Protective Textiles & Apparel

The present paper represents a brief review of life saving system in roll- over accidents, while driving on the road by a four wheeler. An Airbag is an automotive safety restraint system for an occupant as well as passengers. The system consists of a flexible fabric envelope or cushion, designed to inflate rapidly during an automobile collision. Its purpose is to cushion occupants during a crash and provide protection to their bodies when they strike interior objects such as the steering wheel or a window etc. Thus it lowers the number of injuries by reducing the force exerted by steering wheel, windows and the dashboard at any point on the body. Continuing research and developments are going on in its module design, combustible material, air bag fabric design and material, coating etc. in making this life saving safety device further efficient. However, success of any safety restraint device depends on its correct implementation and certain safety rules to be followed.

The present paper represents a brief review of life saving system in roll- over accidents, while driving on the road by a four wheeler. An Airbag is an automotive safety restraint system for an occupant as well as passengers. The system consists of a flexible fabric envelope or cushion, designed to inflate rapidly during an automobile collision. Its purpose is to cushion occupants during a crash and provide protection to their bodies when they strike interior objects such as the steering wheel or a window etc. Thus it lowers the number of injuries by reducing the force exerted by steering wheel, windows and the dashboard at any point on the body. Continuing research and developments are going on in its module design, combustible material, air bag fabric design and material, coating etc. in making this life saving safety device further efficient. However, success of any safety restraint device depends on its correct implementation and certain safety rules to be followed.
Key Words: Air bag, Collision, Occupant, Fatal injury, Safety, Passenger

Natural dye extracted from aerial parts of Barleria prionitis and different kinds of textile fabrics dyed with the natural dye were investigated for their antifungal activity. Antifungal activity of natural dye and dyed fabrics was assessed against standard strains of five fungi namely Aspergillus flavus, A. niger, A. parasiticus, Fusarium moniliforme and Penicillium canescens using agar-well diffusion method. The MIC was determined by the broth dilution method. Further, the antifungal potency of dyed fabrics (silk, wool, and cotton) against the test fungi was quantitatively evaluated by the reported method. Different treatment doses of natural dye exhibited a varying degree of antifungal activity against the five test fungi. The highest growth reduction in all the test fungi, however, was recorded with 500 g/ml concentration of natural dye. The antifungal activity at this concentration is found almost at par with the positive control. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MICs) of natural dye against test fungi were ranged within, 22.50-23.50 g/mL. Dyed silk, wool, and cotton fabrics also showed remarkable antifungal efficacy against all the test fungi. Dyed silk fabrics exhibited the maximum growth reduction followed by wool and cotton. The study revealed the remarkable antifungal activity of natural dye from B. prionitis aerial biomass and dyed fabrics. Therefore, B. prionitis can be considered as a potential source of natural dye with functional properties and can be used in the protective finishing of different kinds of textile fabrics.

The book discusses

• The history of the protective armor: The book discusses the art of the protective armor manufacturing, which has a long history that started in ancient Egypt and China civilizations.

• Materials used for body armor: The book looks at the design and materials used for soft armor to increase its perforation-resistance utilizing high-performance fibers. The different fabric structures and fiber type properties are thoroughly outlined.

• Anti-stab and anti-bullet armor design: The different design parameters required for the design of flexible armor in order to stop high-velocity projectiles are discussed.

• The comfort of the body armor design: Protection and comfort are significant aspects for body armor. These take into consideration the flexibility, thermal resistivity, and evaporative moisture resistivity through the fabric.

• Method of testing the flexible body armors: Methods of testing the components of the flexible body armor are considered, according to the level of the protection required, such as NIJ Standards, HOSDB Body Armour Standards for UK Police, German SK1 Standard, among others.


Written by an expert in textile composite material engineering, this volume fills an important gap the area of the protective fabric against stabbing or bullets and provides practical knowledge for body armor design. Protective Armor Engineering Design will be highly valuable for designers of protective armor, professionals in the body armor industries, materials science researchers and students, textile technologists, and others.


Key features:

• Provides the enlightening historical background and developments of body armor
• Discusses the various textile materials for flexible protective armor
• Covers the design principles for armor textiles for stab-resistant and bulletproof protection
• Looks at the new and state-of-the-art materials
• Reviews the methods to test the effectiveness of protective armor

In the last few decades, there is a rising interest in personal health and hygiene textiles with protective properties are becoming an increasingly desirable aim of textile researchers, manufactures, and consumers. In this research modified cotton fabric surface using chitosan and/or alginate biopolymers, as well as titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, and their mixtures to impart vital and protective characteristics. The coated cotton fabrics were undergoing durability evaluation to repeated washing of antibacterial properties against Escherichia coli (E. coli) (Gram negative bacterium) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) (Gram positive bacterium) and the results revealed that excellent reduction% sustained up 30 washes. As well as very good and excellent UV protection category were maintained even after 30 washes. Healing and anti-inflammatory properties showed sustainability up to 10 washes but decreased after 30 washes. Furthermore, application of post-dyeing with reactive dye on the...

