special edition journal - hb.se · woven, dyeing and finishing, and manufacturing. using ......

The Textile Research Centre, CTFUniversity College of Borås

The Swedish School of TextilesSwerea IVF, Sweden

Textile CraftTextile and Fashion DesignTextile ManagementTextile Technology

journalThe Nordic Textile

Special edition

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Contents

Bresky, Erik Smart Textiles

Ambience conference June 2-3, 2008

Ledendal, Marie Ocean and Sea - design with chromatic smart materials Walkenström, Pernilla, Electrospinning of nanofibers for biomedical applicationsThorvaldsson, Anna

Eson Bodin, Ulla Cullus – from idea to patent

Jansen, Barbara Light Textiles

Persson, Anna, Worbin, Linda Designing dynamic and irreversible textile patterns, using a non-chemical burn-out (ausbrenner) technique

Toftegaard, Ola Textile for the future Nelvig, Anna, Hagström, Bengt Melt spinning of conductive textile fibers

Hallnäs, Lars Textile Interaction Design

Lund, Anja Nanotechnology for textile applications – or how to make something from nothing

Agesund, Ann-Kristin Textibel® – Textiles as Furniture

Jul, Lene Adding Values, Smart Textile Options for Automotive Applications

Dumitrescu, Delia Knitted Light – Space and Emotion

Nordlund Andersson, Agneta Textile Innovation & Competence Centre, TIC

The Textile Research Centre, CTF

The Research Group at the Swedisch School of Textiles

The Research Board at Swerea IVF, Textile Department

Textile Research Council, CTF

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Smart Textiles

What is a smart textile and how do we create a center for the development of smart textiles? With these two questions I would like to greet you welcome to the Nordic Textile Journal of 2008. In the 2008 edition of the Nordic Textile Journal we want to focus on design-driven research in smart textiles and pres-ent its opportunities starting in the events that are currently taking place at the Swedish School of Textiles and in connection to the school. I would also like to take this opportunity to highlight articles related to the smart textiles field in the Nordic Textile Journal of 2006/2007. Smart textiles – the next generation of textile productsSmart textiles are defined as textiles that interact with their surroundings. One may study this definition further and debate its borders. The Smart Textiles ini-tiative in Borås has focused on the environment around smart textiles and the ambition is to open up opportunities in the smart textiles field. The connections to technical textiles and portable technology are important. The ambition here is to create a smorgasbord for anyone who wants to work in the field or who wants to develop it further. We construct the initiative from knowledge in textile fibers and material connected to the textile processes. Starting in the textile core values we create opportunities for border-crossing experiments and devel-opment of ideas. Here, designers, engineers, and technicians meet with indus-try and entrepreneurs. This meeting place is at the center of the environment we have created through the Smart Textiles initiative.The goal statement of the Smart Textiles initiative is found below and I would also like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude toward all the partici-pants in the initiative for helping us reach as far as we have today. We owe our success to the amazing dedication, focus, professionalism, candor, and will to share among all participants. We have all accepted the challenge to create a center for Smart Textiles.

Erik Bresky, Managing DirectorSusanne Edström, CoordinatorMarie Ledendal, Project ManagerMats Nordqvist, Coordinator Trade & IndustryLars Hallnäs, Research Coordinator

[email protected]

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The point of departure for the Smart Textiles initia-tive in Borås is to strengthen infrastructure surround-ing the development of smart textiles and to create the prerequisites necessary to create the textiles of the future. This means that technical textiles, por-table technology, and smart textiles complement one another to improve the final outcome. The main idea is that the interdisciplinary environment of the Swedish School of Textiles – design, handicraft, technology, and management – creates a meeting place for education, development, design, and spe-cialized production of the next generation of textile products. Development of the entire environment are carried out with the regional actors gathered, a development where research and development resources are pooled, among others Swerea-IWF, SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden, Chalmers University of Technology, the University College of Borås, and the Interactive Institute. Development of smart textiles is design-driven research. The design idea generates demands in technical research and development which in turn generates demands for characterization. The process is divided in two par-allel pedagogical processes. The first one is design and business oriented and runs from idea to store (idea to carrier bag), whereas the second one is technically oriented and runs from fiber to product. Our policy is always sustainable development. In sustainable development is included both envi-ronmental and ethical aspects as well as business and societal development for long-term sustainable development.

The connection between company-based projects and research at institutes and university colleges is of utmost importance. There are a dozen company-based projects in the Smart Textiles initiative today. The driving force behind the development projects is a will to strengthen the competitiveness and growth of the companies through close cooperation with scientists and closely related branches.

Presented below are a few examples of projects and possibilities within the smart textiles framework that are soon part of the Smart Textiles initiative.The below examples in combination with all the exciting projects presented in the Nordic Textile Journal 2008 allows us to believe in a bright future.

Future resultsThe Smart Textiles initiative creates a number of new pro-fessional areas and fields of activity, the potential of which can only be verified through the future development of the industry. What will happen when the medical industry and textile research are even closer related? What will the future building trade look like after being integrated with textiles? What savings in energy will be generated by the cooperation between the automotive industry and textile research?

The textile materials are construction materials, building stones, in a greater whole and consist of polymers and fibers, nano-sized and up, and the textile processes are construction techniques such as knitting, weaving, non-woven, dyeing and finishing, and manufacturing. Using textile building stones and construction techniques we will be able e.g. to build houses, parts of the body, cars, and boats with more intelligence in the future. The textile is on its way of becoming a bearer of entirely new functions when properties that have not previously been discovered or made use of are forwarded. There is a potential for growth and also good development possibilities both in textile materials and textile processes.

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Examples of future product areas for smart textiles

Textiles as construction materialsDuring the past decade the development of the theory of the properties of materials in combination with rapid devel-opment in calculation capacity has created better ground for material design. Materials with higher knowledge con-tent, new functions, and higher performance is ever more important in a competitive perspective, e.g. new functions of development toward controlling indoor comfort instead of sunblinds.

Materials

Phase changing materials (PCM)Today there are fibers with phase changing properties which open up for temperature control. Within the frame-work of Smart Textiles research is conducted at Swerea IVF on phase changing fibers with greater phase changing concentration in the final fiber. The expected result is to gain better effect and efficiency in refined manufacturing of different types of polymers.

Conductive polymersPolymers with conductive properties means electricity may be lead out of them (antistatic) or electric signals may be conducted through them. Conductive polymers may be used in manufacturing fibers for use in nonwoven con-structions or in yarn manufacturing. Conductive polymers may also be used in different kinds of coatings.

NanofibersOne of the most interesting and most rapidly growing fields today is taking place in nano-fiber technology with applica-tions in several fields.

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Fields of application

Electro-active textilesCurtains that react interact with their surroundings where conductive fibers are used in manufacturing and provide opportunities for enhanced functions of the weave.

Conductive polymersIncreased performance in filter products where conductive properties mean electricity may be lead out of them (anti-static) or electric signals may be conducted through them.Protection against burglary in the shape of a curtain and a curtain that may also gain glowing patterns and become a decorative product.

Personal portable electronics/textile microphone elementsDemographic changes toward an aging population make new demands on health care services through increased use of technical aids in hospital care and home nursing. Implementation of textile-based electronics, both personal and integrated into the surroundings, such as in mattress-es and furniture, will become reality in the future.Needs for new textile-based solutions have also been stat-ed by the Swedish Armed Forces and the rescue servic-es. Protective clothing with sensors for analysis of smoke and decreasing the risk of poisoning is another example of fields of application for smart textiles.

Elasticity sensorsIt is possible to apply elasticity sensors in many different products. Today, a company within Smart Textiles runs a research project on breathing alarms for infants. The goal for the project is to develop a textile portable system that increases chances to monitor the breathing of infants. The product will be introduced on the market in 2008. The product that is today developed for infants may be directly applied in home nursing.

EnvironmentAccess to environmentally sound energy is a global need in increasing demand. By integrating energy generation into textiles the production of power may be carried out in direct connection to the place of use instead of at gigantic plants, scattered and consuming large amounts of capital. Through use of climate-smart textiles the need for fos-sil fuels decreases. “Energy Saving” is an area with great potential for textile solutions and products.

FiltersThe filter market is today a growing market and the fields of application range from home environments and industri-al environments to more specific environments and coupe blankets for cars.

A filter material that works both as particle filter and gas absorption filter has unique properties because of the combination of particle filter and gas filter in one product. The gas filters that are available on the market today are often too costly to be installed on a grand scale and must be combined with particle filters.

Products with antistatic properties, textile materials with sensor properties, filters with an extremely small surface and with low fall in air pressure, dust divider, insulation with electromagnetic screening properties (for people allergic to electricity) are other filter media products that are forecast-ed to be available on the market in three years time.

Geotechnical weaveThe weaves control the climate and saves energy in all kinds of green houses and plantations. When in use during the night in a green house air humidity is to be increased as little as possible without diminishing energy saving. Within the Smart Textiles framework a research project has been initiated together with a company to further develop the weave.Concrete constructions. Use of textile reinforcements may drastically reduce the weight of the complete concrete product. The Smart Textile initiative is part of a project that aims to substitute traditional steel armaments with textile materials either partly or entirely. Also under develop-ment are textile moulds for concrete casting where the advanced textile becomes part of the concrete in order to greatly enhance the surface of the completed concrete shape.

Fields of application nano-fibers

Wound treatment productsDemand for environmentally sound and effective wound treatment products increase. Using nano-fiber technology we can come up with highly efficient plasters and bacteri-cidal nano-fiber cloths for treatment of wounds. Products that both heal the skin and have properties that are so like to the body’s own that they are entirely absorbed by the skin when the healing process is complete.

SkinThe demand and need for implants such as skin, joints, and bone increases when progress in medical science allows more illnesses and wounds to be treated. Today, Swerea IVF can produce “scaffolds” in nano-fibers on which cells can grow. This enables us to grow living tis-sue outside the body and thus grow bodily organs. These advances open new paths to health care and to surgical science.

Wishing you pleasant readingErik BreskManaging Director Smart Textiles

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Ambience 08

June 2-3, 2008

conference chAIrSMarion ellwanger the Swedish School of textiles, University college of Borås heikki Mattila fibre Materials Science, tampere University of technology

conference orgAnIzIng chAIrAgneta nordlund Andersson the Swedish School of textiles, University college of Borås

ScIentIfIc ProgrAM chAIrSLars hallnäs the Swedish School of textiles, University college of Borås/ Department of computer Science and engineering, chalmers University of technology Pernilla Walkenström IfP research AB

ScIentIfIc ProgrAM coMMItteezane Berzina goldsmiths Digital Studios, University of London carole collet central Saint Martins college, University of the Arts London

Danilo De rossi University of Pisa Pieter Desmet technische Universiteit eindhoven Paul gatenholm Polymer technology, chalmers University of technology/ Virginiatech

hilde hauan Johnsen Bergen national Academy of the Arts Bengt hagström IfP research AB Sundaresan Jayaraman georgia tech University

Dimitri Konstansas University of geneva Lieva van Langenhove ghent University Peter Leisner SP technical research Institute of Sweden

Johan redström the Interactive Institute Vibeke riisberg Designskolen Kolding roshan Shishoo Shishoo consulting AB

Mikael Skrifvars School of engineering, University college of Borås gerhard tröster eth zurich Karl A. Wallmann-c:son Ulfabgruppen AB

Rachel Wingfield central Saint Martins college, University of the Arts London

conference orgAnIzIng coMMItteeSusanne edström the Swedish School of textiles, University college of Borås Annika hellström Jagör Bild & form Peter Johansson University college of Borås

Vendela röhlander University college of Borås

SUBMISSIon JAnUAry 15, 2008

notIfIcAtIon MArch 15, 2008

cAMerA reADy coPy MAy 1, 2008

Ambience

InternAtIonAlScIentIfIc

conference

June 2-3, 2008web www.smarttextiles.se/Ambience08 e-mail [email protected]

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Ocean and Sea - design with chromatic smart materialsTextile dividers for a changeable environment for the patient

Marie Ledendal, Master student Fashion and Textile design, The Swedish School of Textile, THSUniversity College of Borå[email protected]

Ocean and Sea, is a conceptual solution for knitted textile dividers1 that aims to create a changing element in the patient’s environment (for example the treatment rooms). The knitted screens are for windows in patient and treatment rooms, dividing out-door from in-door. The purpose with the concept is counteracting the view from the street or from rooms in other buildings so the patient will feel more secure. The seconded aspect that the textile divider is aiming to improve is the situation of a static environment for the patient. During the day and night, with the use of chromatic smart material, the textile changes from white to a colour, to glowing in the dark. The design has different expressions due to the different tints of the colour, depending on the amount of sun on the window, giving the design an interacting variable parameter.

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Marie Ledendal has been working with tex-tiles and the health care environment at the Swedish School of Textiles since 2005. At present Marie is working with conceptual applications with chromatic materials and interactive textiles for the health care interior.

1Divider means a textile with purpose to mark off an area, a volume of space, in the hospital. The textile can divide the inside from the outside, a treatment room from a hall or a bigger room into smaller areas.

Photo 1; Sea, Fluorescent yarns, the textile “glows in the dark”, Photographer: Jan Berg.

Photo 2 Ocean Photo-chromic yarns, the textiles goes from white to either purple or aqua, Photographer: Jan Berg.

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Ocean and Sea are complementing each other and are thought to work together in the same room or window. The textiles can be layered in front of each other with a half drop. The design is first and foremost made in relation to the colour aspect, wanting to add more colours to the hospital environment. The colours blue, turquoise, purple, orange and yellow are chosen with the studied colour psychology as a starting point. The intention is that the rooms should, by the blue and turquoise, get a cooling feeling and through the orange and the yellow a warmer one. The idea with the amount of colours that varies over the day in relation to how the weather is outside is that the patient will get a subtle connection to the outside. The colours should also be chosen so that they will work for several years to get a more aesthetically sustainable product. Therefore more extreme trendy colours and colour combinations have not been used. By being silicone coated the aesthetic expres-sion gets a more interesting tactile and visual expression. The surface has a glossiness that gives an impression that the textile is clean. It also adds a glittering effect when the light waves are spread through the rubber. By enclosing the knitted textile in the silicone the divider will be washable in 60-80˚C and easy to wipe off, parameters that are important for the chosen hospital environment. The silicone will most likely also make the textile flame retardant due to the fact of the stability of the silicone; this has to be tested before the extent of the protection can be certified.

Photo 3 A-C; Visualisation of the changing atmosphere in the treatment room, A: 8:00 in the morning, white panels B: 12:00 in the day, green panels and C: 23:00 in the night “glow in the dark” panels. Visualisation pictures: Marie Ledendal.


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The healing environment There is an ongoing overall structural change in hospitals in among Sweden, which affects both the logistic of run-ning the organisation as well as the design of the building, wards and the environment. The textile divider will in first hand be intended for these hospitals that have a patient-centred ideology and structure. The ongoing debate2 also has a focus on the significance that the environment has on the patient’s wellbeing and recovery. The same discus-sion can be found in areas regarding the light and colour and shape as well as the sound. The overall discussion refers to the term “healing environment”. How we as patient’s are being affected by our surrounding and how that will have spin-off effects on our recovery when staying at the hospitals. In my view, this debate is essential for the progress in getting a more healthy hospital environment.

”… when you’re in a healing environment, you know it; no analysis is required… Healing environ-ment allow the patient to mobilize inner resources from the body, mind, and spirit that help them to respond and adapt to their own illness… does not harm the patient with toxic materials, lightning, noise, or temperatures.” (Stichler 2001, p.2f)

Different researchers state that certain colours can reduce anxiety and that nature motifs easier catch our attention than abstract ones. Thoughts that can be found in for example Jean Watsons theory (from the 1970th) about how the aes-thetic expression is of significance for the healing process, where colours and shape, through art and music, can be a working tool (Watson 1979, see Wikström 2003, p.40). In another example B.-M. Wikström; points out that it is important for the healing process how the architecture is designed, because the architecture can also have a nega-tive affect, such as stress and other physical symptoms. By creating a harmonic and well balanced environment the effect can be the opposite. (Wikström 2003, p.60) This is an aspect that D. Edvardsson touches in his dissertation. The patient is affected by the surroundings; of how the patient experiences the hospital environment and the hospital stay. (Edvardsson 2005, p.70)


2Several spokesmen for the Healing Environment mean that for example the sound environment is important. For more information see chapter 6 in the technical report Sound absorbing textiles for hospitals- a framework for requirement specifications.

Photo 5; Experiment to test how the silicone and the knit work together, Photographer: Marie Ledendal.

Photo 4; Knitted sketch of the pattern, in find-ing out the amount of desired visibility boarder between out door and in door, Photographer: Marie Ledendal.

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The Concept

An existing problem that patients can have to deal with is the view from the street and near situated buildings into the treatment rooms. If I would put myself in a patient’s situation a feeling of security is of importance. To have to undress in front of strangers makes many uneasy, which you often have to do in front of the doctor or nurse. To have to worry that somebody from the street or the next building might see you is adding extra stress to the situation. When being sick you might not want to be stared at and it can be nice to be able to pull down the curtains. By visually being assured that I can not be seen the problem will probably soon be cleared away. It is however important to still be able to get in the sunlight, which makes blinds a bad suggestion. Also to think about that blocking the view might not always be needed.

Photo 6 A-C; A: Sketch of the changeability effect with Fluorescent yarn “glows in the dark” and B-C: the Photo-chromic yarn, Photographer: Marie Ledendal.


By using the method functional analysis3 the most impor-tant factors of the knitted divider was the changeability in the expression. The idea to let the colour be the changing factor was thought of early in the process. Colour boards were made with reference to colour physiology, but the decisions of the actual tints were also made through the aesthetic impact the chosen colour would have on the room. The final colour range has blue, turquoise, purple, orange and yellow tints. The green-blue/turquoise is recommended as suitable for treatments rooms, because of its relaxing and cooling effects and Alfa4 and Delta5 rhythms indicates that blue is more soothing than red (Gimbel, 1994, p.28-29) (Küller, 1995, p.22-24). The yellow and orange tints were chosen to create a warmer environment. The purple is a colour that the Anthroposophist use in treatment rooms (van Luik, 2007.02.03). The colours are also chosen on the premises that they can work for several years without becoming untrendy, something that for example Södra Älvsborgs Sjukhus has stated in there policy as important (SÄS 2003 p.2).

3A Functional Analysis is a method for pinpointing the different aspects the product has to discuss and solve. By ranking the functions Head Function HF, Necessarily N, Desirable D and Undesirable UD the different aspects can be prioritized in the right order.4. Alfa rhythm indicates that a person is relaxed. (Küller, 1995, p.24)5. Delta rhythm distinguishes sleep. (Küller, 1995, p.24)

Photo 7; Colour boards were made with reference to colour physiology, Photographer: Marie Ledendal.

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The effect of colour changeability was reached by the use of colour changing smart materials. Chromic materials are materials that react to outside stimuli and thereby change their appearance. There are a number of chromatic materials on the market today, such as Photo-chromic (reacts on light), Thermo-chromic (reacts on heat), Electro-chromic (reacts on electricity), Piezoro-chromic (reacts on pressure), Solvate-chromic (reacts on liquid) and Carsol6-chromic (reacts on electronic beam). (Berzina, 2004, p.143) Tests with thermo-chromic ink were made. By using both normal pigment as well as the thermo-chromic it is possible to go from one colour to another. To get the change the fabric has to be exposed to a heat source (such as electricity, heat elements or body warmth). In this case the knitted window screens could consist of a conductive yarn, which is connected to a current. The second chromatic material that was tested was ultraviolet light reactive material, Photo-chromic. The tests where done with a Reversible7 Photo-chromic effect. (www.colorchange.com) A Glow-in-the-dark ink was printed on an Ink-jet transfer printed sample, to test the idea with a change of the environment between daytime and the evening. This could be a positive solution in countries at latitudes like Sweden because of the long dark hours in winter time. The Photo-chromic absorbs the UV-light during the exposing time, when turning dark the colour then glows with a yellowish light. (www.colorchange.com, 07-03-20) The Glow-in-the-dark effect was also tested with Fluorescent and Photo-chromic treated yarns, which made it possible to get the glow-effect in the linearity of the pattern. After the test with the Photo-chromic and the Fluorescent yarns a decision to only continue with these two materials was made. The idea to integrate the weather as a variable in the design expression was interesting and therefore implemented.

A Scenario in a room in the new building at the hospital“I’m in the hospital after surgery. I have been in this room fore a few days now. It is starting to feel like I know the routines. The nurses checks in on me every now and then, and the doc-tors do the round in the morning. It is nice to be able to look out the windows when I want to, but it feels secure that the nurses pulls the curtain in front of the windows before they ex-amine me, especially since my room is on the ground floor.

8:00 a clock in the mornings and the textiles are still white.It was quite fun the other day when I suddenly realized that the textiles actually change colour during the day.

12:00 and the room feels cooler, it is nice.Yesterday the sun was shining straight in to the room and they really turned blue. And in the evening when it was more clouded outside the blue colour was less bright. I know it isn’t much but it’s nice to have something to occupy the mind with, when laying here. Even if it is just finding out how the weather affects the colour on the curtain, at least it is something else than constantly thinking about the operation and my recovery

22:00 it is dark outside and it feels quite cosy with the light glowing from the curtains in the window. It is soothing in a way.”

