Features

Textiles remain at the forefront of the ongoing global race to protect military personnel from existing and emerging threats, particularly smart textiles, and particularly in the USA, according to Sarah Gibbons.

Once again, ITMA (held most recently in Barcelona, Spain, on 20–26 June 2019) revealed the key trends among machinery builders—the use of advanced sensors and robotics, machines designed to make composite reinforcements and lines to process recycled textile waste will now shape the future of the textile manufacturing industry, according to Adrian Wilson.

Carrington Textiles specialises in the development of fabrics and finishes that provide protection and comfort in demanding workplaces. Quality Assurance Manager Sean Moore describes the company’s approach to making sure its products are fit for purpose.

Society has a duty to protect those that protect us. Fortunately, there is now a wide range of high-performance personal protective equipment available to do so effectively. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of one of the world’s leading suppliers, PPSS Group of Wetherby, UK, Robert Kaiser offers his opinions on slash-resistant clothing.

A range of inherently flame-retardant fibres are employed in fabrics for shielding workers from arc flashes, one of the most dangerous, complicated and demanding of applications in the safety and protection sector, according to Adrian Wilson.

The oil and gas exploration industry is a rich market for protective textiles and garments. Sarah Gibbons reviews some of the latest product developments, introduces the companies behind them and discusses the factors driving growth in the sector.

Mount Vernon FR’s massive manufacturing complex in the northwest corner of Georgia, USA, has become one of the leading suppliers of flame-retardant fabrics over the past decade, recently driven by the rapid growth in North America’s energy exploration sector, reports John McCurry.

Russian correspondent Eugene Gerden explains why the government and the industry are optimistic about the prospects for domestic manufacturers of technical textiles and nonwovens.

By extruding biopolymers, Spanish researchers have successfully made polymeric optical fibres with unique geometries and biomaterials for tissue engineering. The team behind the Volfil project reveals its findings to Technical Textiles International.

Spanish researchers have been investigating how to select the best substrates, inks and deposition methods, as well as optimal designs in order to exploit the printing of sensors onto textiles. They report their preliminary findings for Technical Textiles International.