristics required of MEDTECH vary depending on the task for which they are to be used.

Some applications demand a protective function, others a high absorptive capacity and some other others impermeability. characteristic of these textiles Depending on the nature of application; most of the medical products are disposable in nature and are made of nonwoven fabrics. In global markets disposables are fast replacing non-disposable health care textiles. Some areas of usage are: * Healthcare/ hygiene products- Include bedding, clothing, surgical clothes, products for feminine hygiene like sanitary napkins, baby and adult diapers etc. Non-implantable materials- For wound care that includes absorbent pad (wound contact layer, base material viscose, plastic film) and bandages (simple inelastic/elastic, orthopedic, plasters, gauzes, lint, padding) * Textiles in Extracorporeal devices- Like artificial kidney, liver and lungs. * Implantable materials- Like sutures (biodegradable and non-biodegradable), soft tissue implants, artificial tendon (meshes), artificial ligament, artificial cartilage, orthopedic implants artificial joint, cardiovascular implants vascular grafts, heart valves.

The customers look for aesthetically pleasing interiors, great comfort and fuel economy. Textile components in automobiles consist of either visible component like upholstery, carpets, seat belts, headliners etc. or concealed components like tire cords, hoses, belts, airbags etc. Military: One of the main reasons for the rapid development of Smart textiles is the important investment make by the military industry. This is because they are used in different projects such as extreme winter condition jackets or uniforms that change colour so as to improve camouflage effects.

Nowadays, the military industry has become aware of the advantage of sharing knowledge with the various industrial sectors, because with joint collaboration far better results can be obtained through team-work. Georgia Tech was the pioneering institute for the development of SFIT that integrates electronics. During a project funded by the US Naval Department in 1996, they have developed a “Wearable Motherboard” (GTWM commercial name is Smart shirt) [38-39], which was manufactured for use in combat conditions.

The garment uses optical fibres to detect bullet wounds and special sensors that interconnect in order to monitor vital signs during ombat conditions. Eco Textiles: Environmental threats loom large on almost every nation in the world today. With this threat gaining its stature day by day, Eco Textiles gain utmost importance as one of the most useful resources that help promote new innovations, in an eco-friendly manner. OEKTECH is the term used for technical textiles that are used for environmental protection. It stands for new ideas and interesting concepts in the area of environmental protection, waste disposal (including innovative filtration media) and new recycling technologies.

Sacks and bags made of traditional jute, cotton or natural fiber are gradually casting way for modern synthetic fibers. These technical textiles, used in packaging and subsequent transportation are called “PACKTECH. ” It is well known that these fabrics are ideal for many kinds of packaging. At one end, PACKTECH includes heavyweight, dense woven fabrics (used for bags, sacks, flexible intermediate bulk carriers and wrappings for textile bales and carpets) and on the other end, it includes lightweight non woven’s used as durable papers, tea bags and other food and industrial product wrappings.

The light weight and safety features of Sport tech have become important in their substitution for other materials. These high-functional and smart textiles are increasingly adding value to the sports and leisure industry by combining utilitarian functions with wearing comfort that leads to achieving high level of performance. A few areas where these textiles are being increasingly used are- Material technology and design, of equipment, Biomechanics and the engineering aspects of sports machinery, Surface treatment of equipment, Sportswear, Sports footwear, Artificial turfs, sleeping bags, ballooning and parachute fabrics.

Solar sale Applicable textile: The main application of solar cells in textile is the electric alimentation of integrated electronic devices, e-textile. The alimentation could be made directly from the solar cell to the devices but the majority of encountered solutions are using of solar for charging batteries that could deliver energy to the appropriate device. Example: recharging mobile phone, Mp3 player etc. . Uses of solar cells on textile substrate Modern Computing:

In our society communication tools, interactivity and portable devices are one of the largest sources of innovation and represent a tremendous market. The integration of portable electronics devices in textiles appeared as a natural market. The first innovation was a keyboard made in a single layer of fabric using capacitive sensing, where an array of embroidered or silk-screened electrodes make up the points of contact. A finger’s contact with an electrode can be sensed by measuring the increase in the electrode’s total capacitance.

It is worth noting that this can be done with a single bidirectional digital I/O pin per electrode, and a leakage resistor sewn in highly resistive yarn. Capacitive sensing arrays can also be used to tell how well a piece of clothing fits the wearer, because the signal varies with pressure. Several versions of capacitive or flexible keyboards in textile materials Conductive materials: There are two strategies to create electrical or thermal conductive fabrics and two types of materials, the metals and the polymers.

The same materials could be used for the both conductivity (thermal and electric), because the two processes are similar and results of an electronic agitation/conduction. The first strategy uses high wicking finishes (ink) with a high metallic content that still retains the comfort required for clothing. With the addition of nickel, copper, silver or carbon coatings of varying thickness, these finishes provide a versatile combination of physical and electrical properties for a variety of demanding applications.

Examples of conductive inks used in textiles The second strategy consists in the direct use of conductive yarns. The yarn could constitute metal such as silver, copper, etc. or conductive polymer such as polythiophene, polyaniline, and their derivatives although there are many different trademarks commercialising these materials, they all have the same main properties. Examples of conductive yarn used in textiles Conclusions A few years ago, smart textiles were presented as imaginary products and as a non competitive market.

After scientific efforts and development phases, nowadays SFIT are an implanted customer interest and are presented as the future of the textile industry. A lot of commercial products are available and, as it was presented during this document; a lot of scientist is developing new solutions, ideas and concrete products. Some approximations announce a market of 1 billion dollars by 2010 which certainly explains the current passion for these news topics.