References Books Berzina, Zane (2004). Skin Stories Charting and Mapping the Skin, the London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London, UK New Textile Materials, Processes and Technologies. Edvardsson, David (2005). Atmosphere in Care Settings - Towards a Broader Understanding of the Phenomenon, Diss. Umeå University Medical Dissertation, Dep. Of Nursing, Umeå: Solfjädern Offset AB. Gimbel, Theo (1994). Healing med färg Färger – hur de påverkar dig och ditt liv, Uppsala: Wahlströms. Hård, Anders, Küller, Rikard, Sivik, Lars and Svedmyr, Åke (1995). Upplevelse av färg och färgsatt miljö, Färgantologi Bok 2, Byggforskningsrådet, Stockholm: Statens råd för byggnadsforskning. Ledendal, Marie (2005). Sound absorbing textiles for hospitals- a framework for requirement specifications. Technical Report, Specialisation Project, 5 credits, Högskolan i Borås. Rydberg, Karl (1991). Levande färger – en bok om färgernas dolda psykologi, Västerås: ICA Bokförlag.

Stichler, Jaynelle F. (2001). Creating Healing Environments in Critical Care Units. Critical Care Nursing Quarterly. Vol 24, pp. 1-20. Södra Älvsborgs Sjukhus (SÄS) (2003). Policy Inomhusmiljö vid Södra Älvsborgs Sjukhus. Inomhusmiljö vid Södra Älvsborgs Sjukhus. Wikström, Britt-Maj, (2003). Estetik och omvårdnad. 2 upp. Lund: Studentlitteratur.

Articles and Reportages Haninge kommun (2003). Arkitektur kan göra oss friskare. (Electronic). Företagsnytt. Vol.2 Mars Accessible: http://www.haninge.se/upload/5616/Fnytt_2-03.pdf (05-09-30). van Luik, Colette (2007.02.03). Vidarkliniken har blivit etablerad. SVT, Regionalnyheter, ABC, Fredagsreportage, Foto: Henrik Norsell, Redigerare: Lasse Svensson. Accessible: http://svt.se/svt/play/vide.jsp?a=754468 (2007-03-05). Internet Color Change Corporation (homepage), www.colorchange.com (2007-03-20). The Institute for Complementary Medicine (ICM) is a UK (homepage), “Obituary - Theophilus Gimbel (1920-2004)” Pictures Pic. 1-2 Photographer Jan Berg, Textile Museum in Borås, 07-12-18 Pic. 3-7 Photographer Marie Ledendal

6 Thermo-chromic ink is an ink that at a specific temperature gets transparent or changes from one colour to another (different inks changes at different temperatures -5˚C to +60˚C) (Color Change Corporation, 2007) There are both Irreversible (does not change back the colour after the UV-light source are removed) and Reversible (change back the colour after the UV-light source are removed) Photo-chromic materials on the market. (Color Change Corporation, 2007)

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Electrospinning of nanofibers for biomedical applications

Pernilla Walkenström and Anna ThorvaldssonSwerea IVF, Textile [email protected]@swerea.se

Electrospinning of nanofibers

Electrospinning is a technique used to spin fibers with diameters less than 100nm up to micrometer level from a wide range of polymers. This electrostatic processing method uses a high-voltage electric field to form solid fibers from a polymeric fluid stream (solution or melt) delivered through a millimeter-scale nozzle. Reneker and co-workers have investigated the mechanism and theories of electrospinning in detail [1]. In Figure 1, an electrospinning set-up on labora-tory scale is shown.Nanofiber-based materials have several advantages compared to conventional textiles. In particular they represent a very large surface area; fibers with diameters around 100nm represent roughly 1000m2/gram material. Other advantages are that the pore sizes of the materials are tunable, the surface functionality is possible to influence, various morphologies are achievable like nano tubes, etc. When used in applications, these advantages are utilized for adding technical surplus and uniqueness to products. Nanofibres are useful in the field of biomedicine, particularly in tissue engineering, wound healing and drug delivery applications.

Pernilla Walkenström is associate professor and research manager at Swerea IVF. She finished her PhD in 1996 and has since then focused on biopolymers, gel formation phenomena and fibre spinning processes.

Anna Thorvaldsson is a PhD-student working at Swerea IVF, focusing on electrospinning of nanofibers for biomedical applications, in particular for scaffolding. She finished her Master of Science in Biotechnology in 2006.Figure 1: Illustration of equipment for electrospinning of nanofibers.

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Tissue engineering

Artificial blood vessels, cartilage regeneration and artificial skin/skin models are all examples of interesting applica-tions in the tissue engineering field. Difficulties in finding authentic replacements for, for example, small blood ves-sels push the search for artificial alternatives forward and the research in the area is extensive. Electrospun nanofi-brous matrices are in this case of importance since they resemble the natural extra cellular matrix (ECM). The ECM is the fibrous network in the body along which the cells naturally grow and spread, hence a body-mimicking struc-ture that imitates the ECM and can support cell growth is of great beneficence. The size range of electrospun nanofibers and the very large surface area of the con-structs they form are two traits shared with natural ECM. Furthermore, the 3D structure of the electrospun scaffolds allows the cells to fully differentiate, in turn calling for a maintenance of normal biological activity of the cells that is not always possible in a 2D environment [2]. The flexibility of the electrospinning process is another great benefit, as different cells have different needs for optimal growth and by using electrospinning the morphology of both fibers and scaffolds can be easily varied and optimized. Also, a wide variety of materials can be electrospun and incor-poration of particles and various agents, such as growth factors, is possible.

Nanofibers of poly(urethane urea) has been successfully electrospun and a detailed study has been published, involving fibroblast growth on the fibers [3]. The nanofibers are illustrated in the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image shown in Figure 2a, which reveals a non-woven mat based on even fibers with a smooth impression. A bimodal fiber diameter distribution is noted in the image (Figure 2a), fiber diameters around 1000nm and around 100nm. In Figure 2b, the nanofiber web has been used as scaffold for fibroblast cell growth. A comparison with the pure nanofibers in Figure 2a, clearly shows that the fibro-blasts have successfully adhered and spread on the scaffold material. A closer look at the image even allows interpretation about how the cells grow on the martial, which in this case seem to be by two mechanisms; the cells adhere to the surface of the fibers and attach mechanically to the scaffold by wrapping pseudopodia around the thin fibers. IFP has during the last two years focused on possibilities

to increase the porosity of nanofibrous scaffolds. The small pore size has so far been an obstacle in three-dimensional cell proliferation. Adequate cellular infiltration into the scaf-fold is crucial for development of a three-dimensional tis-sue construct, hence insufficient infiltration is a problem that must be solved before electrospun scaffolds can be utilized to their full potential. Several approaches are pos-sible and trials have shown the potential in the approaches developed so far. In the selected SEM-images in Figure 3, some structures are shown, which allow for porosity and pore size manipulation by means of combination of fibres with different diameter scales (nano and micro).

A separate study has been done, presenting the devel-oped method for electrospinning nanofibers on micro fib-ers (Figure 3b), that is currently prepared for publication. By electrospinning nanofibers onto single microfibers one ends up with long fibers containing the best of two worlds. The nanofibers are present to enhance cell adhesion and spreading although by collecting them on a microfiber they can easily be formed into any shape, size and, most importantly, any porosity. It is indeed a new and innova-tive way of creating highly porous scaffolds with a suitable combination of nano- and microfibers and thus, opens up for possibilities to create structures of desired morphologies.

Figure 2: SEM-images of electrospun a) poly(urethane urea) nanofibers b) poly(urethane urea) nanofibers acted as scaffold for fibroblast cell growth.

10µm 10µm

Figure 3: SEM-images of electrospun a) chitosan fibers b) polycaprolactone (PCL) fibers on micro fibers based on poly lactic acid (PLA).

10µm 10µm

27Textile Journal

IFP currently focuses on producing biosynthetic blood vessels, i.e. tubes, from electrospun biopolymer (gelatin and elastin) scaffolds with optimized porosity and mecha-nical properties. The latter is a pronounced bottleneck in the area today. The work is done in close collaboration with Professor Gatenholm at Chalmers, within the frames of the project Biosynthetic Blood Vessels, financed by Vetenskapsrådet/Stftelsen Strategisk Forskning/VINNOVA. In Figure 4, the equipment used for producing electros-pun tubes is shown. The equipment has been developed within the frames of a Diploma work by Erik Borg, con-ducted at IFP and Chalmers, within the research group of Professor Gatenholm. Tubes based on biomaterials with elastic characteristics have been produced and the fibrous structure verified by SEM-microscopy (see Figure 4).

Figure 4: Equipment for tube production, an electrospun tube and a SEM-image of its microstructure.


Wound care applications There is a huge potential to use electrospun nanofibers in wound care applications. One of the main benefits is based on the possibilities with encapsulation of various agents (chemical substances like growth agents etc) in the nanofibers. If the “agent” dissolves in the solvent, together with the polymer, nanofibers with distribution of the “agent” similar to that in the solvent is feasible. Together with suita-ble degradation behaviour of the biopolymer matrix, unique wound healing applications can be designed.

In Figure 5, an SEM-image shows nanofibers with encap-sulated, molecularly imprinted nanoparticles. The nano-fibers show an appearance like a string of beads, since the diameter of the beads is slightly larger that that for the nanofibers.

References [1]. Reneker, D., Chun, I., “Nanometer diameter fibers of polymer, produced by Electrospinning” Nanotechnology 7, 216-223, 1996.

[2]. Boudriot, U., Dersch, R., Greiner, A., Wendorff, J. H., Electrospinning approaches toward scaffold engineering – a brief overview, Artificial organs, (2006), 30(10): 785-792.

[3]. Borg, E., Frenot, A., Walkenström, P., Gisselfält, K. and Gatenholm, P. Jornal of Applied Polymer Scinece, 2007, in press.

[4]. Chronakis et al., Langmuir, 19, 2006

Figure 5: SEM-image of nanofibers based on poly(ethylene terephthalate) containing 5% Estradiol-molecularly imprinted nanoparticles [4].

10µm

3�Textile Journal

Cullus – from idea to patentDevelopment of sound absorbing, decorative, knitted textiles for public environments.

Professor Ulla Eson BodinLecturer Folke SandvikThe Swedish School of Textiles, THSThe University College of Borås, [email protected]@hb.se

Introduction

The Swedish School of Textiles, THS, the University College of Borås hosts a broad range of textile activities which forms a good foundation for interdiscipli-nary work and artistic development work, technology, engineering and design. We have deepened our competencies further by gearing our research towards technical textiles, interaction design, environment and sustainable development. The unique machine park available at the THS presents a challenge to both sci-entists and students as they collaborate with the technicians in experiments to create materials with entirely new characteristics.

30 Textile Journal

Ulla Eson Bodin, Professor in Textile Design at HDK, University of Gothenburg, Artistic Supervisor and Professor in Textile- and Fashion Design at The Swedish School of Textiles, University College of Borås 1996-2002. From 2002 Consulting Professor at The Swedish School of Textiles. Her research and artistic development work are based on knitting techniques for Smart textiles and she works as curator for exhibitions abroad.

Folke Sandvik, knitting technician and lecturer at The Swedish School of Textiles, University College of Borås.

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32 Textile Journal

In 1998 - 2000, Ulla Eson Bodin and Folke Sandvik worked together in the development project “Scenario”, costume-art for the stage (funded by the Faculty of Fine Arts, Göteborg University). Experiments with trans-parent and metallic yarns were devel-oped into three-dimensional textiles in computerized industrial machines. The intention was to create new materials for theatrical costumes, reflecting and transparent, with char-acteristics which would work with the lighting to enhance the theatrical formation. (Ulla Eson Bodin, CTF Journal 1/01)The “Scenario” project has inspired further development of three-dimen-sional knitted materials.Already in 2001 the development project “Sound absorbing, decora-tive, knitted textiles for public environ-ments” was started as a collaborative effort across the subject boundaries of engineering, technology and design. Funds were raised by the Research and Education Board at the University College of Borås.Initially professor CH Andersson was part of the project. After he passed away Hans Bertilsson, professor in fiber technology at the THS, and Sven-Olof Benjegård, acoustics con-sultant, have taken part in the devel-opment process of the project.

35Textile Journal34 Textile Journal

Textiles have often been found in abundance in our pub-lic environments, where the intention has been to create functional spaces. Floors have been covered with carpets, windows have been equipped with layers of curtains and in some instances even walls have been dressed in tex-tiles. The characteristics of the textile material have been utilized to create an aesthetical and functional environment. Over-use of textiles in public areas has tended to make them fire hazards. The textiles may be inflammable, they are dust-traps, and some materials give off poisonous fumes when burning. For different reasons textiles have disappeared almost entirely from public decoration. New, big and open architectonic rooms have hard floors, glass facades and concrete walls and thus lack sound absorp-tion. Modern restaurants, offices and technical environ-ments, schools, day care centers may generate sound levels above what is considered dangerous to one’s health.

When inspecting available sound absorbing materials one finds that different kinds of acoustic tiles are the most common products used to regulate acoustic environ-ments. They are normally applied in ceilings but also on walls to reach desired levels of sound absorption, reduce sound reflection, and give the room the reverberation time that will provide it with the most beneficial acoustic circum-stances for its use. This set installation leaves the room with a static result that makes the room inappropriate for music if it was originally designed for speech and vice versa.

In new buildings acoustic regulation is often performed by adapting the reverberation time of the room to its intended use – speech, music, machine sounds or noise. The den-sity of the material – flow resistance, thickness, and weight determine the sound absorbing ability of the material. Also, the sound absorbing material should be applied on a cer-tain distance from the wall to reach maximum results.The term variable absorbents apply to those which may be combined and are adjustable for rooms with varied uses.There should be space for new solutions here, e.g. mobile sound absorbents, with regard to flexibility, functionality, and aesthetics.


PurposeThe project started up with focus on the development of a new sound absorbing textile material. The purpose has been to create decorative, knitted wall elements and free-hanging room dividers and sculptural, three-dimensional shapes.Further, the purpose has also been to create a mobile, textile, architectonic “construction material” which through its design may be adapted and which will benefit modern public rooms.

Materials and technologyThe point of departure has been finding flameproof yarns in which to make the material. In public environments in Sweden such as hospitals, pre-schools, and schools fire security is important, why strong regulations have been placed on textiles. The corporation Trevira Neckelman A/S, Silkeborg, Denmark has developed a flameproof polyester yarn, Trevira CS, which fulfils current fire security requirements. Trevira CS Pemotex is a textured polyester yarn with an NSK component, (melting component) which becomes inflexible (stiffens and shrinks) when exposed to heat. Trevira Pemotex is protected by patent.

The knitted material, Cullus, has been developed and manufactured in a computer guided flat knitting machine in a so called tuck technique with racking, where the binding contains tensions. When the material leaves the knitting machine it rises up and forms three-dimensional peaks like those found in a carton of eggs, while it is still relatively thin and soft. The distance between the threads may be manipulated through knitting with long or short stitches. The number of threads, thread distance, needle setting on the machine may influence the final result in a positive or negative way.These three-dimensional shapes have been made in dif-ferent sizes with different yarn numbers. Furthermore, samples with metallic effects have been tried out to find varied aesthetical expressions. The computer guided knit-ting machines allow for development of three-dimensional surfaces with adjustable shape and size.All samples have been fixed in a heating cabinet.

The thermoplastic yarn Trevira CS Pemotex shrinks when exposed to heat and assumes a more stiff form. When woven the material has a papery look and feel (Fabric Design: Ulla Rangling/Christer Damberg, THS). The knitted variant gives a fuller and more flexible material. Selected materials have been tested in a stenter at the THS laboratory. The knitted material was placed on a cot-ton running cloth that was attached to both sides in the machine. Temperature and time settings were the same as for the tests in the heating cabinet. The soft and loose material slowly disappeared into the covered machine and emerged on the other side in perfect shape according to the calculations.


Sound tests and measurementsAfter concluding enough different tests the SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden was contacted. Test of the so-called pipe method were conducted. Small, circular samples, 10 cm in diameter, were applied over one end of a one meter long steel pipe and a loudspeaker sent sound into the other end of the pipe to meet the sound absorbing material. The test result came up to our expectations. The pure Trevira CS Pemotex, which gave the best results in the shrink tests, also came out best in the sound absorption tests.Assessment showed that the material possessed surpris-ingly good sound absorbing qualities.

After consultation and meetings with Sven-Olof Benjegård, acoustician and project advisor, and Sven-Ingvar Thomasson from Akustikgruppen in Malmö it was decided to manufacture the materials in the different shapes required to carry out measurements according to the reverberation room method. This kind of measurement gives a holistic view on the sound absorbing material.

The reverberation time is measured in relation to the absorbent and the volume of the room. Techn. Dr. Pontus Thorsson from the Akustikverkstan in Skövde carried out the measurements according to test-ing procedure SS – EN ISO 354 and measured absorption class according to SS – EN ISO 11645. Three materials with different structures, “peaks”, were put up in a specific reverberation room on the prescribed distance from the wall. Ten different samples were measured and assessed. Textiles with higher peaks gave a higher absorption factor. The three-dimensional surface is important for the mate-rial to absorb and diffuse the sound. Double textile layers heightened the rate of absorption drastically. The original idea was to develop mobile sound absorbents which may be placed with regard to the use of the room and also add a new kind of textile/architectonic formation to the room. The absorbents are variable in shape and color to create concordance with the architechture, add new aesthetical qualities, and at the same time offer a good acoustic environment.

Three-dimensional shapes, spheres, cylinders, and rec-tangles in steel wire constructions with envelope surfaces of similar sizes were dressed in the material tested earlier (advice from Sven-Olof Benjegård). Tests of sound absorb-ents have not been carried out previously (Pontus Thorsson).

Measurements were performed according to the SS – EN ISO 354 standard. Sound absorbents were placed ran-domly in the reverberation room. The envelope surfaces of the cylinder and the rectangle were of equal sizes. The absorption results of the cylinder and the rectangle were also similar, which indicates that envelope surface is more important than shape. The minor envelope surface of the spheres yielded lower absorption rates.The various shapes of the volume absorbents do not affect sound absorption. Different shapes with identical envelope surfaces yielded identical absorption results. The measurements and calculations resulted in how many shapes of equal envelope surface are needed in a room of a given volume to achieve a good acoustic environment.The shapes have been tested with a stuffing of mineral wool which increased sound absorption markedly, particu-larly for low frequency sounds.Calculations of the number of objects for a fictive room have been carried out with regard to the regulations in SS 02 52 68: Acoustics – Measurement of Sound Insulation in Buildings – Care premises, teaching premises, day nurseries and after-school leisure homes, offices and hotels. (Pontus Thorsson)

Report 04-08 2008-02-202 pages, 4 appendices

SOUND ABSORPTION MEASUREMENTS ACCORDING TO THE ROOM METHOD (ISO 354) FOR HANGING TEXTILES WITH STRUCTURE

CONCLUSIONSThe absorption coefficient for hanging textiles with two different structures have been measu-red according to the room method, SS-EN ISO 354:2003. The measurements were done with the textile hanging on two distances from the backing wall; 50 and 100 mm. Measurement results in terms of weighted absorption factor, w, and absorption class according to SS-EN ISO 11654:1997 is shown in the table below.

Specimen w Class

Small structure, 50 mm 0.40(MH) D Small structure, 100 mm 0.50(MH) D Large structure, 50 mm 0.40(MH) D Large structure, 100 mm 0.50(MH) D

CLIENTTextilhögskolan, 501 90 Borås Contact: Folke Sandkvist, [email protected]

WORK DEFINITION To measure the sound absorption coefficient according to the room method (SS-EN ISO 354:2003) for two different hanging structured textiles.The results shall be evaluated according to SS-EN ISO 11654:1997.

TEST SPECIMENS The following test specimens have been measured:

1. Small structure, hanging on 50 mm distance from backing wall. 2. Small structure, hanging on 100 mm distance from backing wall. 3. Large structure, hanging on 50 mm distance from backing wall. 4. Large structure, hanging on 100 mm distance from backing wall.

1

Akustikverkstan AB, St Bryne, 531 94 Järpås, Sweden, tel/fax +46 510 - 911 44 [email protected]


MEASUREMENT EQUIPMENT

Instrument Type Serial number

Real time analyzer Norsonic 830 11440Omnidirectional loudspeaker Elton Kub 1 6Microphone Norsonic 1230 24438Microphone Norsonic 1230 24355Microphone Brüel & Kjær 4192 2097389Microphone preamplifier Norsonic 1201 26022Microphone preamplifier Norsonic 1201 23686Microphone preamplifier Brüel & Kjær 883542Förstärkare Denon POA 2200 -

Table 1: The measurement equipment that were used during the measurements.

The measurement equipment complies with Class 1 equipment according to IEC 60651, 60804, 60942 och 61260. Date for the latest calibration is kept in our calibration log.

RESULTSThe measurements were performed according to the standard SS-EN ISO 354:2003. The measu-rement results have been evaluated according to SS-EN ISO 11654:1997 in terms of weighted sound absorption factor w. The measurement results are presented in condensed form in Table 2. Complete spectras and evaluations are presented in Appendices 04-08-A1 - A4.

The textiles hanging at 100 mm distance give results which are very close to absorption class C.

Specimen w Class

Small structure, 50 mm 0.40(MH) D Small structure, 100 mm 0.50(MH) D Large structure, 50 mm 0.40(MH) D Large structure, 100 mm 0.50(MH) D

Table 2. Measurement results.

