Agro Textiles | General Property Requirement of Agrotextiles | FibersUsed for Agro-Textiles | Application of Agro Textiles

Agro Textile:
Agro textiles are now days extensively being used in horticulture, farming and other agricultural activities. Agriculture and textiles are the largest industries in the world providing basic needs such as food and clothing.The usage of agro textiles will be benefited in terms of products with enhanced quality, higher yields fewer damages and bearable losses. It also permits as to use lower quantities of weed killers and pesticides.

Soil cover fabric

Agriculture has been amongst the most primal occupations of the humankind and is still a major industry, globally. In this era of modernization and high technological advancements, it has spread its horizons and started using man-made, non-conventional textiles, called “technical textiles”.

Fibers Used for Agro Textiles:
There is use of synthetics as well as natural fibers in agro textiles. Fibers used in agro textiles are as follows:
• Nylon
• Polyester
• Polyethylene
• Polyolefin
• Polypropylene
• Jute
• Wool

Among all these fibers the Polyolefin is extensively used where as among natural jute and wool is used it not only serve the purpose but also after some year it degrades and act as the natural fertilizer.

General Property Requirement of Agrotextiles:
The properties required for agro textiles are:
• Weather resistance- It must work effectively in cold as well as hot climatic conditions
• Resistance to microorganisms-It must resistant to microorganism to protect the living being
• Stable construction- The construction must be such that it must be stable for any application
• Lightweight- The weight of the fabric should be such that it will bare by the plant.

Some of the purposes for which these textiles are being increasingly used are as follows:

1. Preventing erosion and paving way for afforestation
2. In greenhouse cover and fishing nets
3. For Layer separation in fields
4. In Nets for plants, rootless plants & protecting grassy areas
5. As sun screens (since they have adjustable screening)and wind shields
6. As packing material and in bags for storing grass (that has been mowed)
7. Controlling stretch in knitted nets
8. Shade for basins
9. Anti-birds nets
10. Fabrics for sifting and separation, for the phases of enlargement of the larvae
11. Materials for ground and plant water management at the time of scarcity and abundance of water.

Some Important Uses of Agrotextiles are given below in Details: 

Hail protection: 

Hail protection fabrics helps shield vines from the fruit damage and defoliation associated with hail yet still lets through plenty of sunlight.

Wind protection Fabrics: 

Trees that are protected from wind are generally healthier, reach full growth more rapidly, and have higher yield. Wind Break Fabrics protect crops from wind and, in some cases, orchard temperatures can be increased by reducing wind speed.

Soil Covers or landscape Covers or Weed protection fabrics:
The relevant parameters for an agro textile, used as soil cover, will be determined based on laboratory tests and field experiments.

Shade Fabrics:

1. Shade fabric absorbing 90% of sunlight.
2. It is made from 100% polypropylene monofilament strands.
3. It is UV stabilized to hold up under the most extreme solar conditions.
4. It can be used for a variety of applications: wind and privacy screen, shading for sports
   and recreation.
5. Knitted Sunshade cloth is made from 100% UV stabilized polyethylene.
6. Its unique lock stitch construction allows customers the ability to cut the fabric with scissors without further unraveling.

Insect Repellent Fabrics:
Various pests like Whitefly, scale insects attack some ornamental plants and vegetables frequently. The fabrics of such kind are stretched across the open-air plantations so that the pests can no longer get to the plants and also the climate will not be disturbed in any way.

Temperature Controlled Fabrics: 

1. Temperature Control fabric is a nonwoven, spun bonded polyester fabric designed to protect crops from cold, frost, insects and a variety of adverse environmental factors.
2. Temperature Control fabric helps captures heat on sunny days and retains heat radiating from the ground at night. 
3. This aids in protecting sensitive ornamentals, nursery stock and foliage 24 hours a day.

Process Flow Chart of Garments Manufacturing | Sequence of GarmentsProduction Process

Introduction:
The ready made garment manufacturing processing depends on some steps and techniques.The clothing creation running actions and methods included in the developing outfits for the huge of creation in company time frame for company reasons is known as outfits developing technologies. Garments plants are identified according to their item kinds are as follows: Garments Factory are classified with some dept.

