Shape factors of a tight skirt and 3 kinds of flared skirts were investigated precisely. Shape factors of circular fabrics were calculated from mechanical parameters obtained by KES system, however, those of skirts were obtained experimentally. Those results were compared with drape parameters of circular fabrics such as node number (n), static (Ds) and dynamic drape coefficients as revolving drape increase coefficient (Dr), saturated drape coefficient (D200) and turning-around drape coefficient (Dd). They were also compared with node number and static drape coefficient of skits at hem line. Following conclusions were obtained. In the case of tight skirt, flare-1 skirt and flare-2 skirt, the shape factor showed high correlation with drape parameters of the skirts and circular fabrics. The shape factor of skirts has high positive correlation with node number and negative correlation with static drape coefficient of circular fabrics. In the case of flare-3 skirt, there is no correlation between the shape factor and the drape parameters of circular fabrics and skirts, hence shape factor becomes an important parameter which can evaluate the appearance of flared skirt objectively.

Physical durability is one of the evaluation criteria used to classify the textile floor coverings based on European Standards. However, it is estimated solely by the type and structure of the pile fibers. In this study, we investigated the relationship between the wear index (WI) specified for use as the physical durability evaluation method and actual physical measurements of floor coverings. Physical measurements were made using the dynamic loading test specified by Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS) L 1021-7. Our study results show strong correlations between wear index (WI) and pile mass in terms of the base per unit area (SPW). The relationship between the WI and thickness loss ration under dynamic loading conditions accompanied with friction was approximated by the logarithmic function.

To encourage the conservation of resource and protection of the environment, recently, many countries are paying attention to the effective recycling of waste natural resources. In this study, the attention was focused on the waste vegetables. Vegetable sheets with different cutting size of vegetable and bamboo/vegetable composites with different bamboo content were developed by hot press molding. And tensile property tests were done. The vegetable sheet with different cutting sizes of vegetable showed different tensile properties. In addition, the bamboo pulp has good reinforcing property for vegetable composites, and the tensile strength and tensile modulus were improved remarkably compared with them of pure vegetable sheets.

In Japan, the recycling rate of waste textiles, especially waste clothing, remains low. The more complex the textile structure, the more difficult it is to recycle by classification into raw materials. This study investigates the reduction of the final disposal volume of waste textiles based on colour. We examined valid colour combinations for recycling waste textiles when separated according to these criteria. Further, we employed the waste coloured cotton thread. Colours similar to principal hues from the Munsell Color System were used as the fundamental colour for specimens. We focused on hues in this study and prepared 45 specimens of shoddy by mixing two coloured cotton threads according to the ratios of 25:75, 50:50, and 75:25 by weight. We prepared specimens that were then examined with sensory evaluation and colorimetry. As a result, we were able to determine the colour combinations that had high and low favorable ratings. The findings indicated that an interior angle within 85° on the Munsell color circle was a key feature for a high favorable rating. Therefore, it is possible to produce a product with a high favorable rating by mixing waste coloured textiles that are positioned within 85° on the Munsell color circle.

The polyimide nanofiber superior in heat resistance was made by the electrospinning process. We tried this nanofiber as reinforced material of the thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer (TPU elastomer). For comparison, commercial polyimide microfibers were examined by using them as reinforced material. We evaluated test materials composed of nanofibers of 450nm mean diameter made from 13wt% polyimide solution and those composed of nanofibers of 300nm mean diameter made from 10wt% polyimide solution. The improvement in both elastic modulus and breaking strength was confirmed for TPU elastomer composites reinforced by 1wt% polyimide nanofibers using a kneading method.

This paper presents the research undertaken at the University of Minho aiming to study the behaviour of 3D weft-knitted structures using Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) wires and elastomeric yarns, in order to produce dynamic structures as a support to answer specific situations and applications. Several samples were produced using Nitinol® wires in different diameters and loop types. The Tensile tests were carried out being based to NP EN ISO 2062:1993 standards, using a H100KS Hounsfield Universal Testing Instrument. The results showed that The 50 μm wire showed to be too thin to this propose; moreover, The 210 μm NiTi wire showed to be hard to process on the knitting machine due to its high stiffness; The 127 μm NiTi wire showed to be the best among them, due to the process and energy absorption ratio. Finally, for both NiTi wires in different diameters studied, tuck loop showed to have the highest energy absorption capacity.

In recent years, global warming, the depletion of petroleum resources, and the reduction of carbon dioxide emission have become significant worldwide. Environmental considerations have been indispensable to the development and manufacturing industries. Considering this background, we aim to develop new and environment-friendly agricultural materials using Konjac by-products of industrial waste. Konjac by-products are a natural raw material sourced from the plants of the Amorphophalus family and are nutritious. Availing these advantages, we investigated the development of a novel biodegradable seedling pot manufactured from Konjac by-products, “Tobiko” in Japanese. The results are as follows: (1) The Tobiko seedling pot is able to be simply produced by molding of Tobiko gel which is composed of Tobiko powder and water; (2) The Tobiko seedling pots can maintain stable soil condition concerning sunlight and moisture, because the pot has a water absorbency of an amount almost equal to its own weight, and a light-resistance of 20 days; (3) The Tobiko seedling pot is biodegraded in only 27 days; therefore, the pots have excellent biodegradability compared with conventional biodegradable seedling pots. Therefore, in terms of time base, it is expected that Tobiko will be effectively used in manufacturing biodegradable seedling pots. And we believe to be a new and unique application for Konjac by-products.