Pontus Thorsson Ph D in acoustics

2

SOUND ABSORPTION COEFFICIENT ACCORDING TO ISO 354 AND ISO 11654

Measurement of sound absorption coefficient in a reverberaton room

Client: Textilhögskolan

Object: Structured textilewith small structure Hanging 50 mm from backing concrete wall

Frequency (Hz)

s (-) p (-)

50 0.0163 0.01 0.0080 0.03100 0.04125 0.03 0.05160 0.04200 0.12250 0.17 0.15315 0.14400 0.22500 0.33 0.35630 0.47800 0.571000 0.67 0.651250 0.761600 0.812000 0.79 0.752500 0.703150 0.594000 0.61 0.655000 0.77

63 125 250 500 1k 2k 4k 0

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Test sampleαpReferenceαW = 0.4(MH)Class D

Date of test: 2004-02-19 Object surface: 10.0 m2 Relative humidity: 82 %

Date: 2008-02-20 Reverberation room volume: 200 m3 Temperature: 5 °C

Test report 04-08-A1 Signature: Pontus Thorsson

Akustikverkstan AB, St Bryne, 531 94 Järpås, Sweden, tel +46 510 - 911 44 [email protected]





Object: Structured textilewith small structure Hanging 100 mm from backing concrete wall

Frequency (Hz)

s (-) p (-)

50 0.0263 0.01 0.0080 0.03100 0.04125 0.04 0.05160 0.06200 0.18250 0.26 0.25315 0.26400 0.37500 0.51 0.50630 0.62800 0.571000 0.73 0.751250 0.791600 0.732000 0.59 0.602500 0.553150 0.664000 0.68 0.705000 0.77

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Object: Structured textilewith large structure Hanging 50 mm from backing concrete wall

Frequency (Hz)

s (-) p (-)

50 0.0163 0.00 0.0080 0.02100 0.03125 0.01 0.05160 0.04200 0.13250 0.15 0.15315 0.16400 0.23500 0.34 0.35630 0.43800 0.561000 0.67 0.651250 0.761600 0.812000 0.76 0.752500 0.713150 0.624000 0.70 0.705000 0.83

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Akustikverkstan AB, St Bryne, 531 94 Järpås, Sweden, tel +46 510 - 911 44 [email protected] AB, St Bryne, 531 94 Järpås, Sweden, tel +46 510 - 911 44 [email protected]


PatentDuring the period of development applying for a patent was mentioned. When the absorption tests came out positive both Sven-Olof Benjegård and Pontus Thorsson suggested a novelty examiniation in order to determine whether it would be possible to apply for a patent for the innovation, the manufacturing method.Bengt Alvhage, Innovation Västra Götaland, was given a presentation of the project. Funds to pay for the novelty examiniation were granted and the patent firm AWA AB in Gothenburg was assigned the task of performing a novelty examiniation.In February 2005 a summary of the novelty examiniation was presented. A total of five patents were referred and attached. Four of those were American. These patents differ from our material as the manufacturing technique is not the same. We were recommended to proceed with our application for the patent.

Subsequently an application was made to Innovationsbron – VIMM II – to further develop the material and to complete the patent application process.The condition on which funds had been granted was that there must be no impediments to the use of the innova-tion (i.e. that the patent application would be dependent on another licence mentioned in the novelty investigation). This was confirmed by the person in charge of the investi-gation at AWA Patent, Joakim Frid.AWA Patent was assigned the task to proceed with the patent application.

What is being patented?A textile sound absorbent including the following stages:

• a thermoplastic thread material which is shrinkable;• binding together the thread material to make a

textile material (knitting);• the binding together stage includes the making of

local elevations (structures);• increasing the compactness of the material

through shrinking of the thermoplastic thread material under heating;

• and using this material as a sound absorbent (freely after the patent writing).

In April 2006 the application was sent to the Swedish Patent and Registration Office. It was now possible to publicly exhibit the material/prod-uct, Cullus, together with the Swedish School of Textiles’ exhibition BODY & SPACE in Milano, the principal furniture and interior decoration fair in Europe. The exhibition was noticed and the Swedish School of Textiles was invited to a summer exhibition in Paris by MateriO, an independent information center on materials. Since then the exhibition has been travelling in the care of MateriO to Brussels, Prague, Eindhoven and Lille. In june 2007 Cullus was presented at the Avantex exhibi-tion in Frankfurt – now in bright colours

Already in October 2006 a Swedish patent was granted and registered.




Object: Structured textilewith large structure Hanging 100 mm from backing concrete wall

Frequency (Hz)

s (-) p (-)

50 0.0163 0.01 0.0080 0.02100 0.06125 0.04 0.05160 0.07200 0.18250 0.24 0.25315 0.27400 0.37500 0.51 0.50630 0.61800 0.721000 0.79 0.751250 0.701600 0.582000 0.57 0.602500 0.713150 0.704000 0.76 0.755000 0.83

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Akustikverkstan AB, St Bryne, 531 94 Järpås, Sweden, tel +46 510 - 911 44 [email protected]


External collaborationA dialogue has begun about collaboration and further development of sound absorbents. The tricot corpora-tion Ivanhoe in Gällstad, which has been involved in the project, holds equipment for the making of prototypes. In the spring of 2007 the interested parties in question gathered to plan for and develop the material for industrial production.The research project “Good sound environment for pre-school and schools” has started in the municipal-ity of Mölndal, a project lead by Kerstin Persson Waye, docent in Public Health and Community Medicine at the Sahlgrenska Academy. The project includes Daniel Vestfjäll, techn. dr., dr. in Psychology, Applied Acoustics at the Chalmer’s University of Technology and the Department of Psychology at the Göteborg University, Marie Hult, techn. dr. White Arkitekter AB, and Bo Ljunggren, property administrator, the municipality of Mölndal.Kerstin Persson Waye has initiated a collaboration with the Swedish School of Textiles. A description of the Cullus project has been sent to the project group and an invi-tation has been extended to participate with tests and objects for tests in environments according to the recom-mendations of the group of scientists.In May 2007 Västerbergsskolan, Mölndal was presented with a suggestion for sound absorbents in the Cullus material to be placed in the canteen at the school. The proposal consisted of large fruit shapes, orange and lemon, in strong citrus colours.


Further developmentSome environments demand specifically tested materi-als to absorb and reflect sounds in a satisfying way. The material should be variable both when it comes to absorbing ability and aesthetical formation. Surfaces and structures, both colour and pattern, have to be able to be adapted to different environments.The purpose has also included the shapes/volume absorbents being programmed directly into and manufac-tured by the knitting machine. As an example, channels for supports (metal or Plexiglass) have been composed directly into the textile and adapted to different geometrical shapes such as pyramids, rectangles, and cubes.Textiles in synthetic materials contain static electricity, i.e. they absorb particles from the surroundings such as dust. Allowing a conductor thread into the knitting eliminates the static electricity. Metallic threads may readily be included in the knitting moment. Tests with yarns that are spun togeth-er and twisted have been carried out with varying results. The metal thread should be no thicker than 0,04-0,07 mm to maintain flexibility. Too thin threads will burst.The Cullus material may include different components and partly consist of non-sound absorbing materials. Through the addition of transparent intarsia patterns light may pour into and alter the product. Furthermore, additional charac-teristics may be added through interaction design: the material/product may be allowed to illuminate, change colours, and also create sound!


References:Ulla Eson Bodin, Scenario, “Costume-Art – opera and theatre”, CTF Journal 1/01

Ove Brandt, 1958, Acoustic planning, Statens nämnd för byggnadsforskning.

Absorption measurementsStatens provnings- och forskningsinstitut, Borås, according to the pipe method, April 2003Akustikverkstan, techn. Dr. Pontus Thorsson, according to the reverberation room method, November 2003Akustikverkstan, absorption measurement of sound absorbents, March 2005

PatentSwedish patent: Sound absorbing textile material and method of manufacturingSE 528 6635 C2Registered in October 2006

Exhibitions: BODY & SPACE, THSMilano, Fiera di Mobile, April 2006Paris, MateriO, June-August 2006Prague, Design Week, September 2006Brussels, Textile Fair, September 2006Eindhoven, Designers Week, October 2006Lille, Futurotextiles, October-January 2007

Invited to be presented as Profile of the Month October 2006, www.innovationsbron.vast.se, by Lena Blomberg, CEO Innovationsbron Väst, October 2006. Acknowledgements:Innovation Västra Götaland granted us the funds neces-sary for the novelty investigation, andVIMM II, Innovationsbron Västra Götaland has contributed funds for development and patent application.

53Textile Journal

Light Textiles

Barbara JansenDiploma Textile Designer Master studentThe Swedish School of Textiles, THSUniversity College of Borå[email protected]

Light textiles Is a research work which focuses on the development of light textiles based on the integration of optical fibres into textile structures. The aim is to create textile light designs which offer big light surfaces that have an even all over and strong light effect. Finally they could be used as big movable light screens in a space either private or public.

What am I? Am I a designer, researcher, artist or craftsman? Today I find myself as a desig-ner more and more in a field of cross-over of disciplines. As more as I enter the field of so-called Smart textiles as more I get lost in the question of who I am as a designer today and what are my tasks. I did not enter the field of Smart textiles because I wanted to be smart and therefore jumped into a trendy thing to do, no – I entered this field because I found a subject which affected me so strongly that I take risks everyday, to do things I have never done before, nor do I have knowledge about them. All started with me discovering again, that light is such an important part of human life that it also can challenge the textile desig-ner to include it into his/her work.

2006 Master Study Textile Design, THS2000-2006 Study: Textile + Surfaces Design Kunsthochschule Weißensee, School of Art and Design, Berlin, Weißensee2003-2004 Study: Kungliga Konsthögskolan, Stockholm

Optical fibres test weave in cooperation with FOV, Borås. Photo Jan Berg

ReferencesJansen, Barbara, Über Grenzen / Barbara Jansen - Mart Stam Förderpreis 2006, Berlin 2006

55Textile Journal

Woven light powered by Sun Energy Out of one year light experiences in extremes (in Scandinavia) the diploma thesis “woven light – powered by sun energy” (Jansen, 2006) arose. In this work the author of the present text had developed the basic idea to build up a textile surface with two different sides which each have individual functions. One of the sides is equip-ped with solar technology for energy generation and the other side has the function of a light source.It is a fascinating idea to develop light out of light. However the work emer-ged not only out of this fascination. Rather, it is understood as research in a new, defining field where different disciplines meet; textile technology and design, solar technology and micro- electronics. And it arose under belief that one of the present and future tasks of a designer is to be engaged with the utilisation of rene-wable energy sources. Out of this work many hand woven prototypes have been developed: both energy-generating and light-emitting.To continue the development of this design concept the next step is to work on the technical and industrial reproducibility of one functional side: light-emitting textile surfaces. That is the point there the current research on light textiles starts.

54 Textile Journal

Technical ResearchThe driving question for the present research work is: is it possible to produce light textiles based on the integration of optical fibres on shaft and jacquard looms?To start with a broad range of experiments with optical fib-res on industrial shaft looms has been set up to see if they would withstand the industrial weaving process.Based on the previous research weaving structures which support the right bending angles and right reflection bases for the light emitted through optical fibres to shine over their whole surface have been chosen. (Originally optical fibres are supposed to send the light from one end to the other without any “loss” or shining across their length.) General challenges with the use of optical fibres are their high sensibility to strong binding and kinking angles. To strong and sharp bending will damage the optical fibres permanently viz. the transmitted light will escape strongly at the bending angle and no light will go further through the optical fibre. A similar problem arises through scratches or alike damages. At the damaged point of surface the light will break out and afterwards no light will continue to shine - by just slight damage a sparkling side effect appears, but the all-over light effect gets clearly weakened. Therefore the challenge in the use of optical fibres on wea-ving machines is to assure that no strong bending angles or scratching damages occur throughout the whole pro-duction process. A further aspect is the slippery surface of the optical fibres. The equipment of the machine needs to be able to handle that. In spite of these challenges and struggles it can be said the tests have been mostly suc-cessful. Optical fibres withstand the weaving process and the samples are able to light up. Optical fibres have been tested both in the weft and warp system. The longest length of light shining through optical fibres in one piece in the weft insertion reached up to 1,60m (maximum mach-ine width). The light in the warp system passed until circa seven meters by eight meter warp length. From the weaving production point of view, after one year of tests on machines it can be recorded that suitable weave structures and material combinations have been found to permit the production of self-emitting textiles based on the integration of optical fibres into woven structures. Light dots cooperation with Textilforschungsinstitut Thüringen - Vogtland.


Does my work as a designer stop here? Though I can answer my research question positively today and a broad and deep technical development can be offered, is this enough to convince people to go in production of light textiles based on my ideas? Having reached the answer to my question, a thousand new questions have arisen: Flame retardency? Sustainable pro-duction and product life cycle? Who are your costumers? Who is your producer? How to connect the light textiles to a light source in a final product? What more do I need to become to be able to answer all these questions, to finally end up with a light textile design producible for the mar-ket? A chemist, specialist in environmental issues, marke-ting expert, electronic engineer?

Aesthetic Research

LightThis work is about designing in light, or to design with light through the media textiles. The future light textile pieces are supposed to be compositions of light and not light, of light harmonies- and tones. Working through the media textile will offer new possibilities of light designs in the space either public or private.

InteractionThe work aims towards a light textile design which will interact with its future internal and external environment and builds a bridge between these two spaces. Therefore an investigation of its future architectural space and its surroundings should be always seen as a necessity for inspiration, especially for customized designs for public spaces.

NatureInspiration from nature can be used to build a bridge bet-ween internal and external space; to create through them a link, a feeling that would hark back to our external envi-ronment; to let them be a multi-sensory inspiration in our everyday life. Nature is an endless multi-sensory inspiration source: visual, haptic, sound, smell and taste. The more we carefully reintegrate these qualities in our every day surroundings, the more they can become a positive coun-terpart to our often anonymous surroundings, and hectic and stressful lives.

TransparencySince the beginning of the research about light textiles transparent monofilament has been used as the warp material on hand looms. The choice of a transparent mate-rial arose out of the functional need to cover the light emit-ted from the optical fibres as little as possible. And there-fore to reach a light effect which is as strong as possible. Out of this functional necessity a specific aesthetic arose, it turned out to give the designs a special beautiful, light and transparent to semitransparent day expression. Since then is tried to keep this expression as the designs need to complete each other equally in day and night time from their aesthetic point of view. Beside that the transparent to semitransparent material qualities offer the possibility of interaction between internal and external spaces.

Tål mycket bilder.

Abstract layering of organic structuresPhoto B.Jansen


Haptic The haptic design is a further important aspect of my work. To have a sensitive and strong focus on the haptic expression of a surface, or the tactile perception of a surface, is for me very important. That is the reason why I am so highly interested in 3D-structures. A three-dimensional structure adds something to our environment that our senses can explore and perceive. Our eyes scan all the surfaces in their environment. Simple, clean and glossy surfaces are easily discovered, while complex three dimensional structures cause the eyes to explore, to go on expedi-tion, to dwell longer at a place. That is something I would like to restore to spaces again, to give spaces back something that makes people dwell, stay a while, calm down - in this hectic and fast-moving time.

3D jaquard weave optical fibresPhoto Jan Berg


Future Application As the need for light is concerning everybody, a design concept which is suitable and useful for a wide spectrum of users should be achieved. A light textile design concept which bases on a module system with two components could support that:• Standardised monochrome light panels (producible on shaft machine)• Completed by specific customised designs; designs that respond and interact on their future architectural frame and location. (Technical based on the monochrome weaves, produced on a full width jacquard machine)

Both modules could be used in standardised room dividing systems which provide the use of light textiles in a flexible and movable way in an interior space. To be used for tem-porary change of space: as sun protection in day time, as room dividers, to build light spaces in a space, etcetera.

Photo B.JansenPhoto B.Jansen


I am! I am a designer, an artist, a researcher and a craftsman. The designer and artist motivate my work. They build the heart beat of my work, they discover a need and challenge and keep me going even when solutions seem to be impossible. The researcher loves the challenge to discover new things, to ask ongoing questions, to question behind the borders of existing possibilities, and to systematically explore a new field step by step. The craftsman, what is the craftsman? I only know it is my hands, I need my hands to develop new things, to explore materials and their potentials. They are the part of me who unconsciously have memorised all my experiences – in different tech-niques, projects etc– they help me to network my thoughts and experiences to find new solutions.The designer of today needs to beco-me a part of networking of cross-over disciplines to realise his ideas. It is this new part of tasks which seems to be one of the most challenging aspects of the changing every day work. In the frame of this work it means to find lighting and electronic experts who help to find a lighting solution for the light textiles. And to find a weaving production partner who dares to try out a new field and to challenge their experts and machines with new, dif-ficult and risky materials.I guess the risk is always part of pio-neers and the field of Smart textiles is still a field for pioneers, for people who are brave and crazy enough to dare to try things which they have never done before.

65Textile Journal

Designing dynamic and irreversible textile patterns, using a non-chemical burn-out (ausbrenner) technique

Anna Persson Doctoral studentThe Swedish School of Textiles, THSUniversity College of Borå[email protected]

Linda Worbin Doctoral studentThe Swedish School of Textiles, THSUniversity College of Borå[email protected]

AbstractIn this ongoing practise-based design research project, a new technique for designing textile patterns is developed and explored; a non chemical burn-out (ausbrenner) technique.

As a first part of the project, experiments with conductive and traditional textile materials in knitted structures were designed. The knitted samples were made in cotton, wool, viscose, polyester and Kevlar (Kevlar 2008), and have all been combined with Kanthal heating wires (Kanthal 2008). When a voltage is applied to the textile, the heating wire leaves burned out patterns in the textile material.

The result is a new technique, where we can design irreversible textile patterns. We also suggest new design variables of relevance when designing dynamic textile patterns.

The overall aim is to explore different materials, material combinations and tech-niques for developing textile circuits and designing dynamic textile patterns. The knitted textile patterns change over time when a voltage is turned on or off in the textile circuits.

Anna PerssonPhD Student in Interaction Design at The Swedish School of Textiles, University College of Borås and Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology. She explores ways to integrate electronics and information technology in knitted textiles from an interaction design point of view.

Linda WorbinPhD Student in Textile -and Interaction Design at The Swedish School of Textiles, University College of Borås and Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology. "Dynamic Textile Patterns, Designing with Smart Textiles" is the title of her licentiate thesis, presented in 2006.

67Textile Journal

AcknowledgementsThe burn-out experiments were done at IFP Research (IFP Research 2007) in Borås. The knitted samples were made together with Tommy Martinsson and Fredrik Wennersten at the knitting and weaving departments at the Swedish School of Textiles University College of Borås (The Swedish School of Textiles 2008). The project is financed by Smart Textiles, an initiative in the Vinnova Vinnväxt pro-gramme (Smart Textiles 2008).

Material

Conductive materials in textiles Conductive materials e.g. copper, steel and silver are widely used in the industry for different processes – as a building material and for its conductive properties etc. In textile and fashion design, history shows some examples of metals used in textile structures and constructions. Threads of gold and other metals have been found in ancient textiles, used mainly for decorative purposes. In the 19th century crinolines came into fashion. These under-skirts were very wide and constructed of stiff materi-als, such as whales’ bones or steel (Waugh 1954).

Recently, the textile industry has made advances in the field of high performance textiles and yarns. Achievements in the textile industry have made it possible to enable elec-tronic devices to be directly integrated into the structure of textiles (Kim et al. 2004).

In the area of smart textiles, the demand for electrically conductive fibres used for sensors, shielding, dust and germ-free clothing and data transfer etc. is growing and modification of fibres based on conductive polymers seems to be an interesting approach, enabling these new functionalities (Kim et al. 2004).

Some recent research projects show examples of how conductive yarns (fibres and metals) have been used in textile constructions. Paradiso (Paradiso et al. 2005) describes a wearable health monitoring system where conductive yarns are used for textile sensors, electrodes

and connections. Wijesiriwardana (Wijesiriwardana et al. 2005) describes a research project in construction of con-ductive polymer electrodes for touch sensors. Stainless steel has been tested in hybrid yarns in woven structures for electro magnetic shielding (Su & Chern 2004). There is also research in the area of heat generating textiles using conductive fibres (Bhat et al. 2006).

Several examples of textiles with conductive qualities are described by Post (Post et al. 2000). A range of metal yarns are available on the market, both monofilament and multifilament yarn. One manufacturer of metal yarn is Bekaert (Bekaert 2008).

In this project two different conductive yarns have been used in the design of textile circuits. Kanthal heating wires (Kanthal 2008) have been knitted together with traditional textile materials. Copper yarns have been embroidered to provide electricity to the heating wires.

Traditional textile materialsOur oldest fibres, the natural fibres and the major four of them; flax, wool, cotton and silk, have been used in textile constructions since the beginning of textile making. Traditional fibres have a significant tradition compared with man-made fibres that have only been used since the 19th century.

In this project we have used traditional fibres in combina-tion with conductive metal fibres. The metals are providing electricity to the textile and are also used for generating heat. When the traditional fibres in the textiles are reacting to high temperatures, burned-out patterns appear. We have looked at different aesthetical expressions in tradi-tional material when heated or burned. For example, we have used polyester, not for its qualities to dry fast or to be strong, but for its melting qualities when exposed to high temperatures. Wool was used not only for the well known high flame resistant quality, but also for the aesthetic expression when burned.

