Fabric Thickness Research Articles

Minimizing thickness variation in monolithic U-10Mo fuel foil and Zr interlayer during hot rolling: A microstructure-based finite element method analysis

Low-enriched uranium alloyed with 10 wt. % molybdenum (U-10Mo) has been identified as a promising alternative to highly enriched uranium fuel for the United States’ high performance research reactors. The monolithic U-10Mo fuel plate consists of a metallic U-10Mo fuel foil with a 25 µm Zr interlayer and a relatively thick cladding of aluminum alloy 6061. The Zr interlayer is typically applied during the hot co-rolling process, and this process dictates the uniformity of the Zr interlayer. Thickness variation observed in the U-10Mo and Zr interlayer has been attributed to several sources: the initial grain size of the U-10Mo castings, can materials, rolling temperature, inhomogeneous molybdenum content, and porosity in the cast U-10Mo. This thickness variation limits the ability to meet the dimensional specification; thus, a better understanding of the factors causing the nonuniform thickness is needed. In this work, we used a novel, microstructure-based finite element method to model the hot rolling process to address these concerns. Grain microstructures in U-10Mo were tessellated and explicitly considered in the finite element model. Each grain was assigned a random material property to mimic the grain strength variations induced by different grain orientations. Simulations were performed using six steel can thicknesses, four grain sizes, and with or without a Zr interlayer to investigate the influences of those variables on the thickness nonuniformity. The simulation results showed that a thinner steel can and finer U-10Mo grain size reduce thickness variations in both the U-10Mo fuel foil and Zr interlayer. The direct findings from the simulations and analysis can be used to optimize the hot rolling schedule, reduce fabrication defects, and meet the dimensional specifications. The proposed microstructure-based finite element model can be also coupled with experimental microstructure characterization data, images, and models to simulate multi-pass hot rolling.

Ambient refractive index sensitivity of long-period fiber grating (LPFG) with reduced cladding thickness using three-layer fiber geometry approach

Abstract This article presents the refractive index (RI) sensitivity study of cladding reduced uniform long-period fiber grating. The displacement of resonant wavelength with the change in ambient RI is observed to inspect the sensitivity. Here, the grating period is fixed at a value (550 μm) to analyze RI sensitivity of cladding modes (HE13-HE14). However, it varies in earlier mathematical studies to adjust the resonant wavelength of all modes at a specific wavelength. The three-layer fiber geometry-based mathematical approach is employed to estimate the core and cladding modes. The obtained results support decline in quantity of cladding modes sustained by a single-mode fiber. The decrease in cladding radius has shown enhancement in RI sensitivity. For a reduction of 22 μm in cladding radius, the highest ordered HE14 cladding mode has shown 5.8 times improvement in its sensitivity.

Microstructure, phase composition and hardness of Ti–Au cladding deposited on Ti–6Al–4V substrate by electron beam powder bed fusion method

In this study, a Ti–Au cladding was deposited on a substrate from the Ti–6Al–4V alloy by the electron beam powder bed fusion method in a vacuum. The main goal was to assess the possibility of using titanium powders and gold foils as a feedstock for additive manufacturing of such dental products. The microstructure, chemical element distributions, phase composition and hardness of the formed Ti–Au alloy were studied using optical microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, as well as X-ray diffraction and nanoindentation tests. Gold-containing intermetallic compounds were observed through the entire cladding thickness. The α-Ti, α-Au, AuTi and AuTi3 phases were found, in addition to the Ti3Au one, which provided hardness values greater than those of conventional titanium alloys. It was shown by results of the crystal-geometric and X-ray phase analysis that the AuTi3 phase possessed the most densely packed A15 structure. This fact correlated with the obtained data on the deviation of the atomic volume per ion from Zen's law and the high hardness levels. Metallurgical patterns of the microstructure formation that affected the functional properties of such claddings were discussed and a further research direction was proposed.