In the last few decades, there is a rising interest in personal health and hygiene textiles with protective properties are becoming an increasingly desirable aim of textile researchers, manufactures, and consumers. In this research modified cotton fabric surface using chitosan and/or alginate biopolymers, as well as titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, and their mixtures to impart vital and protective characteristics. The coated cotton fabrics were undergoing durability evaluation to repeated washing of antibacterial properties against Escherichia coli (E. coli) (Gram negative bacterium) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) (Gram positive bacterium) and the results revealed that excellent reduction% sustained up 30 washes. As well as very good and excellent UV protection category were maintained even after 30 washes. Healing and anti-inflammatory properties showed sustainability up to 10 washes but decreased after 30 washes. Furthermore, application of post-dyeing with reactive dye on the coated fabrics was done and the pre-treatment step to assess their dye-ability; showed a significant effect on the color strength (K/S) values. Hence, it could be proposed that the coated cotton fabrics maintained their protective properties as well as suitable for color coloration, which in turn make these finished and dyed cotton fabrics available for different textile and apparel applications.

Increased environmental consciousness coupled with detrimental impacts of synthetic dyes and consumers’ concern over hygiene, cleanliness and protection, the demand for functional textiles has increased in recent years. Antimicrobial finishing imparts protective properties to textiles besides attractive shades. The study was aimed to determine the antifungal activity of colourants from aerial biomass of Perilla frutescens and dyed fabrics against pathogenic fungi infesting textiles materials. Antifungal activity of natural dye extracted from aerial biomass of Perilla frutescens against the selected pathogenic fungi viz., Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Fusarium moniliforme, Fusarium solani, and Penicillium decumbens was evaluated by agar-well diffusion method. The MIC of the natural dye against each of the test fungi was determined by broth dilution method. Dyed silk, wool and cotton fabrics were also evaluated for antifungal activity by standard method. The natural dye showe...

This study explores the behavior of textile fabrics under thermal exposures. The performance of thermal protective textile fabric systems with different structural features was evaluated under laboratory simulated thermal exposures. The study demonstrated that the protective performance of textile fabric systems varies with different types of thermal exposure. To provide effective protection in flame and radiant-heat exposures, the most important fabric properties to address are emissivity, absorptivity and thermal resistance. In hot surface exposures, the compression property of the fabric systems is the primary feature to consider for protection. Hot water and steam exposures produce mass transfer through fabrics. In the presence of water or steam jet pressure, fabric compression is a primary factor in protecting the human body. The findings obtained in this study can be used to engineer fabric systems that provide better protection from various thermal exposures.

Protective garments constitute an important class of technical textiles and they serve for various application areas such as active sports, military, medicine and fire-fighting. One of the most shared properties of protective garments is providing a barrier against water or liquid penetration. Also these garments should exhibit water vapour permeability and protect from wind in order to maintain wearer comfort. These expectations for the protective garments may be provided by waterproof-water vapour permeable coatings.
In this study, polypropylene fabric was coated in order to examine its usability in protective sportswear. Effects of coating polymer type and curing temperature on the specimen permeability properties and abrasion resistances were investigated in order reveal their usability. According to test results, waterproofness of samples did not increase to the desired levels but windproof samples were obtained from coated polypropylene samples. Polyether type polyurethane coated samples gave more preferable and consistent results when compared to polyether type polyurethane coated equivalents after washing. Coating improved the abrasion resistance of all coated samples.

The attention paid to solar protection has dramatically
increased in the last decades as a consequence of
increased awareness of the link between exposure to UV
radiation and skin cancer. Skin tends to be damaged to
a different extent from the UV rays portion of the solar
radiation during any sort of activity carried out outdoor.
When skin is exposed to the sun, melanin production
helps skin cells to minimise their damage [1], a damage
that is cumulative and causes skin ageing. Along with
skin ageing, melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers
have increasingly become a threat closely related to sun
exposure.
Along with sunscreens lotions and other means of
photoprotection, garment can provide protection against
UV radiation and it can be designed to respond to specific
needs of each activity. It is therefore not surprising that
many researchers have become interested in the use of
clothing as an effective means of solar protection, often
focusing on the relationship between fabric components
and protection performances. This interest has allowed
the development of standards that measure the shielding
effect of fabrics (ultraviolet protection factor, UPF) and
increased the amount of research aimed at enhancing
garment’s level of protection.
In this article, the need for photoprotection and the use
of garment as a tool for protection from UV radiation
are presented. An overview of the typical users of this
kind of clothing is given, along with relevant standards
and labelling. The factors that influence photoprotection
performance of fabrics including fibre type, yarn
parameter, fabric structure, effect of colour and other
treatments are discussed. Some of the commercially
available technologies, which preceded more recent
innovations in the field, are also reported. Specific
expectation from these clothing for outdoor athletes and
workers are explained and finally some of the available
commercialised technologies and recent innovations in
academia are discussed.