66 Textile Journal

Textile pattern designTextile patterns and its motifs in Europe are historically coming from mythological, symbolic or ornamental deco-rations based on creatures of fables (sphinxes, birds, bulls etc.) and later with inspiration from the Eastern symbols for power (eagle, lion and the elephant), artistic vocabu-lary around the Mediterranean region, portrait and figural design (huntsmen, natives, flowers and nature, animals etc.). The aesthetic expression, in colour and style, has changed from simple and geometrical to richer and more detailed decorations. Today textile designers still find inspi-ration in historical textile patterns and often update them. Textile motifs today are still geometrical with floral shapes in new approaches and materials. But new approaches are entering the area of textile design where different kinds of information is used as inspiration when creating an aesthetic pattern. One example is Saldos pattern “Blind”, a textile with white dots printed in swell paint on a yellow fabric. For blind persons the tactile dots on the fabric are describing the colour yellow. Saldos pattern is a reported pattern (Saldo 2008). Another example of a textile pattern where information controls the actual design of the textile is made by the Danish textile designer Kirsten Nissen at Designskolen in Kolding (Designskolen 2008). She has used computer controlled jacquard technique to make a monotype pattern (direct pattern) from digital body measu-rement information.

Textile Pattern ClassificationIn what way a textile pattern is designed, is something that has been classified and divided into three main areas by Geijer (Geijer 1972);

Plain weave is a weave without decoration that could be exposed to different after treatments concerning structure, colour or embroidery etc.Monotype pattern (direct pattern) is a way of making a decoration/pattern during weaving, crafting or making tapestry etc.Reported pattern is a decoration/pattern that in advan-ced is prepared for mechanical conditions, reports etc.

An example of a textile pattern that fits into the “plain weave” category is the burn-out (Ausbrenner) technique. It is a design technique where a plain weave is exposed to chemicals and parts of the fibres are removed so that transparent “see through” parts in the textile pattern appear.

Using heat to create textile patterns is not a common way of designing a textile pattern, but there is an existing burning process that acts as a textile finishing processes. In this combustion process gas and oxygen is used to burn away fibre ends on textile surfaces (Wynne 1997). This burning process is used rather for tactile effects than for visual.

Dynamic textile pattern designThe textile patterns described above are all examples of textile patterns that are designed to keep the same colour and pre-designed shape during use. That is a quality of the textile pattern that most of us take for granted and can be described as a static textile pattern (Landin & Worbin 2004). This way of designing textile patterns is changing and today’s textile designers begin to design for a variety of patterns in the same fabric. The opposite of a static textile pattern is a dynamic textile pattern. Designing for dynamic textile patterns is made possible by fibres with new qualities. Today, a fibre in a textile structure can emit and transmit light, receive and transport electric signals or change colour due to environmental conditions like tem-perature, light or moisture. There are also other new upco-ming technologies concerning visual changes and expres-sions, like the electrochromic colours. This technique is now available to apply on paper where the electrochromic colour changes expression due to a low voltage.

By designing textile patterns using these new fibres, infor-mation from the environment can be shown in a textile. It is also possible to integrate computational technology in a textile to add temporal appearance. Just as any tex-tile material, computational technology can be seen as a design material for expressiveness and aesthetics (Hallnäs et al. 2002).


Some example of dynamic textile pattern is the Hydra and Running Plaid etc. (International Fashions Machines 2003-2008), Photonic Textiles (Philips Research 2008). More examples of dynamic textile patterns are exempli-fied by the former group Play Research (at The Interactive Institute, 2002-2004) and are presented in the book IT+Textiles (Redström, M, Redström, J & Maze 2005). A project where conductive materials have been used to sense the environment and to function as data buses (to transport data) are for example in the Intelligent garment project/Smart Shirt (Georgia Tech Wearable Motherboard) at Georgia Institute of Technology, USA.

Some of the new textile inventions are slowly finding there way to commercial products and applications on the mar-ket. Industrially produced products that are available today are for example found in areas like workwear, sportswear and applications for information technology, accessories and home furnishings. There are also textile products availa-ble with integrated light. Examples on handbags and table-cloths with light can be found at Luminex (Luminex 2008).

Most dynamic textile patterns are made to change expres-sion in a reversible way, they always return to the origin aesthetic expression. Another way of designing dynamic textile patterns is in an irreversible way. An irreversible textile pattern changes expression and does not return to its original aesthetic expression. That way of designing a pattern is exemplified by the textile pattern designed in this project.

To get a better overview of how to design with new mate-rials we suggest updating Geijer’s work by adding a new category. Geijer made her classification regarding traditional textile patterns, and we now need to relate and update this classification to dynamic textile patterns with a new heading:

Dynamic textile pattern is a textile pattern that is pre-designed to change expression due to environmental and/or computational conditions. We also suggest two sub headings to the new category. Designing a dynamic textile pattern is in many ways similar

to traditional reported pattern making, with regard to the planning and preparations made in advanced concerning the production. But the design of a dynamic textile pattern differs.

Sub headings:Reversible dynamic textile patterns are textile patterns that change expression due to environmental or compu-tational stimuli and always return to an original aesthetic expression. There is a starting point with x numbers of possible aesthetic variations.

Irreversible dynamic textile patterns are textile patterns that change expression due to environmental or computa-tional stimuli and that do not return to an original aesthetic expression. The aesthetic expression is built up (or torn down) during use.

We suggest adding the new category with two sub headings to Geijer’s classification in the following way:

A textile pattern will in this way be classified in at least two categories (for example as a plain weave and a dynamic reversible textile pattern).

Experiments

MaterialWe have been searching for materials that react in different ways when being heated or burned. We have looked for diversity in reactions, both visual reactions like in what way a material melts or changes colour, but also at what time a material starts to burn out and how fast. These reactions are depending on a range of factors such as the textile construction, the amount of voltage applied, the access of oxygen in the environment etc. The smell and the smoke of the material heated or burned are also things we have observed and considered when choosing what materials to go further with.

In the experiments made, a high resistance heating wire, Kanthal has been used (Kanthal 2008). The wire is a metal alloy, and due to its high resistance the wire gets warm when sufficient voltage is applied. The wire is commonly used as a heating source in electric household appliances e.g. ovens and hairdryers and as heating elements in indu-strial furnaces and processes.

Due to its good conductive properties, copper wire was also used in the experiments. The copper were embroi-dered and connected to the Kanthal wire in the textile, so that parallel connections were constructed. A voltage was applied to the copper threads that lead the voltage to the heating wire in the textile.

Knitted structures The knitted textiles were made in a single jersey circular knitting machine. The heating wire was knitted together with different traditional textile materials. The same knitting structure was used in all samples. All samples were knitted with white (bleached and unbleached) yarn, except for the Kevlar yarn that is yellow in itself. Twelve different samples with different combinations of materials were knitted. In the samples Kanthal heating wire was knitted in combination with different combinations of: cotton, wool, viscose, poly-ester and Kevlar.

Traditional Dynamic textile pattern textile pattern Reversible Irreversible

Plain weave

Monotype pattern(direct pattern)

Reported pattern


Experimental setup In the experiments we wanted to explore and compare the behaviour and expression of the different textiles when heating the Kanthal wire. The same procedure was applied on all textiles. The textiles were fastened on frames about 20 x 20 cm, so that small scale experiments could be carried out. Two copper wires were embroidered onto all the textiles to construct parallel connections with the heating wires in the knitted piece. The frames were placed in a fume cupboard at IFP Research, and a voltage from 12-15 V was applied to the two copper wires for 2-4 minutes on each textile.

Result of experimentsAs the heating wire gets warm, it gets red hot and starts to glow. The hea-ting wire leaves traces as patterns in the textile it is knitted together with. In the experiment the pattern shifted from yellow to brown to almost black. Different textiles showed different behaviour. Some textiles started to burn or glow after showing a brown or black pattern. Some textiles mel-ted and in others holes that almost looked like cuts along the heating wire appeared. The experiment show-ed that the expression of the burned out pattern depended on the material, the structure, how much voltage that was applied and for how long time the power was on.


Material combinations and observations 1: Cotton – Wool – KanthalAt 12 V and 30 sec. a light shade of brown appears in the textile. The pattern gets darker as the voltage increases to 15 V. After 2 min. the pattern is really dark brown and smoke appears that smells of burned bread.

2: Wool – Wool – KanthalSmoke appears almost immediately. At 12 V and 30 sec. small colourless holes appear. The holes grow bigger at two min. and at 15 V and just over 3 min. a stronger smoke is seen. At 3 min. and 30 sec. the textile splits as the holes become cuts. The cuts have a dark colour.


3: Wool – Viscose – KanthalSmoke appears immediately. At 12 V and 30 sec. some small holes appear and a very dark pattern is seen. The holes grow bigger and a strong smoke is seen at 2 min. and 15 V.

4: Cotton – Viscose – KanthalAt 12 V and 30 sec. a weak light brown pattern is seen and some smoke that smells of wet dog! At 2 min. some holes have appeared and the pattern is still weak. At 15 V and 3 min. and 30 sec. the textile smokes more and a darker pattern appears.


5: Viscose – Viscose – KanthalAt 12 V and 30 sec. some holes and a weak pattern is seen. At 2 min. and 15 V a darker pattern appears and a strong smoke that smells like burned paper develops. After some seconds the textile around the heating wire starts to glow and is burned. The glowing stops after a little while.

6: Viscose – Polyester – KanthalAt 12 V and 30 sec. a pattern is seen and holes appear. At 2 min. and 15 V smoke and a dark pattern have slowly appeared.


7: Polyester – Cotton – KanthalAt 12 V and 30 sec. small holes and a weak brown pattern is seen. At 15 V and 2 min. the holes have grown bigger.

8: Polyester – Wool – KanthalAt 12 V and 30 sec. the heating wire has melt out of the textile. Quite big holes can be seen and irregular brown dots have appeared. At 2 min. and 15 V smoke can be seen and the holes have become long cuts. Some glowing in the material can be seen. Since most of the Kanthal has melted out of the material, nothing more happens.


9: Polyester – Polyester – KanthalAt 12 V and 30 sec. the Kanthal is melting out of the textile. Small holes appear. At 15 V and 2 min. more holes have appeared and the textile is melting around the Kanthal. The soft material shows small melted dots in the burned edges.

10: Kevlar – Polyester – KanthalAt 12 V and 30 sec. a dark yellow pattern around the heating wire is seen. The smell appears to be a little “chemical” and small holes can be seen. At 1 min. and 15 V the textile melts and the pattern is darker yellow.


11: Kevlar – Cotton – KanthalAt 12 V and 30 sec. the textile smo-kes and a light brown pattern is seen. At 18 V the pattern becomes darker.

12: Cotton – Cotton – KanthalAt 12 V and 30 sec. the white cotton changes colour to light brown.


Concluding remarks

New design variables for designing dynamic textile patternsThis new way of adding a dynamic behaviour to a textile pattern is changing the design process and the making and use of a textile pattern. Some new design variables have therefore been identified. The textile patterns made in this project are designed directly in the construction of the knitted structure as reported patterns. The pattern is depending of the com-bination of the knitted heating wires and the embroidered cupper yarn. The expected, irreversible textile pattern can not be seen until the electronics are implemented and turned on for a first time. When power is turned on the pattern starts to change expression and will not return to its original appearance. It will change over time, and for example a square may appear and grow into stripes, lines may grow and change a whole surface into another colour etc.

Traditional design variables can be found for example on construction plans for manufacturing a textile. There you will find all specific data that is needed when producing a specific textile. For example colour is a given variable when designing. Traditionally it is describing one specific colour, for example red. But when designing a dynamic textile pattern, the colour has the ability to change. With that changes also the meaning of the variable colour. If it is a dynamic textile pattern that is designed, it might be better to describe it in words like: red colour outdoors and white indoor, as an example.

New design dimensions when designing dynamic textile patterns introduce new design variables:

The temporal dimensions introduce new variables, and due to the non chemical burn-out design technique we have to consider:- When will the power be turned on and off?- For how long time will the power be kept on or off? - What voltage should be used?

The spatial dimensions introduce new variables, and due to the non-chemical burn-out design technique we have to consider:- In what way should the context influence a visual chan-ge? In this case, things like the amount of oxygen, the position of the textile (hanging or laying) is of relevance.

Construction and aesthetic expressionWhen designing for changing qualities due to the non-chemical burn out design technique we also need to consider for example:- How many different inherent textile patterns can be visualized in the textile?- Do we want the changing expression to be obvious or subtle?- Can we construct the textile to break at a specific part?- How may the textile circuits and material stand or break at a specific voltage?

When combining new material and traditional material, all traditional qualities in relation to new variables are expressed in a number of ways. Some main aesthetical and visual reactions in the non-chemical burn-out techni-que that we have observed are: - Cotton: changes colour from white to light brown further on to dark brown- Wool: holes appear in the textile- Viscose: some holes appear when the material “disinte-grates” and colour change from light brown to dark brown- Polyester: the soft material turns into hard dots and holes appear when the material is melting


New techniques for making textile patternsWhen this dynamic irreversible textile pattern is produ-ced it looks like a traditional textile. For example it may look like a single coloured plain weave or a small structured knitted textile. The textile pattern does not appear until tur-ning a power supply connected to the textile on or off. In this project we aim to integrate computational technology, where a computer is programmed to control the power in the textile circuits. After the textile is made, the electronics need to be applied and computer programs need to be written. When the program starts to run it affects the textile and visualises a change of expression.

By using conductivity as a kind of “toaster” a pattern appears and the result can be seen as a new technique for making textile patterns in a non-chemical way. With this burn-out technique both traditional and dynamic textile patterns can be designed. A new technique changes the steps in a design process and that is one of the things we want to explore in this project.

Experimental design applicationFrom the experiments with the knitted textile burn outs, there were mainly three different distinct aesthetical expressions of the textile samples that could be observed. The materials melted, split or changed colour when a vol-tage was connected to the heating wire. Some samples showed more distinct behaviour and expression than oth-ers, due to the material combination. For this project three samples were found more interesting, and one of them, cotton, was chosen to develop for future work.

As a next step to explore this new design technique, we aim to design an experimental design application; a table-cloth reacting on mobile phone signals.

References

BekaertRetrieved February 14, 2008www.bekaert.com

Bhat NV, Seshadri DT, Nate MM, Gore AV, 2006. Development of Conductive Cotton Fabrics for Heating Devices. Journal of applied polymer science, vol 102. Retrieved October 19, 2007, from Wiley InterScience database.

Designskolen KoldingRetrieved February 14, 2008www.designskolenkolding.dk

Geijer, A. 1972 first ed. 2006 fourth ed. Ur textilkonstens historia. Gidlunds förlag

Georgia Tech Wearable MotherboardRetrieved February 14, 2008http://www.smartshirt.gatech.edu/gtwm.html

Hallnäs L, Melin L, & Redström J, 2002. Textile Displays; Using Textiles to Investigate Computational Technology as Design Material. Proceedings of NordiCHI, ACM Press

IFP ResearchRetrieved October 22, 2007www.ifp.se

International Fashions MachinesRetrieved February 14, 2008http://www.ifmachines.com/

KanthalRetrieved February, 14, 2008www.kanthal.com

KevlarRetrieved February, 14, 2008www2.dupont.com/Kevlar/en_US

Kim B, Koncar V, Devaux E, Dufour C, Viallier P, 2004. Electrical and morphological properties of PP and PET conductive polymer fibers. Synthetic Metals 146, Elsevier B.V. Retrieved October 19, 2007, from ScienceDirect database.

Landin, H & Worbin, L 2004, Fabrication; by Creating Dynamic Textile Patterns. Proceedings of PixelRaiders 2

LuminexRetrieved February 14, 2008http://www.luminex.it/

Paradiso R, Loriga G, Taccini N, 2005. A wearable health care system based on knitted integrated sensors. Information Technology in Biomedicine, IEEE

Philip ResearchRetrieved February 14, 2008http://www.research.philips.com/newscenter/archive/2005/050902-phottext.html

Post E.R, Orth, M Russo P.R, Gershenfeld N. 2000. E-broidery: Design and fabrication of textile-based computing. IBM Systems Journal

Redström, M, Redström, J & Maze (ed.) 2005. IT+Textiles. IT Press/Edita Publishing

SaldoRetrieved February 14, 2008http://www.saldo.com/saldo/saldo4/saldo4/index.html

Smart TextilesRetrieved February 14, 2008http://www.smarttextiles.se/eng

Su CI, Chern JT, 2004. Effect of Stainless Steel-Containing Fabrics on Electromagnetic Shielding Effectiveness. Textile Research Journal, SAGE Publications

The Interactive InstituteRetrieved February 14, 2008http://www.tii.se/

The Swedish School of TextilesRetrieved February 14, 2008www.textilhogskolan.se

Waugh N, 1954 first ed. second ed. 2000. Corsets and Crinolines. Routledge/ Theatre Arts Books.

Wijesiriwardana R, Mitcham K, Hurley W, Dias T, 2005. Capacitive fiber-meshed transducers for touch and proximity-sensing applications. Sensors Journal, IEEE

Wynne, A 1997. TEXTILES. Macmillian Education LTD

89Textile Journal

Textile for the future Ola Toftegaard, Managing DirectorThe Swedish Textile and Clothing Industries Association, [email protected]

2007 The Swedish textile and clothing industries association (TEKO) celebra-ted 100 years in operation. Today's Swedish textile and clothing industry is a modern quality-oriented industry with advanced technology, continuous product development and a strong environmental awareness. The industry is highly international, in the supply of raw materials, product adaptation, production col-laboration, marketing and export.The Swedish textile and clothing industry has undergone considerable chan-ges during the last decades. Parallell with an increased internationalization of both trade and production individual companies have focused their business to manufacturing processes and products matching their best professional capaci-ty and their strongest competitiveness. This implies that most companies today are operating in niches – with potentials for further development – and providing their customers with an added value and not just a product.

Ola Toftegaard, Man. Dir. TEKO - Swedish Textile & Clothing Industries‚ Association.

Head of secretariat, SWEPRO, National Board of Trade.

Assistant Vice President, International dept. Stockholm Chamber of Commerce.

Investigation officer at Arlanda Customs Authority.

9�Textile Journal

Specialisation and niches

Swedish textile and clothing articles are characterized by high quality.The added value may also be a unique design in line with or at the front edge of fashion development. For interior textiles the design may also be inspired by the rich textile cultural tradition in Sweden. Furthermore, a reliable cha-racteristic is the great environmental concern as regards both manufacturing processes and qualities of the finished products. For most textile products, and for technical texti-les in particular, excellence in function is a distinctive trait.

Technical textiles

Technical textiles or textiles for industrial use are expanding sectors in Sweden. Geotextiles, a variety of textiles for the automotive industry, felts and fabrics for use in paper and pulp production, hygiene articles, parachu-tes, filters for air and liquid purification, and sails are some examples in this innovative branch. Sweden is also world-leading producer of fabrics for greenhouses. Technical textiles made in Sweden are being exported globally. The positive trends in the export figures continue 2006 the numbers had dubbeld from 10 years before. Half the export value consist technical textiles.

90 Textile Journal

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Affisch 01-08-20 16.10 Sidan 1


New products –one example

Oil marker takes “fingerprints” on waste

The Oil Flotation System 2000 from Airsafe Sweden AB is a commercial success that police, coast guard and other organisations applaud, “…and foremost the environment of course”, as the motivation to the Textile Product of the Year Award, technical or industrial textiles category 2007, from TEKO states. Airsafe Sweden AB has along with the (Swedish) coast guard developed a system to test oil discharge residue at sea. The system can also be used for tracking, search and rescue operations.

The oil marker system is dropped from an airplane with the help of a small stabilisation shield. When the case hits the water surface a buoy automatically inflates on the surface. On the buoy there is a clinically clean absorbing filter which can pick up tests of oil residue in contaminated areas. Then a corresponding test is taken on a suspected vessel. The tests can be compared like fingerprints and identify the vessel which has let oil out. The test can be used as sustainable evidence in a legal proceeding.

The advantage of the Oil Flotation System 2000 is that it is cheap and simple compared to other methods of testing oil residue. It is also the only one that is used from the air, which gives great advantages for testing the oil since going in with a ship might contaminate the residue.

The system was first tested in the year 2000 and was used in a legal process for the first time 2002-2003. Around a hundred buoys have so far been sold to the Swedish coast guard, but Airsafe now hopes for an inter-national breakthrough as orders and test orders have come from many European countries as well as from Asia, North America, Australia and South America.

The textile components of the system consist primarily of strings, ropes and cloth of nylon. The product is manu-factured in Airsafe’s parachute factory in Upplands Väsby outside Stockholm.

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Melt spinning of conductive textile fibers

Anna Nelvig and Bengt Hagström, Swerea IVF, Textile [email protected], [email protected]

In the year of 1889 the first man-made fiber, viscose, was introduced. Since then many different kinds of man-made fibers have been introduced and used for areas such as clothing, hygiene products, geo-textiles and medical applica-tions. The development has allowed for production of highly functional fibers, for example antistatic, flame resistant or waterproof fibers. Today an important research area concerns production of electrically conductive fibers, fueled by the development of so-called smart textiles. Smart textile applications are for example sensors (pressure, strain, ECG signals, temperature, chemical sub-stances and gases), wearable electronics (computing, communication, or heat-ing/cooling systems), electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding, and appear-ance-changing garments1.

Melt spinning at IFP Research ABFiber spinning is an area in focus at IFP; hence we have large experience of melt spinning. We have a well equipped polymer-processing laboratory with compounding machinery and bench scale facilitates and a pilot plant were we can spin single and bi-component polymer fibers and stretch them into yarns. For the time being we are focusing on melt spinning of temperature regulating fibers (phase change materials) and of electrically conductive fibers.Electrically conductive fibers IFP have been running a project where we have been working with polymer materials commonly used for melt spinning. To obtain conductivity these materi-als are mixed with electrically conductive fillers such as carbon black or carbon nano tubes. The work described in this article is based on polypropylene (PP) and carbon black (CB).