Comparative Moisture Management Studies of Single Jersey Knitted Soya Bean Fabrics

ABSTRACT In recent times, due to increased environmental awareness, the usage of sustainable, eco-friendly textile products has gained momentum. In this respect, the Soya bean protein fiber (SPF) based fabric structure is considered a potential product. Single Jersey and Single Pique knitted structures were developed by changing the yarn count and loop length using Soya bean fiber for next-to-skin applications. Multidimensional moisture management properties were measured using MTT tester to understand the influence of process parameters (fabric structure yarn count and loop length). Further to this, physical properties and wetness comfort properties of the SPF knitted fabrics were also studied. It was found that the OMMC properties of most of the SPF knitted samples were highly rated. The influence of knit structure, yarn count, and loop length on moisture properties was studied through ANOVA. Similarly, the correlation between the physical parameters and moisture properties was also investigated. The Single Pique structure with finer yarn count and higher loop length configuration showed higher moisture management properties. The fabric thickness was correlated with all the moisture management properties. However, the fabric tightness factor was correlated with all the moisture management properties except MWR and AOTI.

Designing a Mathematical Model to Determine the Heat Protective Performance of Special Clothing for High-Temperature Operation

This paper designs a mathematical model to determine the heat protective performance of special clothing for high-temperature operation. This is an important protective measure for high-temperature operation. Based on the known material parameters of special clothing, experimental data are obtained by simulating the actual situation and fitted with MATLAB software. A mathematical model to determine the heat protective performance of special clothing for high-temperature operation is established, which solves the issue of determining the optimal thickness of special clothing for high-temperature operation in certain conditions.

Building Rules of Some Influential Technological Factors on Sewing Time for Products from Knitted Fabrics

This paper presents the results of research on building empirical regression equations showing the law of simultaneous influence of the group of technology factors on the upper sewing time when sewing polo shirt and t-shirt products from single jersey at Star Hanoi Fashion Co., Ltd. The studies on the factors affecting time on the sewing machine include the length line (cm) and the stitch density (stitch/cm), the experiment on 04 devices, and 03 patterns of knitted fabric different thickness single woven tops. Thereby showing the difference in sewing time value on 04 sewings, corresponding to specific values of 2 research variables, which are stitch density and seam length when sewing on single fabric with 03 different thicknesses for polo shirt and t-shirt.

Pulse Compressor based on Tunable Etched PM-MZI underwater Communication System

Underwater Optical Communication System (UOWC) has been used nowadays in modern optical communication systems. It has many militaries, industry, and scientific community applications. A compressed laser source was obtained in this experiment after using a pulse duration of 9 ns, peak power of 1.2297 mW, full width half maximum (FWHM) 286 pm, and a wavelength of 1546.7 nm. This work used three designs Single, cascaded, and nested, designed based on polarization-maintaining Mach-Zander interferometer (PM-MZI) this fiber etched. All three designs are tested in two different ways. The first structure consists of three variable lengths of (PMF) (8, 16, and 24) cm with etching 30 min. The Second structure has three constants of (PMF) 10 cm lengths with different etching times (10, 20, and 30) min correspond to (112.3, 86.7, 72.8) μm cladding diameter respectively. Four samples of water (seawater, shallow water, coastal water, distilled water) are regarded. This paper studies the effect of the four water samples placed on the fibers used in two structures within different three designs. The results obtained were single fiber, the compression factor FC = 1.1 when the PMF length is 24 cm and thickness cladding is 72.8 μm under shallow water. The peak power is (0.11) PW, the central wavelength is 1546.427 nm, and FWHM is 256 pm. while the cascaded shows FC = (1.5) in distilled water with variable fiber lengths. Finally, in design nested, FC is (1.2) in shallow water with constant fiber lengths.

Effect of pattern on air permeability, mechanical resistance and thickness of wovens

This study examines the effect of different patterns on aesthetic properties, air permeability characteristics and mechanical performance of woven fabrics constructed with 100% cotton ring spun yarns. Weaving process were proceeded by using 28/2 Ne combed warp and 32/2 Ne carded weft yarns with identical manufacturing parameters. Fabrics with 5 dissimilar patterns were obtained and 5 measurements were done for each pattern type. Average yarn floats, crimp percentage and yarn settings were calculated and fabric thickness, abrasion resistance, air permeability and bi-directionally tensile strengths of these fabrics were tested. Test results showed that increasing the numbers of floating yarns made fabric more air-permeable but less resistant against to applied mechanical forces. Besides, it caused to increase in fabric thickness. All test results were statistically evaluated by ANOVA and Duncan comparison tests and it was seen that the effect of weave pattern was at significance level of p

