By: Granch Berhe2015

Textiles in Transportation

Automotive textile

(Mobiltex/Mobiltech)

Introduction

• Transportation is the largest user of technical textiles

• Textiles provide a means of decoration and a warm soft touch to surfaces that are necessary features for human well being and comfort

• Textiles are also essential components of the more functional parts of all road vehicles, trains, aircraft and sea vessels.

Land – Air/Space - Water• upholstery, car interior, carpets

• tires, car elements, filters,

• Heat, cable & sound insulation,

• safety systems - airbags, seat belts

• Protective covers for land crafts, boats, aircrafts

• sailcloth, inflatable boats

• Envelopes of balloons

• Special equipment for military vehicles,

MOBILTECH

Some of these textiles are visible while the others are concealed. Visible components: upholstery, carpets, seat belts, headliners etc.

Concealed components – tyre cords, hoses, belts, airbags, air and fuel filters, noise and vibration dampening and body panel reinforcement in composites etc.

Textile Materials used in Car Interiors

Low density, Low absorbency and Better Strength

FIBRE COMPOSITION IN AUTOMOTIVES

APPLICATION AREAS FIBRES / PRODUCTS USED

UPHOLSTERY Polyester, wool, nylon, acrylic TYRE CORDS & FABRICS Polyester, Nylon, HT * rayon, steel & aramid COMPOSITE Glass, carbon, aramid, HT polyester & polyethyleneRUBBER REINFORCEMENT HT polyester, aramid SEAT BELTS HT polyester

AIRBAGS Nylon - 6,6, nylon - 4,6

CARPETS Nylon, polyester, polypropylene

Car seatRequires considerable technical input to produce both the aesthetic and also the very demanding durability requirements•Not easily removable for cleaning •Much more rigorous use than domestic furniture. •Withstand much higher exposure to daylight and damaging ultraviolet radiation (UV) •Stringent safety requirements such as flame retardancy.

factors

comfort, safety - reduced flammabilityweight saving

A further recurring requirement of textiles involving passenger transport is cleanability

The stresses of modern living require transportation interiors to be more pleasing and mentally relaxing, to ease travelling and to make journeys more enjoyable.

Fiber requirement• UV degradation and color fastness• Reduced flammability• Soil Repelency• Durability – abrasion • The fabrics need to be resistant to mildew,

hard wearing and strong with high tear strength.

• Soil resistance and easy cleanabilityOnly polyester, nylon and polypropylene are generally acceptable, although wool is used in some more expensive vehicles because of its aesthetics and comfort.

Car seat covers

• Trilaminate consisting of face fabric and polyurethane foam with a scrim lining on the back– Scrim - This fabric acts as a

‘slide aid’ when the seat cover is sewn and when it is pulled over the foam seat body.

Headliners

Other functionsair filters- activated carbonnonwoven carpets-polypropylene

warp-knitted nylon, or PVC, or non woven

modern headliners are multilayer materials for sound insulation

Nylon 6.6 and nylon 6 are the primary fibres for headliners.fine deniers of polyester or polypropylene also used

Airbags

Fibers for airbag

Filament yarn made from nylon 6.6 is strong, resistant to ageing, and abrasion resistant.

The most important and commercially accepted fibre for airbag manufacturing is nylon 6.6, although some airbags are made of nylon 6 and polyester

The modulus of the yarn is lower than that of polyester. This characteristic facilitates a uniform distribution of stress peaks across the nylon fabric during dynamic loading when the airbag inflates, which results in fewer unnecessary injuries

Automotive Carpet1. Decorative top layer of fiber

Tufted BCF nylon or needle punched PET or PP back, latex coated with SBR or acrylic latex

2. Thermoplastic material for thermal moulding

Polyethylene powder, meldable fibers, EVA or further thick layer of compounded SBR latex

3. Acoustic & vibration damping layersHeavy layer of shoddy fibers or PU foam

TiresThe tyre is the interface between a vehicle and the road surface. A tyre is a textile reinforced composite structure where various textile components are embedded in a rubber matrix

The textile carcass (known as the casing) is the backbone structure of a tyre and it is made of high tenacity tyre cords.

other textile components : belt, breaker fabric, chafer fabric, filler fabric, and bead wrapping fabric

Tire cordsTyre cords are produced from high tenacity, continuous filament nylon 6, nylon 6.6, polyester or viscose (normally used in the casing structure)

Breaker or belt layers are made of high modulus fibres, frequently para-aramid (e.g. Kevlar), glass, or steel.

Nylon 6 and nylon 6.6 fibres : provided unique strength, excellent adhesion and high fatigue strength, they had poor resistance to flat-spotting-corrected by heat setting

Global automotive radial-ply tyre casings are reinforced with polyester (polyethylene terephthalate) fibres. However, polyester tyre cord needs a 2-stage dipping process compared to the 1-stage process used for nylon and viscose cords . Amongst the high-tenacity tyre cords, polyester creeps the least under load.

Viscose : Although nylon and polyester tyre cords are stronger than viscose, viscose is superior to nylon in high-speed impact. Polyester also resists high-speed impact well, but loses modulus and strength faster than viscose at 150°C. Viscose's dimensional stability to moisture is not good but the fibre is easier to process than nylon and polyester.

Glass fibre has a relatively high modulus and strength compared to other high-tenacity reinforcing fibres such as nylon, polyester, and viscose. These properties are successfully utilised in the belt of bias-belted tyre construction

steel cord: high strength and stiffness, is used for belt construction in radial automotive tyres. Steel cord reinforced radial-ply tyres provide high puncture and cut resistance. They help to increase tread life. Steel cord sidewalls absorb flexing better than other materials

Kevlar particularly for high performance car tyres. lighter tyres for better performance.Outstanding thermal resistance, very good thermomechanical responses, accompanied by good fatigue resistance and dimensional stability, make Kevlar an ideal fibre to reinforce high speed tyres for rally and racing

Tire processing

Sulfron

Other technical car parts