PrincipleThe polymer is mixed with CB in a melt compounding operation at elevated temperature. The idea with conductive fillers is shown in Figure 1. For the mate-rial to be conductive the amount of CB must be so large that the percolation threshold is reached. The percolation threshold is the very point where the CB particles form a conductive network within the polymeric matrix as shown in Figure 1a. To accomplish conductive properties within a fiber the amount of filler must be even higher. As the fibers are spun and stretched the distance between the particles is increased, as illustrated in Figure 1b. For the fiber to be conductive the particles must be in contact with one another, as in Figure 1c.

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Bengt Hagström has been working at IFP Research since 1997. He is managing the fibre-spinning group and is a specialist in polymer processing and polymer melt rheology. His present research focus is on melt spun functional textile fibres. 1Smart and interactive textiles - a market survey. International Newsletter Ltd (2005)Figure 1. Polymer chains (red) mixed with carbon black particles (gray) as conductive filler.

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Spinning We have used a capillary rheometer to extrude PP mixed with different amounts of CB. The samples were extruded at 230 ˚C through a narrow capillary (Figure 2). Initially samples were taken from all compounds without any stret-ching, resulting in threads with a diameter of approximately 0,9 mm.

To obtain thinner fibers the PP/CB-compounds were winded on a small rotating aluminum drum, placed half a meter below the capillary exit (again see Figure 2). The speed of the drum was varied in the range 75-220 m/min, resulting in fiber diameters of 70-40 µm corresponding to draw ratios in the range of 165-482 (speed of drum divi-ded by the speed at the capillary exit).

The compounds holding 8 wt % CB and more were not spinable due to spin line break, meaning simply that they cracks when we try to stretch them. Another problem we came across during the spinning experiments was spin line instability see Figure 3.

This phenomenon could be seen for every compound of PP/CB that was spinable, that is, compounds with 7 wt % CB or less. Hence, the diameter of the fibers so produced varies slightly along their length. The smaller amount of CB the compound is holding, the lesser is the problem. However, the instability was still observed even when spin-ning a compound holding 1 wt % CB.

Figure 2. Fiber spinning from capillary rheometer.

Figure 3. Schematic illustration of spin line instability.

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Conductivity measurements The conductivity of the fibers was measured by means of a four-point method shown in Figure 5.

This method is used in order to minimize problems with contact resistance. In the case of un-stretched threads, the method is simple and straightforward. In the case of stretched fibers we took a bundle of fibers and used silver paint to obtain contact between each fiber in the bundle. The current I (A), and the voltage U (V), in the circuit are measured. The electrical resistance is calculated accor-ding to Ohms law:

R = U / I

The cross section area, A (cm2), for the threads is based on measured values of the diameter. For the bundles of fibers the cross section area is based on the bundles weight and length and the density of the PP/CB mixture. L is the length of the conductive thread/bundle in the circuit. By this we can calculate the volume resistivity, rv ( cm):

rv = R * A / L

The conductivity s (S/cm) is the inverse value of the resistivity:

s = 1/rv

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Rheological measurements The shear viscosity (magnitude of the complex viscosity) was measured by means of a cone-and-plate rheometer in oscillating mode. The results can be seen in Figure 4.

It is not possible to spin the compounds with an amount of 8 wt % CB and higher (red lines in Figure 4) due to spin line breakage. Those compounds have a rheological beha-vior more or less like an elastic material (no viscous flow), indicated by the straight lines with the slope -1 in the dou-ble logarithmic diagram. The compounds with 7 wt % CB or less (blue lines in Figure 4) is spinable. As the amount of CB in the compounds decreases the spinability improves.

The rheological behavior of the compounds show that 7 wt % CB in PP is almost, but not entirely, elastic (slightly curved line). The elastic behavior of the compounds is decreased, as the loading of CB gets smaller, shown by the shapes of the curves.

Figure 4. Complex viscosity of polypropylene with different loadings of carbon black at 210°C. The shear strain amplitude was 1%.

Figure 5. Four-point method for conductivity measurements.

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The results from measurements on the threads are sho-wed in Figure 6. As to be expected, the conductivity is increasing with the amount of CB. The same behavior can be seen in Figure 7 were measurements on fibers are shown. The conductivity decreases the more the fibers are stretched. The compound of 6 and 7 wt % CB can obviously withstand more stretching than the one of 4 wt %.

Figure 6. Conductivity of polypropylene threads, 0,9 mm diameter, with different loadings of carbon black Figure 7. Conductivity in spun polypropylene fibers with different loadings of carbon black.

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Applications for conductive fibers Volume resistivity of different classes of materials is shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8: Volume resistivity of different classes of materials2. ESD: Electrostatic dissipative. EMI: Electromagnetic Interference. RFI: Radio Frequency Interference.

The fibers presented in this work, see Figure 7, show resistivities in the range 40 – 106 W cm. Higher resistivi-ties are of course easily obtained by decreasing the CB loading further below 4 wt-%. Such fibres can find uses in applications requiring antistatic properties like carpets and furniture. Fibers in the range 102-108 W cm may find app-lications in work wear for people working in the electronics industry. Fibres with the highest CB loading may find app-lications in cloths and textiles with the ability to shield from electromagnetic fields and radio frequency radiation (e.g. mobile phones).

Today’s electronics rely on highly conductive metals like silver, gold and cupper for signal transfer and power supply. Metallic threads are knitted or weaved into textiles for usage as sensors, for example measuring movements or heartbeats, and to transfer signals and electric power. In order to implement the metal in the textile the machines needs to be rebuild. By using conductive polymeric fibers instead of metallic threads, it would be possible to produce lighter and more flexible textiles on already existing machines.

2http://www.fibrils.com/PDFs/perc%20curve-crystalline.pd

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TextileInteractionDesign

LarsHallnäsTheSwedishSchoolofTextiles,THSUniversityCollegeofBorås,[email protected]

JohanRedströmInteractive[email protected]

Introduction

For the last ten years, we have been investigating the intersections between textiles and information technology, between textile and interaction design. Through a series of design experiments focused on emerging expressions and aesthetics rather than technical functionality, we have created a series of design examples and exhibitions. Now, almost ten years after our first experiments, the area of “smart textiles” is in a quite different position and there has been a defi-nitive move from initial small-scale experiments to larger research programmes and educational curricula, as the understanding of the design and research issues have deepened.

In the following, we would like to revisit some issues in the previous research process as to be able pose some questions for the future. As research unfolds, we must ask whether initial ideas about core research issues are still valid or if we instead should direct the attention elsewhere. Especially, we continuously have to address the question of how to frame and express the basic aesthetic perspectives necessary for this kind of research.


Lars Hallnäs, professor in interaction design at The Swedish School of Textiles, THS, University College of Borås, UCB and visiting professor, Chalmers University of Technology.

Johan Redström, Design Director & Senior Researcher at Interactive Institute.



Ashorthistory

FirstProgram

The starting points for this research came from our work on Slow Technology, a design program centred on the aesthetics and especially temporal expressiveness of computational technology (Hallnäs and Redström 2001). The first design research program for textiles and compu-tational technology published in the Nordic Textile Journal (Hallnäs et al 2002b) were based on two basic (re-)defi-nitions: that computational technology is a material, and that computational things are displays. The focus of the program was the interplay between spatial and temporal gestalt in the design of everyday (textile and computational) things. As such, the program called for a close integration and combination of computational and textile materials on basis of their expressions rather than in terms of techno-logical innovation. Although such technological innovation will be part of the research carried out, the idea was work on basis of an aesthetic perspective.

The very first experiments we made explored different kinds of both static and dynamic projections on textile sur-faces, including surfaces that would move slightly (e.g. the Chatterbox, Redström et al 2000). The projections were later replaced by more focused work on the movements and dynamics of textile materials as expressions of infor-mation and computation (e.g. the Information Deliverer, Hallnäs et al 2002a).

Definitions,programs

As practices and disciplines change and evolve in relation to new technologies and their possibilities, relations to other disciplines sometimes have to change too. With the emergence of smart textiles, new intersections between textiles, electronics, computation, etc. have been created (cf. e.g. Braddock and O’Mahony 2005, Van Langenhove and Hertleer 2004). To ground collaborative research, as well as to frame research questions, we can not always rely on established disciplines and normal modes of con-duct in such situations and there is often a certain need to reframe questions and revisit basic definitions in terms of both theoretical and practical experimentation. In this work, we have aimed not only at joining people from such diverse disciplines as textile design and interaction design, textile and electrical engineering, but at creating a new common ground for such diverse disciplines as textile design and interaction design, textile and electrical engine-ering, etc. in order to explore smart textiles, their applica-tions and implications.

The research discussed here works with notions of “pro-grams” and “definitions” as a way of dealing with such issues (cf. Hallnäs and Redström 2006). Programs are used to frame questions and gather resources, creating a basis for experimentation by setting an overall agenda and design focus, often also including basic research methodology. Definitions, on the other hand, are specific proposals, or propositions, regarding what it is we design and experiment with. For instance, such definitions can be about re-defining what a certain kind of object is, like how we initially defined a computational thing as a display, i.e. as something presenting the results of computation. It could also be a (re-)definition of what a certain kind of design is all about, as in how we worked with definitions of interaction design as “act-design” (as distinct from e.g. a kind of design being about interfaces or interactive artefacts).

This makes it possible to trace general developments and basic transitions in how both programs and definitions are revisited and restated as the research process unfolds. And so before presenting a new program, let us revisit some of the original ideas and experiments.

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The Information Deliverer (Hallnäs et al 2002a).The Chatterbox (Redström et al 2000)

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SecondProgramAfter the first experiments, which in many ways were quite abstract, there was a shift towards working with app-lications. Working with a wider range of disciplines, as well as with both academic and industrial partners, a new program called “IT+Textiles” was formed where notions of materiality where combined with a stronger focus on use and use contexts (Redström et al 2005). While notions such as that computational techno-logy is a material, and that compu-tational things are displays were still central, additional perspectives were added. Especially by the (re-)definition of interaction design as being act of use. In this program we also put focused on a certain kind of applica-tions for smart textiles, namely infor-mation and communication devices. The basic perspective was, however, kept as we worked with emotional and aesthetical aspects of communi-cation. Working with everyday things and environments, the program was also an exploration of the transforma-tion of everyday things by the intro-duction of information and communi-cation technology, and how this might create new intersections between the traditions of technology development, textiles, and craft.

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Tic Tac Textiles (Eriksson et al 2005) The Energy Curtain (Ernevi et al 2005)

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Reformulatingbasicpositions

During the last 5 five years there has been significant developments within the area of smart textiles. There are now both curricula, PhD programs and established con-ferences. It is a development that goes from experimental products to systematic investigations, and development, of basic advanced textile design- and construction tech-niques (cf. Berglin 2005a, 2005b); and from experimental design programs to development of foundations for a changing textile design (cf. Hallnäs and Zetterblom 2004, Jacobs and Worbin 2005, Landin and Worbin 2005, Worbin 2005).

Although there have been significant developments in terms of both theory and practice, the basic need to deve-lop a new textile and interaction aesthetics remains. There is a constant need for developing the basic aesthetic per-spective as to make sure we continue to push the boun-daries of the design space avoiding irrelevant technological kitsch and too-early conservation of expressiveness possi-bilities. And so we formulate a new position with respect to aesthetics based on the results and knowledge gained – a kind of textile interaction design aesthetics.

The notion of “textiles” refers usually to categories of materials, techniques and products. As such there is a natural distinction between the areas of textile- and fashion design, textile technology and textile management. Smart Textiles extends the material- and technological basis for the textile area thus forcing textile design to radically chan-ge. This is somehow the common picture; smart textiles design is technology-driven. But it would also be possible to turn this picture up side down.

Let us imagine we view textiles from the point of view of use and expression of use. “Textiles” is then not primarily a matter of materials and techniques, but things we use for this or that. From this point of view, smart textiles extends the product/things basis for the textile area forcing texti-les technology – and management – to radically change: smart textiles is design-driven. In this up side down picture, Smart Textiles is seen as a design program that is a driving force in the development of technology and management.

In reformulating our initial position we sketch in what fol-lows a program for textile interaction design. In a design program we always refer – implicitly or explicitly – to a notion of form that defines the design perspective the program rests on. There is, for example, a big dif-ference in automotive design that focus on construction of the car and the design of its outer shape respectively; we build the car and form its outer appearance. In the first case it is a matter of expressing functionality, while in the second case it is perhaps more a matter of expressing style in a broad sense.

Textileinteractiondesign

By interaction design form we understand in what follows the way a thing/system relates function and interaction to each other. Function refers to what the thing/system does when we use it. Interaction refers to what we do when we use the thing/system. Thus, in textile interaction design focus is on a relation between function and interaction, e.g., the carpet is not first of all the thing laying on the floor, but a relation between me walking, talking, sitting, etc. and the carpet protecting, absorbing, being soft, etc. This relation has its foundation in our exploration of two basic questions:

(A) What are we doing using textile things?(B) What are textile things doing when we use them?

It is the way in which we answer these two questions that draw the boundaries of the design space. It is here we formulate the foundations of the design program. This is not far from actual fashion design practice, but for textile design, being much more technical in nature, it would be a rather radical shift in perspective.

So what does it mean and how does this view of textile interaction design relate to smart textiles issues like the integration of textile- and computational technology and the use of new high tech textile materials? Since we do not start off from materials and techniques there are no, implicit or explicit, boundaries drawn up by materials and technology. It is for instance rather natural to interpret “being flexible” in terms of integrating programmability and stretch-ability.

The more general issue here is somehow to redefine “tex-tiles”, not in terms of new materials and techniques, but in terms of characterisations of relations between “textile” function and “textile” interaction. As a design program it focuses on exploring definitions of “textile” function and “textile” interaction as a foundation for experimental inter-pretations of the relations between them. This is not mainly a matter of conceptual work, but design work that can

take many different forms: things, experimental products, video works, photography, performances, interventions, text, etc. We express this relation; being “textile” is a pro-perty of the relation. The basic program aim is thus to explore this alternative way of defining “textiles” in terms of expressions of interaction; it opens up an opportunity to explore and suggest new meanings through a sort of experimental textile interaction design. We design with focus on a “textile” expression of interaction.

So let us imagine we design something and present it as textile design with reference to a textile expression of interaction. What could that mean? Well, we explain what it means to use it and what it does as we use it and finally point out the basic characteristics of the way in which it relates these two perspectives in a “textile” manner. It is like presenting a car; we explain what it means to drive it, we give a basic technical description of the car and then we say something like “so you see it is a rather sporty, environmental friendly, etc, vehicle”. We could of course do the same with a “carpet” without any reference whatso-ever to weaving, wool, etc.

However, notions of function need not be as detailed as in the description of the use of a car or carpet. Just as current textile design sometimes (have to) work with more general functional properties such as sound absorption, heat isolation, softness, etc., so could textile interaction design by asking basic questions like how isolation proper-ties are related to my body heating the material, how the sounds I make relate to the acoustics of the textile, etc. In this sense, work with interaction form might still be rather abstract or vague with respect to use, but still highly speci-fic in terms of expressiveness. Indeed, a typical example of an experimental design program along this line of thinking would be to systematically explore notions like “soft”, “flex-ible”, etc., as basic characteristics of a textile expression of interaction.

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Remarks

Textiles “do” things also without electronics or computa-tion, and thus explorations of textile expressions of inte-raction need not be restricted to the area of smart textiles. Explorations of notions like soft, flexible, etc., does not have to be based on how new and increasingly smart textiles might extend temporal flexibility, e.g., materials that can be re-programmed or that have elaborate program-med dynamics. In fact, studies of textile interaction form will probably imply work on both smart as well as more traditional textile design.

This issue of how we may relate to the dynamic proper-ties of smart textiles is also one of the things that differ the most between our early experiments and the new pro-gram proposed here. Whereas we from the start set out to explicitly explore relations between spatial and temporal form, in order to put an emphasis on how we might think about combining textile and computational material from an aesthetic point of view, this new program deals much less with the issue of material integration. Instead, it is a respon-se to the increasing body of work on such new materials, and how an often technology-driven development risks generating solutions waiting for a problem; a kind of tech-nological kitsch where issues of how function, interaction and form are related to each other have been neglected.

What is difficult here is to think upside down. It is difficult to leave the idea that it is certain materials, technologies and techniques that characterises “textiles”, even if it is just for the purpose of exploring an experimental design program. But the basic problem is that foundations are already uns-table. Already now, it is difficult to define what constitutes a textile material or technique in a way that will not just conserve the status quo, thus risking that new smart texti-les will be treated as yet another component of information and communication technology development. We need to find other ways of expressing a design-driven perspective on smart textiles. We need to dwell on the issue of textile things, to revisit and rethink matters of function and use.

References

Berglin L. (2005a). Spookies: Combining Smart materi-als and Information technology in an interactive toy. In: Proceedings of Interaction Design and Children IDC 2005, Boulder, Colorado, USA.

Berglin L. (2005b). Design of a flexible textile system for wireless communication. In: Proceedings of Autex Conference 2005, Portoroz, Slovenia

Braddock, S. and O’Mahony, M. (2005). Techno Textiles 2 – Revolutionary Fabrics for Fashion and Design. Thames & Hudson.

Ernevi, A., Jacobs, M., Mazé, R., Müller, C., Redström, J., & Worbin, L. (2005). The Energy Curtain: Energy Awareness. In Redström, M., Redström, J. and Mazé, R. (Eds.) IT+Textiles. Edita Publishing.

Eriksson, D., Ernevi, A., Jacobs, M., Löfgren, U., Mazé, R., Redström, J., Thoresson, J. & Worbin, L. (2005). Tic Tac Textiles: A Waiting Game. In Redström, M., Redström, J. and Mazé, R. (Eds.) IT+Textiles. Edita Publishing.

Hallnäs, L. and Redström, J. (2006). Interaction Design: Foundations, Experiments. Borås, Sweden: The Textile Research Centre, Swedish School of Textiles and the Interactive Institute. Available online at: slowtechnology.se/book

Hallnäs, L., Melin, L. and Redström, J. (2002a). Textile Displays; Using Textiles to Investigate Computational Technology as Design Material. In: Proceedings of NordiCHI 2002. ACM Press.

Hallnäs, L., Melin, L. and Redström, J. (2002b). A Design Research Program for Textiles and Computational Technology, The Nordic Textile Journal, 1/02

Hallnäs, L. and Redström, J. (2001). Slow Technology; Designing for Reflection. In: Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, Vol. 5, No. 3, 2001. Springer.

Hallnäs L. and Zetterblom, M. (2004). Design for Sound Hiders, The Nordic Textile Journal 1/04.

Jacobs, M. and Worbin, L. (2005). Reach: Dynamic Textile Patterns for Communication and Social Expressions. Proceedings of Extended Abstracts, CHI 2005, ACM Press

Landin, H. and Worbin, L. (2005). The Fabrication Bag- An Accessory To a Mobile Phone. Proceedings of Ambience 05, Tampere University of Technology

Van Langenhove, L. and Hertleer, C. (2004). Smart Textiles In Vehicles: A Foresight, Journal of Textile and Apparel, Technology and Management, Vol 3, No 4.

Redström, J., Ljungstrand, P. and Jaksetic, P. (2000). The ChatterBox: Using Text Manipulation in an Entertaining Information Display. In: Proceedings of Graphics Interface 2000,

Redström, M., Redström, J. and Mazé, R. (Eds.) (2005). IT+Textiles. Helsinki, Finland: Edita Publishing Oy/IT Press.

Worbin, L. (2005). Textile Disobedience, When Textile Patterns Start to Interact. Nordic Textile Journal 1/05.

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Nanotechnology for textile applications – or how to make something from nothing

Anja Lund PhD student, The Swedish School of Textiles, THSUniversity College of BoråsThe Department for Materials and Manufacturing Technology at Chalmers University of Technology in [email protected]

Hans BertilssonProfessor, The Swedish School of Textiles, THS, University College of Borås

In September 2006 a research project was started at The Swedish School of Textiles, with the broad aim of finding use for carbon nanotube/polymer com-posite1 materials in textile applications. This article gives a background to the project and presents preliminary results.

Carbon nanotubes – what are those?Carbon nanotubes (CNT) are closed cylinders consisting only of carbon atoms, with diameters of just a few nanometers2 (nm) and lengths ranging from 100 nm to tens of micrometers. As properties of CNTs started to be explored in the early 1990’s, it was found that they showed flexibility combined with excellent mechanical and thermal properties, and a variety of electrical properties. While thermal conductivity is high, electrical conductivity depends on the atomic struc-ture, and ranges from conductive to semiconductive. These properties in com-bination with the small size, have encouraged scientists as well as the industry to explore the possibilities of putting carbon nanotubes into practicable use. Fig. 1 shows a single-wall carbon nanotube. There are also double-wall and multi-wall carbon nanotubes, having two or more concentric layers.

Anja Lund is a PhD student in polymer technology at The Swedish School of Textiles in Borås in collaboration with The Department for Materials and Manufacturing Technology at Chalmers in Göteborg. Her work is focused on carbon nanotube-composites for textile applications. She holds an MSc in Textile Technology.

