Technical textiles are materials and products that are designed primarily for their technical and performance attributes rather than their aesthetic or decorative qualities.
Construction, transportation, agriculture, medical, hygiene, and sporting industries all use technical textiles in various ways. Technical textiles are used in industrial manufacturing for filters, machine clothes, conveyor belts, and abrasive substrates. Electrical components and cables, flexible seals and diaphragms, and acoustic and thermal insulation for other household items are all made with them.
It is a significant and developing industry that supports a wide range of others. Technical textiles expand at a pace of roughly 4% per year, which is faster than home and clothing textiles, which grow at 1% per year. Filters, clothes, furniture, hygiene, medicinal, and construction goods are among the most common uses of technical textile materials today.
Technical Textiles’ Potential
Woven, knitted, braided, nonwoven, and wound yarn reinforcements manufactured from glass, carbon fibre, and organic polymer materials such as aramids are increasingly generally recognised as technical textile products in the composites sector. More loosely structured reinforcing elements, such as chopped strand mats, milled glass, and pulped organic fibres, on the other hand, are frequently eliminated. The nonwovens sector arose from a variety of technological paths, including paper manufacture. The present definition of a nonwoven, for example, as defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard ISO 90923, recognises a number of borderline regions, including as wet-laid goods and extruded meshes and nets. Similarly, distinctions between textile fibres and filaments, split or fibrillated films, monofilaments, and extruded polymers are unavoidably reduced to arbitrary and artificial criteria. Regardless of the technology used or the end-uses served, the defining attribute is frequently diameter or width. Many of the definitions and categories found in existing industry data are based on historical divisions of the major manufacturing sectors, rather than a functional or market-based assessment of the products in question.
Types Of Technical Textiles
Depending on its intended function, technical textiles can be classified into a variety of categories. The following sections go through each of tech textile’s 12 application categories.
The following are the most common uses for technical textiles:
- Transportation, primarily in the manufacture of automobiles and aeroplanes, as well as their interiors, for tyres, seat belts, and airbags, among other things.
- Chemical, electrical, and textile applications relating to mechanical engineering; industrial items and components used directly in processes or incorporated into products.
- Bandages and sutures are typically made of medical textiles (sewing up wounds). Because of the interaction with organic fluids, not all textile fibres can be employed in this industry.
- Home textiles, which include things like interior design and furnishings, carpeting, sun protection, pillow materials, fire retardants, floor and wall coverings, and so on.
- Technical textiles for clothing applications, particularly in the finishing process, where the textile is treated under high pressure and temperature.
- For crop protection, fertilisation, and other purposes agriculture, horticulture, and fishing textiles are used. Strength, elongation, stiffness, biodegradability, UV resistance, and toxic environment resistance are all essential qualities.
- Construction textiles are employed as concrete reinforcement, interior construction, insulation, waterproofing materials, air conditioning, noise reduction, visual protection, sun protection, and building safety.
- Packaging textiles includes a variety of flexible textile materials used to package industrial, agricultural, consumer, and other items.
- Sportswear manufacturing has always been one of the most popular applications for technical fabrics (e.g. shoes, artificial turf, advanced carbon fibre composites, racket frames, etc.).
- Civil engineering textiles utilised in building or embankment reinforcement. Geotextiles are permeable textiles used in soil applications. They can separate, filter, protect, and drain water.
- Heat and radiation protection for firefighters’ clothes, molten metals protection for welders, bulletproof vests, and other safety measures
- Eco-friendly textiles are used for floor sealing, erosion protection, air cleaning, waste treatment/recycling, and other environmental uses.
Protective Clothes Against Heat And Flame
With the advent of industrialisation, worker safety has become a major concern. Reports and Data estimates that the technical textiles market size will reach USD 268.97 Billion by 2028, registering a CAGR of 4.1%.As a result, a rising section of the industrial textiles business has been involved in a variety of innovative fibre, fabric, and protective gear inventions. The requirements for heat and flame protection range from clothing for situations where the wearer may be exposed to a moderate level of radiant heat as part of his or her normal working day to clothing for prolonged protection where the wearer is exposed to severe radiant and convective heat or direct flame, such as the firefighter’s suit.
However, in order to achieve flame protection, the garment may become so thermally insulative and impervious to water vapour that the wearer experiences discomfort and heat stress. The wearer’s body temperature may rise, and he or she may become sweaty. With this in mind, efforts have been made to design thermal and flame-resistant clothes that are comfortable to wear.
The level of the fire hazard is determined by the ease of igniting, rate of burning, and heat release rate of textile materials. Melting and shrinkage characteristics of synthetic fibre materials, as well as the production of smoke and harmful gases during combustion, all influence the thermal protection level.
The following considerations should be taken while choosing and creating flame-resistant clothing:
- Influence of fabric structure and garment shape on burning behaviour
- Selection of non-toxic, smoke-free, and flame-retardant additives or finishes
- Design of protective garments, including comfort features, depending on their intended use
- The ignition source’s strength
- The oxygen supply
Conclusion
Many industrial applications call for technical textiles. Technical textiles are mostly used for protective fabrics that improve people’s occupational safety. High temperatures, burns, electric arc flash discharge, molten metal strikes, metal sparks, and acidic conditions such as petrochemical, gas plant, and refineries are all protected by protective technical fabrics. Technical fabrics will dominate the safety sphere in the future, providing protective clothing for a variety of risks.
Source: https://www.reportsanddata.com/report-detail/technical-textile-market
Author Bio – Paroma Bhattacharya is a passionate content creator and has been a professional content writer for over half a decade. She is currently working for Reports and Data and possesses extensive knowledge in subjects related to healthcare, technology, banking, and a wide range of other industry verticals. Her articles focus primarily on balancing relevant data with engaging storytelling. She believes in providing objective facts to help people make important business decisions.