Comfort evaluation of ZnO coated fabrics by artificial neural network assisted with golden eagle optimizer model

This paper introduces a novel technique to evaluate comfort properties of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) coated woven fabrics. The proposed technique combines artificial neural network (ANN) and golden eagle optimizer (GEO) to ameliorate the training process of ANN. Neural networks are state-of-the-art machine learning models used for optimal state prediction of complex problems. Recent studies showed that the use of metaheuristic algorithms improve the prediction accuracy of ANN. GEO is the most advanced methaheurstic algorithm inspired by golden eagles and their intelligence for hunting by tuning their speed according to spiral trajectory. From application point of view, this study is a very first attempt where GEO is applied along with ANN to improve the training process of ANN for any textiles and composites application. Furthermore, the proposed algorithm ANN with GEO (ANN-GEO) was applied to map out the complex input-output conditions for optimal results. Coated amount of ZnO NPs, fabric mass and fabric thickness were selected as input variables and comfort properties were evaluated as output results. The obtained results reveal that ANN-GEO model provides high performance accuracy than standard ANN model, ANN models trained with latest metaheuristic algorithms including particle swarm optimizer and crow search optimizer, and conventional multiple linear regression.

Investigation of the performance of okra fiber in woven fabric

There has been an increase interest in natural plant fibers over the last decades with the intension to identify the ecologically acceptable alternatives to reduce the dependency on synthetic fibers. Naturally extracted okra fiber (Abelmoschus esculentus) was used in this study. Since okra is a stiff fiber, yarns with 100% Okra fiber was not possible to produce and tried to blend with polyester. The maximal ratio of okra was 20% with polyester to spin yarns in traditional ring spinning system. This study explores, for the first time, the possibility of manufacturing woven fabric with polyester-okra (80/20) yarns at weft direction with 100% cotton yarn at warp direction in order to prominent blend effect at weft direction. The properties of produced fabrics were compared with the same produced widely-used polyester-linen (PL) (80/20) counterpart. The both PO and PL woven fabrics were characterized in terms of fabric weight, thickness, abrasion, pilling, fuzzing, air permeability, tensile strength and tear strength. In addition, the morphological aspects of the fiber alignment in the woven fabric structure were observed using optical microscopic images. The performance of PO woven fabric was in acceptable ranges and can be considered as a sustainable blended woven fabric to meet the actual demand in the textile weaving industries.

Study on thermo-optic Mech-Zehnder switches with buried heater by image charge method

In this paper, the analytical solution for temperature change and switching power of the thermo-optic switches with buried heater is achieved by Image Charge Method, and the influence of different structure parameters on the switching power, such as the offset distance away from the heater to the cladding oxide layer surface, the heater width and length, the thickness of cladding and buried oxide layer is studied in detail. Results show that the analytical solution of Image Charge Method is a convenient way of less computational time-consuming to solve temperature field of thermo-optic switches with buried heater, meanwhile, higher heat efficiency and lower switching power can be obtained with narrower, buried heater of the thermo-optic switches, which may provide guides in thermo-optic switches’ designs and their applications.

Silicon Thermo-Optic Switches with Graphene Heaters Operating at Mid-Infrared Waveband.

The mid-infrared (MIR, 2–20 μm) waveband is of great interest for integrated photonics in many applications such as on-chip spectroscopic chemical sensing, and optical communication. Thermo-optic switches are essential to large-scale integrated photonic circuits at MIR wavebands. However, current technologies require a thick cladding layer, high driving voltages or may introduce high losses in MIR wavelengths, limiting the performance. This paper has demonstrated thermo-optic (TO) switches operating at 2 μm by integrating graphene onto silicon-on-insulator (SOI) structures. The remarkable thermal and optical properties of graphene make it an excellent heater material platform. The lower loss of graphene at MIR wavelength can reduce the required cladding thickness for the thermo-optics phase shifter from micrometers to tens of nanometers, resulting in a lower driving voltage and power consumption. The modulation efficiency of the microring resonator (MRR) switch was 0.11 nm/mW. The power consumption for 8-dB extinction ratio was 5.18 mW (0.8 V modulation voltage), and the rise/fall time was 3.72/3.96 μs. Furthermore, we demonstrated a 2 × 2 Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) TO switch with a high extinction ratio of more than 27 dB and a switching rise/fall time of 4.92/4.97 μs. A comprehensive analysis of the device performance affected by the device structure and the graphene Fermi level was also performed. The theoretical figure of merit (2.644 mW−1μs−1) of graphene heaters is three orders of magnitude higher than that of metal heaters. Such results indicate graphene is an exceptional nanomaterial for future MIR optical interconnects.