Hans Bertilsson is a professor of fibre technology at The Swedish School of Textiles, University College of Borås. He is also responsible for the programme for Masters degree in Textile Technology

1 A composite material consists of two different constituents (matrix and filler/reinforcement) which brought together create a material yielding attractive properties from both matrix and reinforcement. 2 One nanometer (nm) is 10-9 meters or one millionth of a millimeter. One micrometer (µm) is 10-6 meters. This can be compared to a human hair which is roughly 50 µm in diameter.Figure 1. Schematic model of a single-wall carbon nanotube. (Nakahara, 2007)

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Carbon nanotube composite materials – great potential but not without difficulties The great interest for nanotechnology in general has very much to do with the nano-size of the materials. When a filler is added to a polymer with the purpose of enhancing mechanical properties, it is important not only that the filler itself has good mechanical properties, but also that it will interact with (bond to) the polymer matrix. This interaction will increase if the filler has a large surface area (area-to-volume ratio) to interact with. Fillers in nano-size can give a very large surface area related to their volume or mass, for example 1500 m 2/g. It can be shown that for optimum shape the reinforcing phase should have an aspect ratio (length divided by diameter) much higher than 1 (fibre-shape) or much less than 1 (platelet-shape), as illustrated in Fig. 2.

The small size also has potentially great advantages for enhancing electrical properties. Theoretically even a small amount of electrically conductive particles such as CNT can form a network inside a polymer matrix, thus forming a conductive path. The low concentration of reinforcement gives the great advantage of adding new properties without affecting the attractive properties of the polymer material itself, such as flexibility and soft touch in a textile fibre.

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However, to take advantage of nano-size reinforcements in practice, the nanoparticles must be separated into indi-viduals and interact chemically with the surrounding matrix. This is where the problems start. The fact that carbon nan-otubes consist only of carbon atoms, makes them highly non-reactive to most polymers. Instead they are highly prone to clinging to each other, forming large bundles or agglomerates. Researchers have spent much time and effort on the de-agglomeration and dispersion (spreading) of CNT within various matrices, frequently using solvents, chemical treatments and mechanical treatments such as ultrasonication or milling. Many of the good results shown in scientific papers are difficult to realize in a larger scale industrial process.

The solution seems to be in companies focusing only on the dispersion of carbon nanotubes, producing master-batches of polymers with a high concentration of CNT which are then relatively easy to dilute, e.g. by melt-mixing with a larger amount of polymers. This business has led to a few commercial CNT-composite products being available today. An example where CNT are used for electrical prop-erties is exterior vertical panels of cars (plastic wings/fend-ers) – CNT makes the plastic electrically conductive, which is necessary for the painting process used. CNT can also be used as filler for dissipation of electricity in fuel lines and connectors. Other products use CNT for enhancing mechanical properties at a low weight. These include a yacht mast, bicycles, baseball bats, and golf club shafts. Finnish company Montreal sports produce hockey sticks using nanotechnology, and claim that the use of CNT gives benefits of higher flexibility and clear improvement of durability compared to sticks produced with carbon fibres. (Mapleston, 2007)

Figure 2. Principle of area-to-volume ratio as function of aspect ratio. (After Gustafsson, 2007)


Carbon nanotubes in textiles?To the author’s knowledge there are to date no commercial products containing carbon nanotubes available in the textile area. There are however some scientific publications and these might give an idea about future applications in the area of smart textiles. One group of researchers has been able to produce composite fibres of about 50 µm in diameter, with an energy-to-break much higher than that of both Kevlar fibre and spider silk. In turn, the toughness (energy needed to rupture) of a fibre is five times higher for spider silk than for the same mass of steel wire. The polymer used was polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) with a high content of CNT. The same fibres were coated with electrolyte and could be used as capacitors woven into textiles. (Dalton, 2003)

Another group has shown it is possi-ble to produce electrically conductive yarns by a wet-spinning process, also using PVA. The electrical resistance was however quite high – several tens of kW/cm for as much as 40 wt% of CNTs to PVA. Better results were achieved by adding CNT/PVA in the form of a coating to fibres such as cotton, silk and polyester. A coat-ing with 30 wt% content of CNT of the mentioned fibres, resulted in a resistance of only 0.25-2.87 kW/cm. (Xue, 2007)

Our project – pressure-sensitive textile fibresIn the current project at the School of Textiles, the polymer poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) with an addition of carbon nanotubes is melt-spun to form filament fibres. These fibres will then be characterized with a focus on electromechanical (piezoelectric) properties.

PVDF is a material with well-docu-mented piezo-, pyro- and ferroelectric4 properties. Its piezoelectric proper-ties in particular are well exploited and commercially available in the form of a film for sensor and actua-tor applications, e.g. in microphones or speakers. A fibre with piezo- or pyroelectric properties could be used for wearable sensors in medical appli-cations, reporting and responding to e.g. heartbeat and changes in body temperature. The fibre form would give advantages such as processabil-ity, increased comfort and wearability, washability and shapeability.

The addition of nanotubes should give advantages such as enhanced stiffness, which in turn will enhance the mechanical response, and also CNT can act as a nucleating agent, increasing the highly important crys-tallinity. PVDF is a semi-crystalline polymorphic fibre, which means it can crystallize into several different phases. While a-phase crystallinity is

As a third example, an ongoing project at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth explores the possibilities of creating a conduct-ing ink by adding carbon nanotubes to a solution of PEDOT-PSS3. Printing will be done on textile fabrics such as nylon 6, polyester and silk, and may be used to replace metallic compo-nents in wearable antennas. (NTC Online, 2006)

Carbon nanotubes have also been explored as a means to create an “artificial lotus leaf structure” on cotton fibres. It was found that the addition of CNT onto the surface of cotton substrates, created a cotton material which was highly hydrophobic. The authors expect that by also making use of the CNT’s mechanical and electrical properties, these CNT-coat-ed cotton fibres can find applications in sensing and conducting textiles. (Liu, 2007)

Figure 3. Polymer granules for melt-processing. Right: pure Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) supplied from Solvay Solexis. Left: PVDF containing 5 % by weight carbon nanotubes, commercial masterbatch purchased from Hyperion Catalysis, Inc.

3 PEDOT-PSS is an electrically conductive polymer blend.

4 A piezoelectric material is sensitive to mechanical deformation, such as pressure, and can produce a small voltage when deformed. A pyroelectric material is sensitive to changes in temperature, and can produce a small voltage in response to heating or cooling. A ferroelectric material has an electrically reversible polarity. 5 In electrospinning an electrical charge is used to spin fibres from a polymer solution. The result is a non-woven mat of fibres approx. 100 nm in diameter.

the one most easily formed, it is theb-phase crystallinity which gives the polarity necessary for piezoelectric activity in the fibre.

PVDF as a piezoelectric sen-sor/actuator in continuous fibre form is to date not at all explored. Electrospinning5 of PVDF has been done by IFP Research in Mölndal, among others, and there are some ten or so scientific papers describ-ing PVDF in electrospun form for use as piezoelectric sensors. Some of these also add CNT, and one group has reported that the voltage out-put from such a sensor at a certain

mechanical displacement increased from 2.4 mV using no CNT, to 84.5 mV at a loading of 0.05 wt% CNT. (Laxminarayana, 2005)

Figure 4. Old-fashioned technology has proven very useful in small-scale production for research purposes


First results show enhanced stiffness of fibresThe practical experiments so far have included mixing carbon nano-tubes with polymer, fibre spinning, and characterisation of mechanical properties and crystallinity. The easi-est way to blend CNT with polymer is melt-blending: CNT was added, in powder form, to polymer granules and mixed in a twin-screw extruder for a short time. Two kinds of CNT have been used for the experiments. Both are double-walled, and while one (denoted NH2) is functionalised by NH2-groups attached to the sur-face, the other (denoted NF) was not functionalised. Functionalisation is expected to help de-agglomeration and dispersion of CNT as well as enhance interaction with the polymer.

Three different concentrations of CNT were chosen: 0.01%, 0.05% and 0.2% by weight. These concentra-tions were chosen from what has been shown in the literature to give a mechanical enhancement, but with no risk of adding electrical conductiv-ity to the polymer (this would ruin pie-zoelectric activity). Fibres were then spun using a capillary rheometer. The same blending and spinning process-es was performed using a composite where CNTs were first mixed with a small amount polymer with the help of a solvent (N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone).

Stress-strain tests where performed on all fibres. The equipment limits the maximum strain to 22%, none of the fibres broke at this elongation. Results show that while composite fibres prepared by melt-mixing in all cases end up with a lower stiffness than the pure PVDF-fibre (Fig. 6), the composite fibres prepared by solvent-aided dispersion show quite a high mechanical improvement (in this case meaning an increase in stiffness) at very low loadings of CNT (Fig. 7) (Gustafsson, 2007). The CNTs func-tionalised by NH2-groups were much more efficient in enhancing mechani-cal properties, while non-function-alised CNTs at 0.05% and 0.2% instead gave a negative effect. The variation in mechanical properties is attributed to differences in dispersion, where a low concentration of solvent-mixed functionalised CNTs give the best dispersion, while larger amounts, no functionalisation and no solvent all are factors contributing to a less good dispersion. The addition of CNT showed no effects on processability or spinnability.

Figure 5. Composite fibres melt-spun from PVDF with varying amounts of carbon nanotubes

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Figure 7. Stress-strain-curves for composite fibres prepared by solvent-aided mixing and pure PVDF fibre (After Gustafsson, 2007)

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To be continuedThis research will be continued with an investigation of the fibres’ electromechanical properties. While CNTs so far did not show a positive effect on crystallinity, it is possible that the improvement in stiffness will still contribute to a good piezoelectric response. The first tests will be done using the fibres in different forms of woven structures.

References

[Nakahara, 2007] Figure 1 is published with permission from H. Nakahara, Nagoya University, Japan: http://www.surf.nuqe.nagoya-u.ac.jp/index-e.html.Accessed on 2007-11-21

[Gustafsson, 2007] Gustafsson, C. The influence of car-bon nanotube concentration on the mechanical properties and b-crystallite formation of melt spun carbon nanotubes/PVDF composite fibres Thesis for the Masters degree in Textile engineering, University College of Borås – Swedish school of Textiles (2007)

[Mapleston, 2007] Mapleston, P. Carbon nanotubes: Today’s future technology?, Plastics Engineering (2007)

[Dalton, 2003] Dalton, A. B. et al. Super-tough carbon-nanotube fibres, Nature 423, 703 (2003)

[Xue, 2007] Xue, P. et al. Electrically conductive yarns based on PVA/carbon nanotubes, Composite structures 78, 271-277 (2007)

[NTC Online, 2006] NTC Online Research Project Database (2006) http://www.ntcresearch.org/ projectapp/index.cfm?project=M06-MD01&topic= approach Accessed on 2007-06-25

[Liu, 2007] Liu, Y. et al. Artificial lotus leaf structures from assembling carbon nanotubes and their applications in hydrophobic textiles, Journal of Materials Chemistry 17, 1071-1078 (2007)

[Laxminarayana, 2005] Laxminarayana, K. and Jalili, N., Functional nanotube-based textiles: pathway to next generation fabrics with enhanced sensing capabilities. Textile Research Journal 75, 670-680 (2005)


Textibel® – Textiles as Furniture

Ann-Kristin AgesundDesignhistorianProject Manager, Textibel, Borås Textile [email protected]

Abstract: Our objects change over time and some of the factors of this change are the conditions, innovations, knowledge, and creativity of society. Regarding the development of seating furniture from modernism up to today, much of it consisted of simplification, reduction in the amount of material used, and new applications for materials and thus development toward new forms. We are able to discern that textiles have made contributions to pioneering milestones in seating furniture several times over the last century. We may guess that a “paradigm shift” lies ahead of us in the “wake” of modernism. Several (interna-tional) designers have taken an interest in new ways of using textile materials in seating furniture, which differ from conventional covers. We may speak of Textile as Furniture, instead of Textile for Furniture. The Swedish School of Textiles and Borås Textile Museum have in collaboration with Chalmers University of Technology, Technical Design Engineering, and the School of Design and Crafts at Göteborg University picked up on the trend and created a course made up of workshops where product development of smart uses of textiles in seating furniture and furniture in Smart Textiles take place. The development has attract-ed participants from the business community, researchers, university colleges, and students. This new “genre” of seating furniture is called Textibel (protected by trademark), which is the name of both the product as well as an exhibition that will present innovative product development using textiles starting in 2008.

Ann-Kristin Agesund, information officer. In the discipline of art science she has special-ized in the development of design and archi-tecture from the middle of the 19th century up to today and in this field she has instructed, reviewed, and worked in exhibition design and in investigations related to design ventures.Presently she works mainly as a project coordi-nator for Textibel at Borås Textile Museum and teaches design history at the Swedish School of Textiles. Other commissioners are the Royal Institute of Technology, Chalmers University of Technology, Handelsakademin, and various upper secondary schools. For several years she was one of the co-workers at FORM Design Magazine, a member of Svensk Form (the Swedish Society of Crafts and Design), and chairperson of the regional organization Svensk Form Väst (the western section of Svensk Form).


Furniture in change

It is obvious that over time we expect changes in the motives and objects we encounter. It seems equally certain that each époque, society, and culture is founded on specific experiences and conceptions which leave their mark on the products developed. As knowledge develop-ment occurs, our artefacts – or products – will change as well. Our time still dwells in the wake of modernism, which in itself was a revolution in design and product develop-ment in Europe while at the same time war, disease, and living in confined quarters was the reality faced by many people. Together with industrialism and urbanization this was one of the basic conditions for the development of design, regarding social standpoints, language of form, and last but not least the choice of materials. Steel, adapt-ed from the industry, solved many design problems in the 1920’s; the material was more durable and easier to shape than wood, it was hygienic and more economic in produc-tion. Still, several decades passed before the material was fully accepted as a replacement for wood in furniture. We will probably have to assume that every process of change takes time to develop.

Marcel Breuer is one of the greatest pioneers in design development. He is perhaps most renowned for his steel furniture, but… he took the path via textiles in his develop-ment. His chair Latten is a precursor to all his steel and textile chairs. Latten has a frame of wooden laths, while the back and seat of the chair is entirely made out of textiles, i.e. works as a bearing part of the construction while comfortable and decorative to the user. Latten was a prototype while developing something else and in Wassily and other chairs by Breuer his idea is clearly visible: to find modernistic simplification using textile elements (Picture 1). In a series of pictures Breuer leads the way from richly decorated and stuffed furniture toward seating furniture with more rational forms and less material usage. He stated his vision of future seating furniture as an “elastic pillar of air” to recline on, as if he wanted to continue reducing the amount of material used long before the environmental debate became heated and without being able to stretch himself further than to using wood and steel for the frame and textiles as supports in the seat and back of the chair. However, he knew the seating furniture of the future would have an entirely different character. In order to gain the means to change this character, one must wait for the future to happen.


1 Swedish made chair inspired by Marcel Breuer in the 30s.Photo Formens Hus


Textiles for Furniture vs Textiles as Furniture

With few exceptions textiles have been used in a relatively conventional way in seating furniture design. The uses of the textile surface are limited to decoration and comfort; an interface between the sitting person and what we regard as the chair. Furthermore, textiles enter the design process rather late, when most decisions are already made. If the unique characteristics of the textile would be present in the design process from the very beginning the product would be given an entirely different shape and perhaps even completely new functions.

Marcel Breuer was one of the first designers who let tex-tiles become an integrated part of the piece of furniture and a fundamental condition for the appearance and func-tion of the object. History also provides additional exam-ples. In the 1930’s, Bruno Mathsson created his series of reclining chairs in plaited webbing (picture 2). In those days it was innovative – even provocative – to “promote” webbing, a material that had earlier been one of many hidden layers in the stuffing of seating furniture. The textile webbing was given a value of its own and saved additional material, thus becoming one of the foremost milestones in design history. A decade later the well-known bat armchair "Hardoy chair" (picture 3) by Ferrari-Hardoy et. al. was constructed on a principle going back to the middle of the 19th century and the Fenby Tripolina (picture 4) chair patent by Joseph Fenby, that also had an all-textile “sitting shell”, mounted on a collapsible frame of wood with hinges. Once again a reduction in material use, where in the original model the textile also made possible the col-lapsible function. During the 1960’s sitting habits changed; the youthful ideals left the high sitting behind and Sacco (picture 5) became one of the more noticeable examples. Once again it was the textile that allowed the shift in the shape and use of seating furniture, as in other examples we have seen it is the textile use that brings about the change in furniture character, function, and use. This has occurred when one has treated textiles as furniture instead of merely viewing them as applications for furniture.

Breuer’s future is our present; we have visions or vague ideas about our own. Design development has touched Breuer’s idea about an elastic pillar of air in the inflatable armchairs that have been available now and then since the 1960’s. After years in the postmodernistic spirit, where objects often worked as controversial replies to the rational language of forms of modernistim, one may discern that we will soon see a “paradigm shift” concerning the shape, function, and materials of seating furniture and that textiles are once again in focus. One example of this is Danish designer Louise Campbell’s sculptural armchair Retreat Funnel, a form that finds a sovereign identity in its time. Campbell has chosen to make the entire piece of furniture out of yarn (angora); the expression is all together textile, despite the steel that was needed to make it carry weight. As a symbol, however, Retreat Funnel (picture 6) may be seen as one of the milestones where textiles once again point the way toward the future.

2 Bruno Mathsson – Eva, 1934


3 Hardoy chair, Ferrari-Hardoy. Photo Formens Hus 4 Tripolina, Joseph Fenby.


5 Gatto, Paolino, Teodoro – Sacco, 1968/69 6 Louise Campbell – Retreat Funnel, 1998


Smart uses for textiles and Smart Textiles

Countless is the number of chairs in this world and one may think to oneself: Do we need to design another chair? There are some doubts as to that – in the perspective of global society – but we know that to the individual furniture manufacturer carrying on development is essential to sur-vive the competition. As stated by furniture manufacturer Johan Lindau, Blå Station: We need not to create another piece of seating furniture if it does not bring something new and provide an additional value. This seen in the light of the conditions of the manufacturer and the demands of the consumer, which must be carried out with respect to the current needs and demands of society, especially the needs for a sustainable development. Also, to pro-vide support in time and culture for design and object and to promote the desire for innovation, creativity, and development. The textile field is a field where innovations take place at an explosive rate today; materials gain new characteristics and become bearers of new technology. The textile field could thus be the field that holds the most promising opportunities to lead design and product devel-opment, e.g. of seating furniture, into a new era.

Being smart in textiles means leaving behind conventional ideas about what a piece of seating furniture should be like and what relation textiles have to sitting. One example of this is the chair Ram (translated as frame), designed by the Stockholm bureau No Picnic for Felicerossi, Italy. The idea behind Ram (picture 7) is to “frame” the sitting person. The frame is made of steel, covered with an elastic fabric that serves as “background”. Hidden behind the textile are a seat and a support for one’s back. In this case a “com-mon” textile has been used in an innovative form. The textile in itself may also carry innovations, either regarding the material as such or through new manufacturing proc-esses. Danish designer Boris Berlin, Komplot Design, has designed Nobody for Hay. The chair is manufactured in Sweden by Nordifa, a company working with needled felt technique, in very different product areas. Through mixing meltable fibers with the felt the textile material can be moulded into shape.

7 No Picnic – RAM, 2005


In Nobody (picture 8), Berlin has created a metaphori-cal image of a cover while leaving out “the chair itself”; the textile is the only material and is the bearing material. Research is also conducted into material development and manufacturing. In Japan Tokujin Yoshioka has “baked” a chair in polyester fiber. It bears the name Pane (picture 9) (after the Italian word for bread) and the air bubble struc-ture calls into mind white bread; we are closing in on the elastic pillar of air. Tokujin says that the light quality of the textile may represent strength in the future; fibers possess

a high capacity for absorbing energy, they endure weight without being compact, they are airy and not hard. Tokujin aspires to create forms and expressions which are entirely new and that may serve humanity in the future, perhaps as a way of encountering a feeling of the unexpected. Difficulties in the process carry a value in themselves, he claims. Prior to experimenting with a new idea in materials and technology he does not know where it will lead him; sometimes the shape and object turns up without him even noticing it.

9 Tokujin Yoshioka – Pane, 2006 8 Nobody, Boris Berlin, 2007


Several of the textile innovations are under continued development, some have not yet found their applications. The needled felt (picture 10) has cleared it´s way in interior decoration, but there are other textiles that may come to follow. In the Smart Textiles field there are e.g. conductive fibers that conduct heat or sends signals, space fabric (picture 11) that may come to substitute stuffing, textiles mixed with glass fiber (picture 12 & 13) that when heated will consolidate and become bearing. New exciting manufacturing techniques are found in e.g. knitting, where the University College of Borås has machines from Stoll that knit in inelastic rigid materials such as metal (picture 14), in three-dimensional structures, or creates channels while knitting, thus saving the need for sewing and as a result reduces the loss of materials. The company Oxeon has a unique solution for weaving ribbons in carbon fiber (picture 15). The technique may also be used to weave other materi-als and a method to weave carbon fiber in three-dimensional shapes has been developed. All these compa-nies and innovations are connected to the Smart Textiles project and the Swedish School of Textiles.

10 Non woven Nordifa Photo Jan Berg

11 Space fabric, Photo Jan Berg

12 Textile with glasfibre , Sicomp. Photo Jan Berg

13 Consolidated glasfibre, Sicomp. Photo Jan Berg


When the venture Textile Evolution, an exhibition touring Sweden this year showing some of the latest results in textile research, proved a success, the Swedish School of Textiles together with Borås Textile Museum initiated the Textibel project. Johan Huldt, ex-professor at the Swedish School of Textiles and fur-niture designer, together with Lars Eriksson, Swedish School of Textiles, and Rolf Danielsson, the Museum in Textile History, saw an opportunity to develop a new generation of seat-ing furniture based on the unique characteristics of textiles. Textibel is a follow-up from Textile Evolution but as a project it is more extensive as it is a complete venture that entails not only product development but also pres-entations of the objects and the proc-ess along with the material. Textibel is also a protected trademark for a new product type, a nuance of tradi-tional seating furniture, i.e. Textiles as Furniture.

