Textiles

HANDBOOK OF TECHNICAL TEXTILES
Edited by A R Horrocks and S C Anand

Cambridge England

Published by Woodhead Publishing Limited in association with The Textile Institute Abington Hall, Abington Cambridge CB1 6AH England www.woodhead-publishing.com Published in North and South America by CRC Press LLC, 2000 Corporate Blvd, NW Boca Raton FL 33431, USA First published 2000, WoodheadPublishing Ltd and CRC Press LLC © 2000, Woodhead Publishing Ltd except Chapter 16 © MOD The authors have asserted their moral rights. This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reprinted material is quoted with permission, and sources are indicated. Reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the authors and the publishers cannotassume responsibility for the validity of all materials. Neither the authors nor the publishers, nor anyone else associated with this publication, shall be liable for any loss, damage or liability directly or indirectly caused or alleged to be caused by this book. Neither this book nor any part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, includingphotocopying, microfilming and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. The consent of Woodhead Publishing and CRC Press does not extend to copying for general distribution, for promotion, for creating new works, or for resale. Specific permission must be obtained in writing from Woodhead Publishing or CRC Press for such copying.Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation, without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Libraryof Congress. Woodhead Publishing ISBN 1 85573 385 4 CRC Press ISBN 0-8493-1047-4 CRC Press order number: WP1047 Cover design by The ColourStudio Typeset by Best-set Typesetter Ltd, Hong Kong Printed by St Edmundsbury Press, Suffolk, England

To the past and present staff members, support staff and students in Textile Studies at Bolton Institute, for their friendship and support over the years.Preface

Technical textiles are reported to be the fastest growing sector of the textile industrial sector and account for almost 19% (10 million tonnes) of the total world fibre consumption for all textile uses, totalling 53 tonnes in 1997. This figure is likely to increase to 14 million tonnes by the year 2005. Technical textiles are estimated to account for well over 40% of the total textileproduction in many developed countries and, at the year 2000, account for almost 20% of all textile manufacturing in China (Byrne 1997). The current volume of the market worldwide for technical textiles is more than $60 billion. The average annual growth rate of technical textiles worldwide is expected to be around 3.8% for the period 2000 to 2005. The uniqueness and challenge of technicaltextiles lies in the need to understand and apply the principles of textile science and technology to provide solutions, in the main to technological problems but also often to engineering problems as well. With the emphasis on measurable textile performance in a particular field of application, this requires the technologist to have not only an intricate knowledge of fibres and textile science andtechnology but also an understanding of the application and the scientists, technologists and engineers who service it. Thus the producer of geotextiles requires an intricate knowledge of the world of civil engineering, and the medical textile producer, the requirements of consultant, medical practitioner and nurse. This series attempts to provide a bridge between producer and end-user. The main...