Dynamic air permeability model of parachute fabrics and material parameters sensitivity analysis

To explore the effect of material parameters on dynamic air permeability of parachute fabrics, the relative porosity model was obtained by considering the yarns stretching in length and shrinking in cross-section under the transient pressure differential. A parachute fabric dynamic air permeability model with fabric material parameters was established based on the Ergun equation. The results showed that the new model is more accurate and is applicable of higher pressure differential compared with other traditional methods. On this basis, the sensitivity analysis of the effect of the fabric structural parameters and mechanical parameters on dynamic air permeability was conducted. The results showed that: (1) the dynamic air permeability decreases with increasing fabric thickness and fabric Young’s modulus, and increases with increasing fabric test area and fabric Poisson's ratio, and (2) the dynamic air permeability is more sensitive to the fabric thickness and is less sensitive to the fabric tested area, The dynamic air permeability is significantly affected by fabric Young’s modulus, but slightly affected by fabric Poisson's ratio.

Comfort related woven fabric transmission properties made of cotton and nylon

The interaction of water and air i.e. moisture regain, water vapor transmission, wicking and air permeability with woven textiles are tested to investigate the comfort of woven fabrics made of nylon, cotton, and cotton–nylon mixtures with different yarn counts. The fabrics porosity (based on equation 1 and 2), woven fabric sett (ASTM D3775-03), fabric thickness (ASTM D1777-96), fabric weight (ASTM D3776M - 20), fabric vapour transmission (ASTM E96-00), transfer wicking, and longitudinal wicking (DIN 53924), moisture regain (ASTM D2495-07), and air permeability (ASTM D737) were examined for investigations based on the standards in the brackets. The experimental results showed that fabric transfer wicking, longitudinal wicking, moisture regain and air permeability properties increase as the yarn goes to coarser for all woven fabric samples but the water vapor transmission property decrease. Additionally, fabric transfer and longitudinal wicking capabilities improved with increased nylon fiber blend ratios within fiber conformation. However, the nylon fiber composition has negative impact on air permeability, water vapor transfer rate, wicking and moisture capabilities of the woven fabrics. Generally, it can be concluded that the existence of nylon fiber, and yarn count coarseness improved wicking properties of the woven fabrics and decreased the air permeability property of woven fabrics.

Textile-based directionally antagonistic sound absorber with double gradient structure

In the structural design of sound-absorbing materials, how to combine the merits of porous materials with acoustic functional fillers with special structures to improve the sound-absorbing performance of porous materials at low-medium frequencies is a challenging problem. Herein, a directionally antagonistic acoustic textile is proposed as a sound absorber fabricated via single-sided coating. It is found that the sound absorber presents a double gradient structure by controlling the distribution of filler on the porous material frame. Considering the incident plane of acoustic waves, two different paths are defined, namely A–B and B–A (A, coated side; B, uncoated side), under which the sound absorber shows remarkable anisotropic sound absorption. The peak frequency is from 5559 Hz of bare fabric to 3455 Hz of the A–B NWIII (coated nonwoven when sound waves propagate along A–B) sound absorber, showing a significant tendency to move to the lower frequencies. The peak value of sound absorption coefficient of the A–B NWIII is 0.94, indicating a high sound absorptivity. In addition, by adjusting the acoustic functional filler and weaving structure and thickness of the base fabric, the sound absorber exhibits the expected anisotropic sound absorption. The novel sound absorber can be fit for lightweight sound-absorbing applications because of the characteristics of light, soft, high efficiency and broadband sound absorption.