14 Knitted metal, Textilhögskolan. Photo Jan Berg

15 Carbon fibre, Oxeon. Photo Jan Berg


Textibel

Textibel catches the trend in seating furniture design and the development taking place in textiles. Textibel develops the meaning of the term textile – aiming at the seating fur-niture of the future. Questions asked in the process are: - How does seating furniture develop through textile inno-vations? – How are innovative seating furniture developed through textiles?

The platform for development is Borås and the Sjuhärad region with the Swedish School of Textiles and Borås Textile Museum. Thus is gained the best possible access to textile competence and development of textile materi-als along with a platform for exhibition and information. Development is carried out through a university college course consisting of a series of workshops in collabora-tion with Chalmers University of Technology, Technical Design Engineering, and the School of Design and Crafts at Göteborg University. About 30 people from all over southern Sweden participate in the course where furniture companies, textile companies, designers, and research-ers in textiles and composites are all represented along with students from the three University College Schools. The strong point of the development lies in the depth and broadness of the competence represented through University Colleges, the business community, research, culture. As Anders Englund at Offecct said: - If we small companies are to lead the development, initially we will need to do it together.

The results will be presented at an exhibition that opens on May 17th 2008 and that is produced by Borås Textile Museum. By then the first part of Textibel’s goal will be fulfilled. Remaining to be compleated is the education and information on product develop-ment through textiles in connection to the exhibition as it tours Sweden. Later on, it will be adapted for touring abroad.

The project is coordinated from the Museum in Textile History supported by the Föreningssparbanken Sjuhärad Foundation, Sjuhärads Kommunalförbund and Stiftelsen Svensk Textilforskning that has textiles as one of its priority areas.

Workshop,The Swedish School of Textiles 2007.

Foto: Magnus Bratt


Adding ValuesSmart Textile Options for Automotive Applications

Lene JulMaster of Arts in Textile DesignThe Swedish School of Textiles, THSUniversity College of Borå[email protected]

Parts of the textile area are rapidly changing as a result of the introduction of a new range of textile materials, so-called smart textiles. Smart materials, with their reversible characteristics, respond to stimuli, e.g. light, temperature and electrical fields by changing their form, their colour or their viscosity. This field is now introducing new types of textile materials; such as conductive textile mate-rials, colour-changing materials that react to environmental stimuli or various shape-memory materials. The use of smart materials is a dynamic and innova-tive area merging research, development and use. The textile design field with new types of materials and techniques will open up new ways of creating and controlling through development of products with increasing levels of functional-ity. This will include structural and non-structural functions, individually and in combination, both active and passive. It will apply both to large structures, fixed and mobile, and to consumer products, such as textiles and clothing. Smart materials will play a critical role in this development (Braddock & O’Mahoney).

Lene JulDesign Account Manager at Borgstena Textiles. Master of arts in Textile Design, the studies focused on added values for automotive upholstery concepts using smart textiles.


Innovative automobile designNew textile materials are constantly being brought into the automotive field, and automobile design is a leader in innovative and spectacular developments where smart tex-tile materials are used. Although the vehicles themselves become smarter, the level of integration of smart textiles is low and so far smart textiles for automotive use have just scratched the surface (Fung).An adequate suit can e.g. provide a lot of information on the driver. It can indicate the level of thermal comfort of each individual passenger, the level of concentration on the driver, reduced awareness and many more. All these parameters have a direct impact of the quality of driving. Ultimately, the suit could inform the vehicle that is not allo-wable to continue driving.

Click: ENTEREntering the textile field is entering a field constantly chang-ing. The development from handicrafts to industry was the start-off for what is happening within the field today. Changes are now coming about on the basis of develop-ments in data-, genetic- and nano-technology. Research and knowledge about intelligent materials and smart tex-tiles is spread over a broad spectre. Progress is being made in the aviation and space industries, the weapons industry, advanced textile industry and more (Smartextiles).This paves the way for new potential in the field of textile design with new possibilities in the way of experimentation and co-operation in relation to other professional environ-ments (Ritter).Textile materials are good bearers of new technology, because textiles are used in a great extent in our everyday lives. Through integrating technology in textile materials technology become more accessible and less intimidating due to human beings being comfortable with textile mate-rials: “…textiles seemed like an interesting material to work with, as it is a material that we often think of as soft, warm and something we like to have close to our bodies” (Ernevi et al, p.47). In some cases technology is incorporated into textiles, in other cases technology is transformed into a textile material; for example substrates can in the form of fibres or yarns, making them adapted to work with.


Smart MaterialsAfter technical textiles and functional textiles also smart textiles have come into force. The term smart textiles cover a broad range, and the application possibilities are only limited by imagination and creativity. To define a smart material one need to understand what is meant by smart behaviour and then develop a definition (Smartmat).Smart or functional materials usually form part of a smart system that has the capability to sense its environment and the effects thereof and to respond to that external sti-mulus in a useful, reliable, reproducible and usually rever-sible manner via an active control mechanism. Often, the sensing function alone is taken as sufficient to constitute smartness.Smart behaviour is the reaction of a material to some change in its environment, no material can be smart in iso-lation, and it must be a part of a structure or system.Smart materials and systems occupy a highly interactive technology space which also includes the areas of sen-sors and actuators, together with other technologies such as for instance nanotechnology (Nano-Tex).There is no shortage of potential technical solutions in this area but no single solution fit all applications. The need is to enhance the practical construction of the existing mate-rials-based technologies, tailored to particular customer and market requirements. Forces for change will include materials and device integration within the relevant sub-strate, miniaturisation, connectivity, durability and cost.

Intelligent textiles Intelligent textiles are textiles with a focus on functionality. The concept of intelligent textiles is most often used as a synonym for Interactive textiles.Speaking in general terms intelligent textiles can be divi-ded into two main groups. One group that includes elec-tronics, mobile technology, RFID tags (Radio Frequency Identification) and conductive fibres. The second group includes coatings and chemical influence, which add a function to the textile as for instance dirt repellence, antibacterial values or comfort. Additionally different mem-branes and functional fibres that add water repellence or heat regulation are upcoming issues. Nano technology is a significant future prospect for textile processes, and new technical possibilities open enti-rely new possibilities for adding values and functionality (Intelligente tekstiler) (Ritter) (Addington).Smart materials respond to environmental stimuli with particular changes in some variables. For that reason they are often also called responsive materials. Depending on changes in some external conditions smart materials change their properties (mechanical or electrical appear-ance), their structure, their composition or their functions. Mostly, smart materials are embedded in systems whose inherent properties can be favourably changed to meet performance needs (Addington).


Colour changing materials

Photo chromic material Photo chromic materials change reversibly colour with changes in light intensity. Usually, they are colourless in a dark place, and when sunlight or ultraviolet radiation is applied molecular structure of the material changes and it exhibits colour. When the relevant light source is removed the colour disappears. (Soton) (Ritter) (Addington).

Thermo chromic materialThermo chromic materials change reversibly colour with changes in tem-perature. They can be made as semi-conductor compounds, from liquid crystals or using metal compounds. The change in colour happens at a determined temperature, which can be varied doping the material. (Berglin) (Ritter) (Addington). Figure 2.

Figure 2


Light emitting materials Electroluminescent materialsElectroluminescent materials produce a light of different colours when stimulated electronically (e.g. by AC current). While emitting light no heat is produced. Like a capaci-tor the materials is made from an insulating substance with electrodes on each side. One of the electrodes is transparent and allows the light to pass. (Berglin) (Ritter) (Addington). Figure 3.

Fluorescent materialFluorescent materials produce visible or invisible light as a result of incident light of a shorter wavelength (i.e. X-rays, UV-rays). The effect ceases as soon as the source of excitement is removed. Fluorescent pigments in daylight have a white or light colour, whereas under excitation by UV radiation they irradiate an intensive fluorescent colour. (Ritter) (Addington).

Phosphorescent materialPhosphorescent or afterglow materials produce visible or invisible light as a result of incident light of a shorter wavel-ength (i.e. X-rays, UV-rays) detectable only after the source of the excitement has been removed. (Ritter) (Addington).Figure 4.

Light emitting diodes LEDLEDs are a semiconductor device that emits incoherent narrow-spectrum light. This effect is a form of electro- luminescence. LEDs are usually constantly illuminated when a current passes through them, but flashing LEDs are also available.LEDs can emit light of an intended color without the use of color filters that traditional lighting methods require. This is more efficient and lower initial costs together with the fact that LEDs have an extremely long life span. LEDs used in textiles are called photonic textiles.Photonic textiles can be made interactive, and they achieve interactivity by incorporating sensors e.g. orienta-tion and pressure sensors and communication devices e.g. Bluetooth and GSM into the fabric (Addington).

Figure 4Figure 3


Moving materials

Conducting polymers Conducting polymers are conjugated polymers, through which electrons can move from one end of the polymer to the other. A current flow reduces one side and oxi-dises the other and ions are transferred. When one side expands and the other contracts it results in a bending of the sandwich and in that way electrical and chemical energies are transformed into mechanical energy (Ritter) (Chem) (Addington).

Piezoelectric materialPiezoelectric materials produce an electric field when exposed to a change in dimension caused by an impo-sed mechanical force (piezoelectric or generator effect). Conversely, an applied electric field will produce a mecha-nical stress (electrostrictive or motor effect). Piezoelectric materials transform energy from mechanical to electrical and vice-versa. The stress is very small, 0.1-0.3%. They are used for sensing purposes (e.g. microphone, trans-ducer), and for actuating applications. (Ritter) (Addington).

Polymer gelPolymer gels consist of a cross-linked polymer network inflated with a solvent such as water. They have the ability to reversibly swell or shrink (up to 1000 times in volume) due to small changes in their environment (pH, tempera-ture or electric field). Micro sized gel fibres contract in mil-liseconds, while thick polymers layers require longer time to. Polymer gels have high strength and can deliver size-able stress. (Chem) (Iupac) (Addington).

Shape memory alloys (SMA) Shape-Memory Alloys are metals that, after being strained, at a certain temperature revert back to their original shape. A change in their crystal structure above their transforma-tion temperature causes them to return to their original shape. SMAs enable large forces that are generated when encountering any resistance during their transformation and large movements’ actuation, as they can recover large strains (Ritter) (Addington).

Temperature changing materials

Thermoelectric materialThermoelectric materials are special types of semiconductors that, when coupled, function as a ”heat pump”. By applying a low voltage DC power source, heat is moved in the direc-tion of the current (+ to -). Usually thermoelectric materials are used for modules where a single couple or many couples (to obtain larger cooling capacity) are combined. One face of the module cools down while the other heats up, and the effect is reversible. (Thermoelectric) (Ritter) (Addington).

Smart materials and textilesCombining smart materials and textiles there are many properties one can achieve. Applications for smart textiles are developing rapidly. Materials functionality which histori-cally was limited to protective uses, today has virtually unli-mited potential. Smart textiles can now re-charge personal electronic devices, detect ailments, conserve energy, self clean, mimic nature, monitor temperature changes and even react to external stimuli.The first generation of intelligent textiles uses conventional materials and components and tries to adapt the textile design to fit in the external elements. They can be con-sidered as e.g. e-apparel, where electronics are added to the textile. An example is the MP3 player from Infineon that easily can be incorporated into a garment. The dif-ferent components for the MP3 player are interconnected through woven conductive textiles. Non-textile components are likely to cause a certain discom-fort and connections between textile and non textile compo-nents remain troublesome however challenging as well. In the second generation, the components themselves are increasingly being transformed into full textile materials e.g. nanotechnology.

Automotive trends and visionsLight setting in automotives are an issue that is of great interest. Through integrating light sources in textiles an equal light setting becomes a pos-sibility as well as adding light to parts of the vehicle interior where light not previously have been present e.g. doormats and side linning.Issues like integrating conductive material in upholstery for automotive use, not only for antistatic properties, but also for e.g. EMI / RFI shielding Figure 5, heating and cooling proper-ties and to replace heavy cabeling are highly relevant. Through integra-ting conductive material functionality can be added where needed e.g. seat adjustment and seat control. Another field of current interest is nano-technology. The application areas seem countless and research is an important issue. Nano-technolo-gy as an interdisciplinary working field where different technologies, func-tions and capabilities cross work is of highly interest and applications can be made within e.g. medical textiles, automotive textiles and nonwovens (Intelligente tekstiler).Especially nonwoven textiles offer new possibilities. Through developing new nano fibres in nonwovens the opportunity of producing materials with extended physical qualities like e.g. viscosity, strength and density. One area of improvement by adding nano fibres in nonwovens is an increase of the hydrophobic textile surface (Intelligente tekstiler).

Figure 5


Smart + TextilesTextiles are present everywhere and at any time. They are widely accepted and easy to use. Textiles offer a range of combinations of basic materials (fibres), structures and treatments. Textiles have the potential to be a powerful tool to monitor general or very specific solutions. The potential is there, ready to be exploited. The development of smart textiles reaches far beyond imagination; some stories may seem science fiction. But part of the new materials and structures have already reached the stage of commer-cialization, although much larger part however is still in full development or still have to be invented even.

Design is a critical component of the development of textile materials for automotive interiors. It contributes to the overall quality and cost of the vehicle interior. The appearance of the vehicle passenger cabin affects the perception and satisfaction of the occupants.

For many years textile products have had an increasing role in providing both safety and comfort to drivers and passengers. Integrating extended values through using smart textile material now add an additional dimension.New smart materials provide and react to valuable information; for example sensors may alert the seat the occupant’s body size, temperature and driving alertness. Fabrics are being developed to monitor the cognitive status for commercial truck drivers, public transportation and individual drivers (VDC-Corp).

Designing for automotives includes a number of aspects to be considered. The requirements for automotive texti-les are many and the standards are high. It is, however, a challenging field especially due to the constant force of progress and new additional values. Integrating smart textiles in automotive design has an enormous growth potential and great future prospects.

Photo Lene Jul

References

Addington, Michelle and Schodek, Daniel (2005).Smart materials and technologies for the architecture and design professions. Burlington: Elsevier Ltd

Berglin, Lena. (2006). Interactive Textile Structures — Experimental Product Design in Smart Textiles. Göteborg: Chalmers Reproservice.

Braddock Clarke S., O´Mahoney M. (2005). Techno Textiles 2. London: Thames and Hudson Ldt

Ernevi A., Redström J., Redström M., Worbin L. (2005). The interactive Pillows Redström J., Redström M., Mazé R. (Editors) It & Textiles (p.47) Finland: Edita Publishing Oy

Fung, Walter and Hardcastle, Mike (2001). Textiles in auto-motive engineering. Cambrige: Woodhead Publishing Ltd

Ritter, Axel. (2007). Smart materials: in architecture, interior architecture and design. Basel: Birkhäuser

Web-pagesChem, http://www.chem.vt.edu/RVGS/ACT/Homework/Study_Guide_Polymers.html

Intelligente tekstiler, http://intelligentetekstiler.dk/sw28404.asp (2007-04-04)http://intelligentetekstiler.dk/sw27473.asp (2007-04-06)

Iupac, http://www.iupac.org/goldbook/PT07187.pdf (2007-04-04)

Nano-tex, http://www.nano-tex.com/ (2007-01-30)

Smartextiles, http://www.smartextiles.co.uk/_f_1_1.htm (2007-01-30)

Smartmat, http://www.smartmat.org (2007-02-01)

Soton, http://www.soton.ac.uk/~solids/photochromic.htm (2007-04-04)

Thermoelectric, http://www.thermoelectrics.com/introduc-tion.htm (2007-04-04)


Knitted Light – Space and Emotion

Delia DumitrescuMaster student in Textile DesignThe Swedish School of Textil, THSUniversity College of Borås, [email protected] In architecture, buildings were restricted, for many years, to few materials such as concrete, bricks, wood and stones. Even the concept of the curtain wall transformed the façade into a formal element that gave freedom in the mate-rial choice; until recently the aesthetic qualities of surfaces played a secondary role in building design compared to the importance of form and structure of the building (C. Schittich, 2006, p.586). The recent developments in digital technology that introduced computer based renderings in the design process gave architecture drawing more freedom in surface expression. The depth of the surface is no longer expressed in just two dimensions through colours and patterns but also by three-dimensional explora-tion of the surface. The honesty in volume and surface expression present in the Modernist Movement has been dramatised in present architecture by the exaggerated scale of textures that appeal to our senses. Therefore, the visual and emotional qualities of the materials in contemporary architecture became as important as their functional qualities.Rapid development in technology and communication in the recent years pushed architectural design towards rethinking the design process through spaces and materials for a better form of living closer to the human physical and psychological needs for well being. The tendency now, in building design, is to search for innovative materials that besides their aesthetic and functional values could act in dynamic ways offering a higher capacity of decoration, more flex-ibility, more functions and low weight to the building structure. The latest developments in the material field changed the classical static percep-tion of surfaces. Surfaces are capable to visual and physical transformation, to integrate specific functions regarding light control or technology, to transport in-formation. Architectural surfaces became in this context “sensitive skins”, a new concept inspired from the complexity of the organic life that defines materials that beside their esthetic value hide functional complexity due to their specialized cells (Schoof, 2006, p.25).


Delia Dumitrescu has graduated from the Architecture Institute in Bucharest in 2005. Since than she continued her education as a master student in textile design at the Swedish School of Textiles. Her Master Degree work had as focus to offer an innovative view on textiles design. The project combines the knowledge of the two fields, architectural and textile design as a possible way to redefine our relationship with the physical environment.

�6�Textile Journal


The idea is to combine functional and emotional aspects of textiles and light in order to design diaphanous material that will filter the day light on the inside and reflect sun heat during the day and in the night will transform itself in a source of light.The materials used such as polyester monofilament and metal yarns are on the border between textile and architec-tural design. The textile technique was used to create the bindings in between them was knitting. Although knitting is more connected to wearable garments the combination of materials as metal and transparent polyester gives knitting another approach.Since a major thought during the design process was to use to the maximum, the emotional role of textiles in the build environment the inspiration for surface design has skin as major theme. During the design process cellular structures were constructed in different ways using partial knitting in order to give surface volume, an organic appear-ance but also enhanced tactile proprieties.

Result

The result of the project consists of different prototype ideas that illustrate different possibilities to combine textiles with light in order to create an interactive environment. The design process explores different ideas generated by this combination starting from two relationships light prevails the textiles, the textiles prevails the light. The resulted pieces generate different space experiences based on the relationship between textile and light as two elements that interact with each other in different ways. The first where textile piece prevails the light refers to the rela-tionship between the natural light and the textile surface; here the textile piece acts as a filter for the light controlling its intensity through its structure. The second interaction, light prevails the textiles refers to the relationship between the artificial light and the textile piece; in this case the placement and the intensity of the light controls the percep-tion of the textiles by making certain parts visible and other parts disappear. Each of the prototypes develops a specific idea based on the effect created by light and its surface. Alongside with the aesthetical values given by the exploration of the relation between textiles and light, the project has a strong technical approach by exploring different possibilities to integrate light into the textile structures and to create three-dimensional surfaces using knitting as a technique.

Why textiles?

Textiles have been always around us in different forms. Tex-tiles have both functional and aesthetic values for us just as the human skin. We associate them with the feeling of warmth and protection. Our perception of textile surfaces combines both visual and tactile emotions. From the use of textiles to cover the body, the role of textiles extended to exterior environment. Our multi sensory experience with textiles in the privacy of our homes or as body cover made our relationship with textiles very natural.Alongside with glass, textiles are conventional material for architectural design that mediate our relationship with light. Their role in this context combines textiles’ functional potential regarding light transmittance and aesthetic values as façade decoration. Developments made in the quality of glass excluded textiles as part of the building façade both for esthetic reasons such as openness and transparency but also for functional reasons as low resistance to sun light, to fire and low antistatic values. Their limited proper-ties transformed textiles for many years into rather dull and classic material when used in this context.The latest developments in textile design changed the classical image of textiles and reintroduced them in all fields of design as intelligent soft surfaces capable to integrate specific functions regarding light control or technology to transport information.

Design vision

Starting from the relation between light, textile and space, the present project proposes a vision of textiles as an interface between interior and exterior as part of building fa-çades. The purpose of the project is to reintroduce textiles as an alternative for the functional and esthetic layers in the glass by being applied to the interior part of the façade; to create a textile interface that through the interaction with light between the indoor and outdoor environment offers architects an advanced textile complement to the conven-tional materials in building design. The present project is an investigative work that experi-ments with the combination of light and textiles in different ways having as objective to not a finished product but dif-ferent prototype ideas. Through the exploration of different prototypes, the aim of project is to demonstrate the high potential of textile materials as alternatives to the classical surfaces used in architecture. The research focuses on the area of advanced textile materials that by their intrinsic proprieties or combined in different systems use the inter-action between textiles and light in order to reach different functional purposes and space experiences. The design process follows two general paths: one oriented towards function having as an aim to enhance the functional potential of the material by material choice and production technique; the other towards expression by using the emotional potential of the combination of textiles and light to enhance the user’s interaction with the built environment.