The damage characteristics of dry sand erosion of fiber in a hot environment are important for bag filters for garbage incinerators. In this study, we use a newly developed measuring device and evaluation method to investigate the erosion resistance of three types of fiber used for bag filters at a site in a hot environment. We found that the erosion resistance of all three types of fiber decreased as the ambient temperature increased. The erosion resistance of fiber in a hot environment is largely influenced by the decrease in fiber strength in such an environment.

Abstract Inpresentstudy,optimizationoffouroperatingparametersofhighenergyplanetaryballmill(i.e.millingtime,millingspeed,balltomaterialratioandballsize)ondrygrindingofjutefibrewastewasperformed.Athree-levelBox-Behnkendesigncombiningaresponsesurfacemethodologywasemployedtostudytheresponseintermsofparticle size and % sticking of material to mill. Analysis of variance of milling parameters showed coefficient ofdetermination of 0.927 and 0.903 for particle size and material sticking respectively. The model equations weresubsequently optimized using the canonical analysis with the help of SYSTAT software to minimize the particlesizeandmaterialsticking.Theoptimumconditionswerefound12mmforballsize, 47minformillingtime, 9forballtomaterialratioand870rpmfor milling speed. KeyWords :Jutefibrewaste,Highenergy planetary ball milling, Particle size distribution, Material sticking,Box-Behnkendesign 1. Introduction Thenanofibrilsornanocrystalsofcellulosehavebeenextractedinpreviousresearchworkfromseveralnaturalsourceslikecotton[1],sisal[2],jute[3-5],soybean[6],wheatstrawandsoyhulls[7],hemp[8],etcbymechanical[9-10],chemical[2],enzyme[11]orcombination of techniques [12]. The chemical method employsstrongacidhydrolysistreatmenttoremovetheamorphousregionsof cellulose fibres and separate nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC)whereas mechanical method involves high-pressure shear refiningtreatment to produce nanofibrillar cellulose (NFC) together withcrystalline and amorphous regions [13]. However the use of acidtreatmentovermechanicaltreatmentwasfoundtohavenumberofdrawbacks, such as longer time of separation of nanocrystals,potential degradation of cellulose, corrosivity, and environmentalincompatibility[13-14].Thereforesomeresearchersemployedthealternative route of mechanical treatment through various wayslike grinding [13, 15,16], high pressure homogenizing [16],cryocrushing [6, 8], ultrasonic treatment [12, 14], etc to extractNFC rather than NCC. This paper deals with preparation ofnanocellulose from waste jute fibres in the textile industry bysimple, quick and environment friendly ball milling process. Themain objective of the present study was to utilise the short fibreswhich could not be spun into yarn, for reinforcement inbiodegradable composite applications.Ballmillingprocessisamechanicalprocesswhichreliesontheenergyreleasedatthepointofcollisionbetweenballsaswellasonthe high grinding energy created by friction of balls on the wall[17]. When the mill rotates, balls are picked up by the mill walland rotate around the wall due to centrifugal force leading togrinding of material due to frictional effect. On the other handthere is also reverse rotation of disc with respect to mill whichappliescentrifugalforceinoppositedirectionleadingtotransitionof balls on opposite walls of mill giving impact effect.Basedonourpreviousresearch[13,15,18],duringdrygrindingofjutefibres,significantincreaseintemperatureduetoimpactofballs resulted in sticking of material on the milling media.Consequentlythedepositedmassofmaterialsloweddowntherateof refinement of particles and provided wider size distribution. Inorder to avoid increase in temperature and to increase millingefficiency, ball milling parameters for dry pulverisation of jutefibres must be optimised. The objective of present study is tooptimize the four milling parameters i.e. milling time (MT),millingspeed(MS),balltomaterialratio(BMR)andballsize(BS)with use of Box-Behnken design and response surfacemethodology.

In this study, we discussed the effect of the electric irradiation on the properties of Polypropylene (PP)/Vapor-grown carbon fiber (VGCF) composites prepared by melt compounding using a twin-screw extruder. Ethylene-propylene random copolymer was included in PP. Graft copolymer of maleic anhydride of polypropylene (MA-PP) was employed as an additive agent. The Young′s modulus of PP and PP/MA-PP increased with the irradiation dose. On the other hand, the increments of Young’s modulus of PP/VGCF and PP/MA-PP/VGCF to irradiation dose were smaller than those of PP and PP/MA-PP. The effect of electric beam on the yield stress coincided to that of Young′s modulus. According to the X-ray diffraction results, the crystallinity of PP is almost independent of electric irradiation. Thermal conductivity of the composites was also independent of the electric irradiation even if the thermal conductivity increased by adding of VGCF. It is clear that the dispersion and shape of VGCF would not be broken by the electric irradiation. We concluded that the Young’s modulus could be increased with irradiation beam due to cross-linking of amorphous ethylene component and maleic anhydride component and the chemical reaction was inhibited with VGCF because the mobility of the amorphous chain could be constrained by VGCF.