Intermingling pressure level effect on micro polyester melange knitted fabric properties

This study aims at investigating the effects of intermingling pressure level on properties of melange fabrics made of multifilament micro polyester yarns. For this purpose, unit weight, thickness, moisture management, transfer and surface properties of fabrics have been measured, and fabric porosity is analysed by image analysis methods. In addition, image analysis techniques are also used to determine the effect of intermingling pressure level on the visual properties of melange fabrics. Results show that the intermingling pressure level has statistically significant effects on the unit weight, fabric thickness, air permeability, fabric porosity and fabric’s visual properties.

Magnetic Field Sensing Based on Whispering Gallery Mode with Nanostructured Magnetic Fluid-Infiltrated Photonic Crystal Fiber.

A kind of novel and compact magnetic field sensor has been proposed and investigated experimentally. The proposed sensor consists of a tapered single mode fiber coupled with a nanostructured magnetic fluid-infiltrated photonic crystal fiber, which is easy to be fabricated. The response of magnetic fluid to magnetic field is used to measure the intensity of magnetic field via whispering gallery mode. The magnetic field-dependent shift in resonance wavelength is observed. The maximum magnetic field intensity sensitivity is 53 pm/mT. The sensor sensitivity is inversely proportional to the thickness of the photonic crystal fiber cladding.

Effect of compressional behaviour and sewing machine foot pressure on sewing thread consumption

Effect of compressibility and foot pressure on the consumption behaviour of sewing threads in case of single and double-layered denim fabrics has been investigated. Experiments involve fabric thickness of three different denim samples (cotton, and 90/8.5/1.5% & 92/6.5/1.5% cotton/polyester/elastane) and their compression properties measurement using Kawabata device. A relationship between compressional energy and consumed sewing thread values using lock stitch type 301 has been investigated. Based on this, accuracy of the coefficient of regression (close to 1) has been observed, indicating the positive relationship between compressibility property and sewing thread consumption behaviour. Implementation of software can help the industries to minimize their consumption errors and approximations. Nevertheless, under the same pressure value applied by the foot pressure, the thickness values of sewed layers can decrease differently as a function of their compressional resilience. Thus, it is obvious that thicker fabrics display lower compressional resilience and vice versa, which encourages more consumption of sewing thread.

Sustainable Production and Performance Analysis of Cotton Melange Fabrics

ABSTRACT Sustainability issues are gaining momentum in the apparel and textile industries. The use of sustainable raw material, process and recycling are basic approaches for developing the sustainable manufacturing and products of textile. In this study, sustainable fabrics that can fulfil the environmental, economic, and social responsibilities are developed and performances are assessed. Organic cotton fiber, Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) approved dyes, and RO treated recycled water are used to manufacture different quality sustainable melange yarns and fabrics. Apart from the novelty in the raw material and manufacturing, Box Behnken experimental design was also incorporated for three factors such as fineness of fiber, noil extraction%, and shade depth%. The use of recycled water and biodegradable raw materials leads to environmental and ecological advantages. In terms of technical performance, fineness, and noil extraction have a significant impact on dimensional, mechanical, and physical properties such as stitch density, areal density, thickness, porosity, bursting strength and abrasion resistance of cotton melange knitted fabrics. Shade depth also considerably affects all the above properties of fabrics except thickness, density, and porosity. Higher areal density, lower thickness, and lower porosity of cotton melange fabric with the high extraction of noil and low value of fiber fineness are found.

EFFECT OF MECHANICAL CRIMP OF JUTE FIBRE ON THE THERMAL PROPERTIES OF WOVEN FABRICS

The aim of this paper is to find the effect of mechanical crimp of jute fibre on the thermal properties of woven jute fabrics. In this study, crimp box and gear crimping method were used to impart mechanical crimp into jute sliver. Crimps were divulged to enhance the cohesion between fibres that make it suitable for spinning. Jute yarns were produced by inserting a different number of crimps and woven fabrics were produced by using these yarns. Fabric thickness, porosity, air permeability and thermal conductivity tests were done according to standard method and found that fabric porosity, air permeability and thermal conductivity of the fabric decreased and fabric thickness increased with the increased number of crimps and fabrics from gear crimping method showed better effect than that of crimp box method. The study on jute woven fabric will provide quantitative experimental data for potential applications with advantages of lightweight, cost-effective, easy to manufacture, biodegradable and excellent mechanical properties.