Streams of light

Streams of light is a translucent knitted textile that lets the light penetrating its skin through holes in its structure. The shimmering shadow transforms the interior space through its presence on the surfaces. Its three-dimensional shape is orientated after the sun. The metal inside acts as a pro-tective skin that reflects the sun’s heat to the outside. The moving panels are capable to adjust and redirect the light on the inside. The play with light and shadow on its surface adds more depth and value to the flat glass façade. The penetrating light together with the shadow left by the pan-els creates a dynamic pattern during the day on the interior surfaces as the light filtered by trees leaves.

Interaction

Interaction: The piece could be part of a flexible metal system that adjusts itself after the direction of sun light as response to the user’s movement in space. In this case the pattern left by its shadow on the interior surfaces becomes dynamic according to user’s position.

Produced in electronic flat knitting machinesGauge: E12 (12 needles per inch)Prototype size=60/60Technique: partial knitting and ridge pattern using plating yarn feeder Materials: stainless steal ¤=0.10mm, polyester monofilament ¤=0.10 mmRepeat: width= 60 cm, height= aprox.5Fig. 2. Close-up showing the cells and the structure of the surface

Photo Jan Berg


Interaction

Interaction: Moonlighter is a textile interface that responds to sound by emitting light. Its dynamic pattern appears as a surprising effect in the night at high levels of sound made by the people passing by the building. The ridges of phosphorescent yarns become invisible when the electrolu-minescent wire is activated by the sound sensor. In the same time they are recharged with energy from the light emitted by the wire.

Produced in electronic flat knitting machinesGauge:E12 (12 needles per inch)Prototype size=60/60Technique: partial knitting and ridge pattern using plating yarn feeder Materials: stainless steal ¤=0.10mm, polyester monofilament ¤=0.10 mm, inlay=electroluminescent wire ¤=0.9 mm, phosphorescent polyester yarn ¤=10mm (7 hours of glow when charged properly)Repeat: width= 60 cm, height= aprox. 7 cm Fig. 3, 4. Textural shadow effect left by the textile piece under the light

Photo Jan Berg

Moon lighter

Moon lighter is a shapeable knitted textile that changes value according to the presence of light. It envelopes the space like veil. In day light, its surface is translucent. Its functional value is to reflect the sun due to the metal inside. The glow in the dark yarn inlayed in the knitted structure charges from the UV component of light. In the night, the textile structure becomes invisible leaving the place for glow-in-the dark to gently light up the interior space. The glass façade gains materiality during the night due to light emitting wire. Parts of the pattern are interactive with the people passing by the building due to the electroluminescent wire present in some of the ridges. A sound sensor is connected to the wire. During the night the strips of electroluminescent wire light up parts of the pattern as reaction to the strong sound. The wires of electroluminescent light provide both the participation of the façade to the night atmosphere and also recharge with their light the glow in the dark stripes.



Fig.5, 6. Pictures showing the user interaction with the textile piece. The material lights up the space at high levels of sounds that activates the electroluminescent wire.


Drops of light

Drops of light is a knitted piece with that integrates LED as sources of light. The intensity of the emitted light adjusts itself according to the values of the natural light measured by the sensor. The bindings separate the constituting mate-rials metal and monofilament on the two faces. On the right side the presence of metal rejects the heat on the outside and serves as conductive material for the LED’s connec-tions. The presence of polyester monofilament separates the conductive ridges and gives the wrong side isolative values regarding heat. The material could be twisted ac-cording to the seasons. In the winter time the metal side is positioned on the interior and reflected the heat to the inside. On the summer time the metal side is oriented on the outside reflecting the heat. The light emitted by the LED varies as response to changes in the natural light values. Interaction: The piece responds to the changing levels of light by activating parts of its pattern. The piece is con-nected to a microcontroller. The light sensor placed on the interior environment measures light intensity of the space and sends the information to the microprocessor that ac-cording to the values in the program sends electric input to the LEDs.

Produced in electronic flat knitting machinesGauge: E12 (12 needles per inch) Prototype size=53/60cmTechnique: ridge patternMaterials: stainless steal ¤=0.10mm, polyester monofilament ¤=0.10 mm, conductive thread stainless steal coated with polyamide, LEDRepeat: width= 60 cm, height= aprox. 5 cm

Fig. 7, 8. Pictures showing the user interaction with the textile piece. The stripes of LED are controlled by a micro-controller programmed to send them electric input at low levels of the surrounding light. The shadow of the human silhouette activates parts of the pattern.

Photo Jan Berg

Reference

Addington, Michelle & Schodek, Daniel (2005). Smart Materials and Technologies for architecture and design professions. Oxford: Elsevier.

Kroneburg, Robert (2007). Flexible-Architecture that re-sponds to changes London: Laurence King Publishing Ltd. Material World 2- Innovative Materials for Architecture and design (2006), Basel-Boston-Berlin:Birkhäuser.

Schittich, Christian (2006). The New Sensuality of Materi-als, Detail, vol. 6, ss.586-589.

Schoof, Jacob(2007). Beneath. Daylight and Architecture Magazine, vol. 05, ss.12-17.

�7�Textile Journal

Textiles as concept, material and industry

Agneta Nordlund AnderssonProject ManagerThe Swedish School of Textiles, THSUniversity Colleges of Borå[email protected]

All over the world people come into daily contact with textiles primarily in clo-thing and textiles for furnishings. In recent years textiles have also become increasingly important in technical applications in fields such as construction, automotive industry, soil protection, plant protection, filters and medical app-lications. However, there is more to textiles than mere functionality. Through one’s way of dressing and choice of furnishings, textiles and fashion is one of the strongest means available for expressing feelings, personality and social and cultural identity. In other words the textile field displays great width when it comes to form and functionality.

The textile industry also carries great economical importance as it is one of the largest industries globally. In 2003 the EU textile and fashion industry employed 2,5 million and generated a turnover of o187 million, making it one of the lar-gest industries in Europe. The far-reaching structural transformation the textile industry is presently undergoing, partly as a consequence of expansion of the EU and abolishment of the production quota system for textiles and ready-made clothing products, has resulted in increased interest in the textile field at the EU level. In an effort to strengthen the competitiveness of the textile industry the European Commission has appointed a High Level Group. This group recommends large-scale investments in textile education and textile research and also proposes that textiles becomes a priority field within the Seventh Framework Programme. The group also points out the potential gains of increased cooperation between the textile industry, universities and research institutions.

President Erik [email protected]

Project Manager Agneta Nordlund [email protected]

Agneta Nordlund Andersson graduated from the Textile Institute in Borås and has a long experience in the textile field. She is now responsible for the cooperation of THS, Project Manager of the Textile Research Centre, CTF and Textile Innovation and Competence Centre, TIC.


Compared to other European countri-es, Sweden possesses a competitive advantage in the structural transfor-mation that began in the 1960’s as a consequence of the gradual abolish-ment of customs duties on domestic production and trade. Over the last few decades the Swedish textile and fashion industry has developed from a traditional manufacturing industry into a complex and knowledge-inten-se business focussed on design, logstics, advanced product and process development and trade and marketing. This far-reaching structural transformation has been successful in several respects and many Swedish companies have become prominent members of the global market. This development has led to the textile industry playing an important role in present-day Swedish national eco-nomy. In 2003 the turnover generated by trade and consumption in the textile and fashion sector amounted to SEK 60 billion (o 6 billion). Over a number of years, the export of textile products has increased and in 2003 amounted to SEK 15 billion (o1,5 billion).

The export success of the Swedish textile and fashion industry is to be attributed to a strong tradition of textile industry and trade. In addition to the fact that many recognize the importance and potential of the Swedish textile industry, the industry’s geographical concentration has given the textile and fashion industry a strong position in the region of Västra Götaland and especially in the Borås area.


Textile export compared to other export.

Export 2007 (in billions kr) jan-oct

Textile product 14,1

Furniture 14,1

Paper pulp 13,4

Ironore 8,5

Vodka (2006) 4,4

Music (2005) 3,1

Source: SCB/Export Music Sweden

Clothing export from Sweden

Billion kr


The Swedish School of Textiles, THS– national center of Textiles and Design

The University College of Borås (UCB) is nationally leading in the textile {research} field and plays an important part in the development of the textile industry, e.g. by supplying the vocational field with skilled manpower and knowledge development. Using this unique position as a starting point the UCB strives to become one of Europe’s leading seats of learning in textile education and research. To attain this goal a great deal of investments has gone into education and research in the textile field in addition to aquiring a uni-que set of machinery.Historically, the textile center of the UCB has been the Swedish School of Textiles. As the character of the textile field is in itself interdisciplinary, research at the UCB is naturally carried out across the boundaries of related sub-jects and disciplines. As a result, close cooperation has been established with other research teams at the UCB, e.g. the School of Engineering and the School of Business and Informatics, in fields such as polymeric materials, logistics, signal processing, management, trade and mar-keting. All in all, 20 professors and senior researchers at the UCB operate in the textile field at the UCB, as well as 50 teachers, postgraduate students and technicians.An industry in rapid development generate increasingly higher demands for competence in integrating a scienti-fic approach with advanced application competence. To meet these demands, the UCB has developed higher textile education to prepare students for qualified vocatio-nal exercise in different textile professions. The education programmes cover the competence demands of the tex-tile industry all the way from shorter programmes mainly focussed on professional and handicraft skills to longer and strongly profiled programmes.What the above says is that the textile field at the UCB is characterized by a great number of competences and an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach. In reality this means that theoretical and subject specific knowledge is combined with a strong tradition of handicraft, artistic development and extensive experience in the trade.


TIC – a center for competence in the textile field

Within the framework of the Vocational University the Swedish School of Textiles together with a number of actors {in the textile field} have created a center for com-petence in the textile field. The purpose of the competen-ce center is to support the development of the textile field through research, competence development and product and business development.

The {competence} center is to constitute an arena for cooperation that in a structured and equal way creates the opportunities for a continuous exchange of knowledge and competence between the Vocational University and the participants. Behind the establishment of the center are the business community, research institutes and the Vocational University. The center will be headed by a board of representatives from the textile field.

The textile industry has come through a far-reaching struc-tural transformation that among other things resulted in a large portion of the manufacture of clothing and textiles being moved to so-called low-wage countries, a tendency that has affected almost every branch of Western manu-facturing industry. As textile production is moved out of the country, competence connected to knowledge-intense parts of the production line is in danger of being lost. In the light of structural transformation and in order to strengthen the competitiveness and to maintain knowledge-intense activities in Sweden, a central task for the cooperation center will be to support e.g. product development, design, trademark development, marketing, business development, logistics and entrepreneurship.

A competence center makes possible different forms of cooperation with the business community and other external actors, e.g. by sharing advanced equipment and through joint research and development ventures. An already existing example of this kind of cooperation is a development laboratory containing special equipment for the dyeing, preparation and covering of textiles, built by the UCB using financial means donated by the trade

organization Tekoindustrierna. The equipment is used not only for education and research at the UCB but also for product development and testing by branch organizations. The intent behind the laboratory is to coordinate valuable resources that independent actors on their own cannot afford or do not possess the competence to run. Beside intensified contacts between academy and business com-munity sharing the laboratory has provided the business community with ”neutral ground”{, a place to meet other members of the trade and exchange ideas}. Common issues may be identified and problemized together with scientists and students of the UCB.

Arenas for cooperation as the one outlined above may pose as a model for other branches where outsourcing and a diminishing national industrial basis has become reality.

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Vocationally oriented research in the textile field

Research is a key factor in the further development and strengthening of the Swedish textile industry in the intensi-fying competition for the international market. In the textile field, the UCB has developed a research and development environment that in many respects already has come close to the Vocational University’s orientation and methods as described above.In its widest definition, textile research is about exploring {the potentials of} textile materials, textile technology, textile application and textile products in all forms. The field may be divided into four subordinate areas which correspond to education and research found at the UCB.

Textile technology – analysis and development of textile materials, i.e. fibers, non-woven, woven and knitted mate-rails and also materials and chemicals {adapted} for lasting and environmentally sustainable preparation, dyeing and printing. Also, analysis and development of textile techni-ques such as weaving, knitting, spinning and preparation are included in this area.

Design – analytical and experimental design research directed toward the textile field – textile design, fashion design, interactional design and material design.

Trade and management – analysis and development of methods and techniques for textile trading, entrepreneur-ship, logistics and management of the textile design pro-cess, textile production and the product’s way along the entire market chain.

Textile handicraft – analysis and development of textile handicrafts. Reconstructions of historical textiles are inclu-ded here. The area is a good example of how researching materials, technology, design and cultural science allows knowledge to interweave and develop.

Thus, the textile research field includes engineering sci-ence, handicraft, design research based on practical experience and vocationally oriented management and

trade research specialized in the textile field. The threads that bind these very different areas together are the textile materials, the textile techniques and the textile product.

The textile research field will be a prominent research pro-file at the Vocational University of Borås. The strength of the profile comes from:

Width, with highly developed communications between the different fields

Integration of design, material technology, production tech-nology handicraft, culture and management and trade, based in modern design studios and state-of-the-art work-shops and laboratories for preparation, knitwear, weaving, polymer-technical material development and characterization.

-Direct connections between education and research

-Strong regional and national support from the textile industry

-A well developed national and international network of actors in the {textile} field

Taken together with the collective competence profile of {the UCB} researchers, teachers and technicians, the vocational profile is unique and a great promise to join the {exclusive} group of Europe’s leading textile research envi-ronments in the near future.

Photo Tommy Martinsson

Photo studio


Aims

The Objectives of the CTF are:

Design

Textile- and Design Management

Crafts

Textile Technology

The Textile Research Centre, CTF

The CTF was founded in 1998 and is based at The Swedish School of Textiles at the University College of Borås. The aims of the Centre are:

To give a research profile to the unique combination of subjects within the School.

To strengthen the research capabilities in the subject areas of the School: crafts, design, textile- and design management and textile technology.

To build up and strengthen research within the School's educational program-mes, to attract national and international expertise, thus meeting the require-ments of subject-specific professors and postgraduate programmes.

To bring together all interested parties in crafts, design, textile- and design management and textile technologyin order to create a Nordic centre for textile research.

The Centre collects, assemble and process relevant information, to stimulate research and make it available to all professional groups in the field of textiles. Therefore, part of the Centre's reponsiblility is to arrange lectures, seminars and conferences, and to report ongoing discussions and results of research in publications and other media.

Areas of Interest and Research:

"The development of innovative design with the help of modern technology giving consideration to environmental, estetic, financial and ethical requirements".

Design management, fashion logistics, humanistik marketing, design direction

Historic textiles

Environmental technology, technical textiles, fibre technology



Lena Berglin Doctoral Student, The Swedish School of Textiles, University College of Borås [email protected]

Marcus Bergman Doctoral Student, The Swedish School of Textiles, University College of Borås [email protected]

Martin Ciszuk Doctoral Student, The Swedish School of Textiles, University College of Borås [email protected]

Kajsa Eriksson Doctoral Student, The Swedish School of Textiles, University College of Borås [email protected]

Jonas Larsson Doctoral Student, The Swedish School of Textiles, University College of Borås [email protected]

Anja Lund Doctoral Student, The Swedish School of Textiles, University College of Borås [email protected]

Anna Persson Doctoral Student, The Swedish School of Textiles, University College of Borås [email protected]

Joel Peterson Doctoral Student, The Swedish School of Textiles, University College of Borås [email protected]

Linda Worbin Doctoral Student, The Swedish School of Textiles, University College of Borås [email protected]

Margareta Zetterblom Doctoral Student, The Swedish School of Textiles, University College of Borås [email protected]

Åsa Haggren Doctoral Student, The Swedish School of Textiles, University College of Borås [email protected]

The Research Group at the Swedisch School of Textiles

Ulla E:son Bodin Professor, The Swedish School of Textiles, University College of Borås [email protected]

Lise Bender Jörgensen Professor, The Swedish School of Textiles, University College of Borås [email protected]

Simonetta Carbonaro Professor, The Swedish School of Textiles, University College of Borås [email protected]

Marion Ellwanger Professor, The Swedish School of Textiles, University College of Borås [email protected]

Lars Hallnäs Professor, The Swedish School of Textiles, University College of Borås [email protected]

Johan Huldt Professor, The Swedish School of Textiles, University College of Borås [email protected]

Heikki Mattila Professor, The Swedish School of Textiles, University College of Borås [email protected]

Staffan Toll Professor, Chalmers Institute of Technology, The Swedish School of Textiles, University College of Borås [email protected]

Håkan Torstensson Professor, Swedish School of Textiles, University College of Borås [email protected]

Clemens Thornquist Assistant Professor, The Swedish School of Textiles, University College of Borås [email protected]

Kenneth Tingsvik Assistant Professor, The Swedish School of Textiles, University College of Borås [email protected]


Pernilla Walkenström Associate Professor and Department manager Textile at Swerea IVF. Finished her PhD in 1996, focusing on “Phase Distribution of Mixed Biopolymer Gels in Relation to Process Conditions”. Has since then worked intensely with biopolymers and gel formation phenomena, followed by fibre spinning processes, in particular electrospinning of nanofibers. Associate professor in 2003.

Anna Thorvaldsson PhD-student at Swerea IVF. Finished her Master of Science in biotechnology in spring 2006. The studies focused on biopolymers (DA-work) and molecular biology. Has thereafter worked with electrospinning of nanofibers for biomedical applications.

Bengt Hagström PhD in Mechanical Engineering. Expert on polymer processing, polymer melt rheology and melt spinning of fibres.

Anders Bergner Senior scientist at Swerea IVF. Polymer material engineer in 1987, then studied innovation engineering 1989-1992. Has long industrial experience in the field of polymeric materials, composites and textiles from automotive-, defense- and medical technology as Design Engineer, Project Manager, R&D Manager and Technical Manager.

Ioannis S. Chronakis PhD in Physical & Colloidal Chemistry of Biomacromolecules. Expert in electrospinning of functional nanofibers and micro/nanostructures.

Jonas Engström Senior scientist at Swerea IVF. Finished his PhD in 2006 with a thesis titled “Functional Copolymers of Polyvinylpyrrolidone”. Has since then worked with electrospinning and crosslinking of polymers. Expert on materials science with a specialization in polymer organic chemistry.

Anna Vildhede Researcher at Swerea IVF with focus on electrospinning.

The Research Board at Swerea IVF, Textile Department

205Textile Journal

Ola Toftegaard MD, Swedish Textile and Clothing Industries Association, TEKO [email protected] Margareta Van Den Bosch Chief of design, H&M [email protected]

Agneta Nordlund-Andersson Managing Director, CTF The Swedish School of Textiles, University College of Borås [email protected] Larsh Eriksson Project Manager, CTF, The Swedish School of Textiles, University College of Borås [email protected]

Vanessa Hällgren Student Representative, The Swedish School of Textiles, University College of Borås Textilhögskolan, Högskolan i Borås [email protected]

Additional Members:

204 Textile Journal

Textile Research Council, CTF

The aim of the membership of the Textle Research Council was to create close links within the field of textiles relevant to the work of the CTF. The first board meeting was held on 31 August 1998.

Erik Bresky Managing Director, CTF, The Swedish School of Textiles, University College of Borås Textilhögskolan, Högskolan i Borås [email protected]

Lotta Ahlvar MD, Swedish Fashion Council, Svenska Moderådet [email protected]

Björn Brorström Prorector, University College of Borås, Högskolan i Borås [email protected]

Ingrid Giertz-Mårtensson MD, Swedish Vision AB [email protected]

Anne-Charlotte Hanning Production Manager, FP Research AB [email protected]

Johan Huldt MD, Innovator [email protected]

Roger Johansson Chalmers University of Technology, Chalmers Tekniska Högskola [email protected]

Maria Levin Creative Director, Nudie Jeans [email protected]

Eva Ohlsson MD, The National Swedish Handicraft Council, Nämnden för Hemslöjdsfrågor [email protected]

Lisbeth Svengren Holm Marketing Direktor, Stiftelsen Svensk Industridesign [email protected]

Chairperson:

Members:


NotesThe Nordic Textile Journal

The Nordic Textile Journal collects and publishes articles of interest within the fields of textile, design management, engineering and craft. Although the Journal is mainly for Nordic readership, many articles are published in English, in order to feature new and interesting research outside the Nordic countries.

Articles should cover subjects of wide interest within and between the fields mentioned above. They can also be summaries of lectures and seminars. All material is subject to consideration by the editorial Board.

Subscription

The issues of the Journal are available free of charge.

Guidelines for authors

All papers must comply as follows:

Manuscripts

Headings, paragraphs, captions, italics etc must be absolutely clear. Articles should be submitted on disc or by e-mail, clearly marked with the name(s) and address of the author(s), indicating the title of the article, and the software used. (Word is preferred.)

An abstract should be provided for each article. The abstract precedes the main text and draws attention to its salient points. Authors writing in Swedish may, if they wish, include an abstract in English.

References should indicate the author's name, the name of the publication and the year of publication.

The Nordic Textile Journal includes illustrations in four-colour printing. Authors should therefore indicate which pictures are required in colour. These can be submitted as slides, photos, or sent on a CD, DVD or e-mail, preferably in TIF or EPS. Final decisions on colour illustrations to be included are taken by the editors.

For further information, please contact: The Nordic Textile Journal, University College of Borås, CTF/THS, SE-501 09 BORÅS, Sweden. E-mail: [email protected], Fax: +46 33 435 40 09, Phone: +46 33 435 43 93

www.textilhogskolan.se

www.swereaivf.se

special edition journal - hb.se · woven, dyeing and finishing, and manufacturing. using ......

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