No abstract

Spacer fabrics are state-of-the-art structures and have attracted more attention in recent years. They have already been used in many areas and present different advantages especially for technical applications. Recently, special spacer fabrics have been designed in order to improve the characteristics of concrete which is used, in particular, for structural reinforcement of buildings. These spacer fabrics have different characteristics compared to conventional textiles due to their special structure. Therefore, characterization of these structures with existing methods is not possible. Compression resistance of spacer fabrics provided by spacer yarns in the structure is one of their main characteristics. However, compression behavior of spacer fabrics has not been investigated in detail to date. In this work, a testing method for the characterization of spacer fabrics used in concrete applications on the basis of their compression behavior has been investigated and defined.

Aim of this study was to investigate the effects of filament cross section on the performance of automotive upholstery fabrics. Thirty-six yarns were produced by changing the cross section of poly(ethylene terephthalate) fibers (round, octolobal and W-channel) and the air-jet texturing parameters (overfeed and number of core and effect yarns). After heat-setting and dyeing the yarns were woven into fabrics and laminated. Performance tests of both the air-jet textured yarns and the fabrics were carried out. It was observed that W-channel gave the most different air-jet textured yarn structure. It formed a bulky, uneven yarn structure with many open loops. No pronounced difference in the recovery from strain behaviors of the air-jet textured yarns was recorded. For all the cross-section types, increase in the looped structure resulted in higher permanent elongation values. In case of fabrics, all the filament cross sections gave satisfactory results for the light fastness and the abrasion resistance tests. It was concluded that changing filament cross section had the most significant effect on air permeability. W-channel gave the lowest air permeability, while octolobal gave the highest one.

In automotive industry, vehicle seat has been came first to mind at beginning of components that is encounter directly with customer. The customers have many expectations in terms of aesthetics, functionality and comfort from the seats of vehicle. When considering comfort in car seats, backrest, cushion, headrest foam and upholstery are the place of at the top of the list. The seat upholstery in vehicle has a composite structure by including fabric, lamination foam and backing scrim. This composite structure is combined with the foam by using techniques such as traditional method or in-situ technology. In traditional method, the upholstery is trimmed on the product’s foam. In in-situ technology, PU is injected into ready-placed upholstery. The advantage of in-stu technology is to make a perfect trimming for curved foam designs. Especially in headrest, it is preferred concave shapes for distance that effects on comfort and also safety between the driver's head and the seat headrest. In in-situ process, an overflow failure may occure from the upholstery surface of injected foam including polyurethane (PU) with high pressure during process. Overflow failure is not required by main automobile producers for aesthetical aspect and quality point of view. In this study, it is evaluated the effect of lamination foam and fabric in composite structure on overflow failure. In evaluation of overflow behaviour of PU injected foam, fabric types and lamination foam types were tested regarding weight measurement, peeling strength and air permeability. Final products as headrest were obseved by 40x microscop to evaluate the overflow failure.