Garment factory

1. Woven Garment Factory.
2. Knit Garments factory
3. Sweater Garments Factory

Garments Production Process: 

Stepwise garments manufacturing sequence on industrial basis is given below:

Design / Sketch

↓
Pattern Design
↓
Sample Making
↓
Production Pattern
↓
Grading
↓
Marker Making
↓
Spreading
↓
Cutting
↓
Sorting/Bundling
↓
Sewing/Assembling
↓
Inspection
↓
Pressing/ Finishing
↓
Final Inspection
↓
Packing
↓
Despatch

Operation of Garments Manufacturing are given below in details:

SL No.	Operation	Job	Method
01	Design/Sketch	It is given by buyers to manufacturers  containing sketches including measurements of particular  styles	Manual/Computerized
02	Basic Block	Basic block is an individual component of garments without any style of design (without Allowance, Style, Design)	Manual/Computerized
03	Working Pattern	When a pattern is made for a particular style with net dimension regarding the basic block along with allowance then it is called working pattern.	Manual/Computerized
04	Sample Garments	To make a sample, this will be approved by buyer. After making a sample, it is sent to buyer for approval to rectify the faults	Manual
05	Approved Sample	After rectify the faults, sample is again sent to buyers. If it is ok then , then it is called approved sample	Manual
06	Costing	Fabric Costing Making Charged Trimmings Profit	Manual
07	Production Pattern	Making allowance with net dimension for bulk production	Manual/Computerized
08	Grading	If the buyer requires different sizes, so should be grade as S, M, L, XL, XXL	Manual/Computerized
09	Marker Making	Marker is a thin paper which contains all the components for different sizes for a particular style of garments	Manual/Computerized
10	Fabric Spreading	To spread the fabrics on table properly for cutting	Manual/Computerized
11	Cutting	To cut fabric according to marker dimension	Manual/Computerized
12	Sorting & Bundling	Sort out the fabric according to size and for each size make in individual bundles	Manual
13	Sewing	To assemble a full garments	Manual
14	Ironing & Finishing	After sewing we will get a complete garment which is treated with steam ironing & also several finishing processes are done for example extra loose thread cutting	Manual
15	Inspection	Should be approved as initial sample	Manual
16	Packing	Treated by Polyethylene bag	Manual
17	Cartooning	After packing, it should be placed In cartooning for export	Manual
18	Despatching	Ready for export	Manual

Determination of Fabric Crease Recovery by Shirley Crease RecoveryTester

Name of the Experiment: 
Determination of fabric crease recovery by Shirley Crease Recovery Tester.

Introduction:
Crease is a fold in fabric introduced unintentionally at some stages of processing. Crease or crushing of textile material is a complex effect involving tensile, compressive, flexing and torsional stresses. Crease recovery is a fabric property which indicates the ability of fabric to go back to its original position after creasing.

Objective:
To measure the crease recovery of the given fabric.

Theory:
Crease recovery is a measure of creases resistance, specified quantitatively in terms of crease recovery angle. To measure this, the popular instrument is Shirley crease recovery tester. The instrument consists of a circular dial which carries the clamp for holding the specimen. Directly under the centre of the dial there is a knife edge and an index line for measuring the recovery angle. Crease recovery is determined depending upon this recovery angle. If the angle is 0o then recovery is zero and if the angle is 180o then recovery is full. Crease recovery depends on the construction, twist of yarn, pressure, time etc. Usually crease recovery is more in warp way than in weft way. This is because warp yarns are well in quality, strength, treated with sizing, kept in more tension during weaving etc.

Crease Recovery Tester

Apparatus:  

1. Crease recovery tester
2. Scissor
3. Glass plates
4. Steel plates
5. Weight.

Sample:  

• Cotton woven fabric.
• Size: 4.4 X 1.5cm.

Atmosphere:  

• Temperature – 25oC and relative humidity – 67%
• Standard atmosphere: temperature – 20oC and relative humidity - 65%.

M/c specification:  

• Name: Wrinkle Recovery Tester
• Brand: TAIEI KAGAKU FEIKI Ltd., Japan
• Scale: 0o-180o.

Procedure:

1. The specimen is cut by template and carefully creased by folding in half.
2. The crease is imparted on fabric by placing it between two glass plates and adding to 500gm weight on it.
3. After 1 min the weight is removed and the creased fabric is clamped on the instrument.
4. Then it is allowed to recover from the crease. The recovery time may vary to suit particular creases. Usually it is 1 min.
5. When crease recovers the dial of the instrument is rotated to keep the free edge of the specimen inline with the knife edge.
6. The recovery angle is read from the engraved scale.
7. In this way 10 tests are done in warp way and 10 for weft way.
8. The mean value of recovery angle is taken and thus crease recovery is measured.

Data:

S/n	Warp		Weft
	Recovery angle	Average	Recovery angle	Average
1	70o	57.4o	41o	41.8o
2	40o		39o
3	52o		44o
4	60o		37o
5	65o		48o

Table: Recovery angle obtained from test

Result:  

1. Crease recovery angle in warp way is 57.4o.
2. Crease recovery angle in weft way is 41.8o.

Remark:
Crease recovery is determined depending upon the recovery angle. If the angle is 0o then recovery is zero and if the angle is 180o then recovery is full. Here the recovery angle for the given fabric sample is the middle of the range. So it is to say that the crease recovery of the sample fabric is average.

Carpet Thickness Tester | Working Principle of Shirley Carpet ThicknessTester

Name of the Experiment: Determination of carpet thickness by Shirley thickness tester.

Introduction:
Carpet is a floor-covering textile having surface formed from yarns or fibres projecting from a substrate. Fabric thickness is a parameter of fabric which involves handle, creasing, wrinkle resistance, thermal resistance and other fabric properties. A carpet is compressible and therefore it is necessary to specify at what pressure its thickness is to be measured.

Objective:
To determine the thickness of carpet and understand its related facts.

Theory:
Anderson and Clegg state: Thickness as estimated by eye is similar to that measured by an instrument at low pressure, and by measuring thickness at increasing and decreasing pressures in the range exerted by a human foot, pressures of the order of 0-12 lb/in2 normally being encountered, we can obtain a measure of the behaviour of carpets to imposed loads. Essentially the determination of fabric thickness consists of the precise measurement of the distance between two plain parallel plates when they are separated by the cloth, a known arbitrary pressure between the plates being applied and maintained. It is convenient to regard one of the two plates as the pressure foot and the other as anvil. The Shirley thickness tester has such two parallel plates. The upper plate serves as a collar and supports for the additional load which produce pressure. The dial gauge is graduated in mm which indicates the thickness of the carpet.

Apparatus:
1. Shirley thickness tester
2. Carpet
3. Knife
4. Scale.

M/c specification:
Name: Shirley thickness tester
Manufacturer: Shirley Developments Limited, Manchester.

Atmosphere:
Testing atmosphere: Relative humidity - 65%+/-2% & Temperature - 270+/-20C.
Present atmosphere: Relative humidity - 68% & Temperature - 290.

Procedure:
1. At first we will take our sample carpet and cuts it with a knife.
2. Place the carpet on the lower plate and bring down the upper plate on it.
3. Load the dead weight on the collar and takes the reading from the dial gauge.
4. Now add the other additional weights one after another on the collar to increase the weight.
5. And take the readings from the dial gauge.
6. After taking the last reading we will wait for 5 mins for the action of the weights on the carpet.
7. Then we will again unload the weights from the collar one by one and take the reading of the thickness.
8. From the beginning thickness and the last thickness of the carpet after compression we will find out the compression of the carpet and the recovery percentage.

Data:

S/n	Adding load (gm)	Total load (gm)	Thickness (mm) after loading	Thickness (mm) after unloading
1	90 (dead wt.)	90	12.8	12.5
2	200	290	12.7	12.5
3	300	590	12.6	12.5
4	500	1090	12.5	12.4
5	1000	2090	12.4	12.3
6	1000	3090	12.3	12.2

Calculation:
Compression = (12.8 - 12.5) mm = 0.3 mm
Recovery =  2.4%

Result:
Compression of the carpet = 0.3 mm and recovery = 2.4%.

Graphical Representation:
We can make a chart of loading and unloading on carpet thickness by placing the values of load or unload in Y axis and thickness in X axis. It is shown below: 

Remark:
The thickness of the carpet is compressed very little and so it may say that its load bearing capacity is good and its durability will be long. Again its recovery percentage is poor which indicates that if it is bended once it will not serves long which indicates that its service ability is poor.