Dynamic Dust: Textiles

J.N.G.E.C, Sundernagar

06:50

Jawahar Lal Nehru Government Engineering College, Sundernagar, Himachal Pradesh (Image: jngec)

In 2006, first state funded government engineering college was established by Himachal Pradesh government known as Jawaharlal Nehru Government Engineering College (JNGEC). It is located in the heart of Himachal Pradesh i.e in my hometown Sundernagar.

It is affiliated by HPTU and approved by AICTE. It is being funded by World Bank and so we got chances to attend seminars and guest lectures by renowned people in respective areas of work in different departments.

This year JNGEC is going to complete its 10 years. It’s a moment of pride for all the students, teachers, alumni and people associated with it. Hon’ble Chief Minister Sh. Virbhadra Singh has laid the foundation stone of JNGEC in 2006 with the vision to establish a world class institute in Himachal Pradesh. Currently, we are having four key undergraduate courses in engineering. Those are Textile Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electronics Engineering and Mechanical Engineering.

The students of our college are energetic and hard working. Although, we are new gamer in the field of engineering jobs from Himachal Pradesh but with hard work we are moving ahead step by step.

It’s a very good opportunity given by the government of Himachal Pradesh to its people by opening state funded engineering college. Currently, there are four state funded government engineering colleges in Himachal Pradesh.

I like the location of our college very much. Studying becomes more happening there. At morning when you reach college in summer, cool breeze of fresh air sets everything perfect and with good mood, who doesn’t want to study?

Library offers abundance of books, magazines, newspapers and a quite environment to study. In summer, the place remains cool and in winters I chose to sit on the table where I could get sunlight.

Half of the college is under construction and only some of the buildings are completed. I still remember my first day at college. I was nervous as I had heard that ragging happens in college but in our college, I never witnessed any chance of ragging. We had introduction and friendly talks with seniors and they even helped us.

Our first magazine was published in 2014 in which my some poems were selected. It was after that selection of poems that I discovered my love for writing. Currently, I am working as an editor to our magazine ‘Reflexia’.

Our annual fest ‘Twask’ always remain a time of joy, hard work and utmost enjoyment in whole year. For the past two years, I have participated in street play and dance. This year I am thinking to do something different.

JNGEC has transformed me very much. It was not what I expected but it was surely the one which I needed. It’s perfect the way it has made me to grow and to feel peppy. A lot of memories are collected in my heart and they’ll remain there and put a curve on my face whenever I’ll remember it!

Active Intelligent Textiles: Something For Future

06:29

Active intelligent textiles are the fabrics which can be used to wear in summer and could also be worn winters too. There is no need to have separate clothing for different environment conditions. You don’t need to change clothing according to environment but the clothes will change themselves for your comfort. It seems impossible but technically it’s not. Yes, clothes can change themselves according to you. These active intelligent textile products can be formed from a special range of thermo sensitive polymer from the shape memory polymers (SMP’s) group.

Smart Textiles

SMP are the polymers which are designed to memorize their “shape”. They are set in a given configuration and then an external stimulus is subjected resulting in a different configuration of the polymer. As soon as the external factors are withdrawn, shape memory polymer comes back to its original shape in which it was mold.

The phenomenon occurs due to its ability to exhibit rigidity and elasticity depending upon its external environment. When external stimuli (let’s consider heat) is applied to the polymer in rigid state, it changes its state to a very elastic one and after the removal of heat comes back to its memorize “shape”. This phenomenon is possible due to the fiber structure itself.

As normal fabrics have a structure which helps the body to remain insulated from the atmosphere i.e no heat transfer should occur between body and environment. This is achieved due to the ability of fibers to not conduct heat being an insulator but as moisture should be there and air permeability should be there, this is achieved due to the fabric structure.

Fabrics made from SMP have fibers which are thermal conductors. They are having pores on their surface. These pores are heat sensitive and change their shape according to the heat in external environment. Let’s consider the case of summer. Fabrics made from these fibers would have their pores opened leading to more air permeability and moisture regain. In case of winter, pores will become small and hence you’ll feel warm.

Since this type of clothing is not economical at this point of time. So this is a something which is for future. Although we have different fashion trends which changes after some months. So, it’s not a demand of present era. As research is going in this field, with a span of time we’ll be having active intelligent textiles which would be helpful in different applications if not in daily apparels. I hope this is helpful to you. Happy reading J

Technology Behind Light Weight Bullet-Proof Jackets

06:19

Cops wearing bullet proof jackets

As bullet proof jacket is used to save body from bullets as suggested by its name. It is being used till centuries, only the difference lies in its construction. Initially, it was made of iron and its weight was very heavy. As technology stepped its way forward, researchers created bulletproof vests of fabric!

Firstly, I want to make this clear that in today’s world we are commercially using bullet proof jackets made of different types of fabrics sandwiched to produce a light weight vest which can save our body from bullets.

The formation of light weight bullet proof fabrics started after the discovery of Kevlar fiber by Du-pond. Kevlar is a para-aramid synthetic fiber. It was developed by Stephanie Kwolek in 1965 and was commercialized in 1970 as a replacement to steel in tires. Its tensile strength to weight ratio is five times more than steel making it five times stronger than steel.

Not only the fiber itself responsible for bullet proof property but also the way it is weaved plays a crucial role. A bulletproof jacket consist of a vest shaped sheet of advanced plastic polymers that are composed of many layers of Kevlar or Twaron and spectra shield over it bonded with resins such as Kraton and then sealed between two sheets of polyethylene. Panel is also inserted in it. Panel gives protection but not much comfort. It is placed between the shells of fabric. To make fabric absorbent for sweat, it is coated with absorbent material like Kumax from its inner surface.

The basic principle behind his vest is dissipation of energy when a bullet hits on it. Energy of bullet is dissipated and due to the strength of material used, bullet is restricted to penetrate to even touch wearer’s body. Although, energy is only dissipated it can cause internal injury to the person wearing it. Chances of injury remains there just the chance of being hit by bullet reduces. Energy is dissipated in a larger area and hence restricting bullet to penetrate through it.

The combination of high performance fibers with the weave makes it possible to restrain such a force. As the force is being split into a larger area, it penetrates some layers and doesn’t allow bullet to reach the body. Vest can prevent bullet penetration but still both the vest and wearer can absorb bullet’s energy. To impart more strength to the fabric, plates of polyethylene, ceramic steel can be used for protecting vital areas.

To overcome this problem, now bullet proof jackets are being made with non-Newtonian fluids. This fluid is packed inside Kevlar body of textiles. This not only reduces the weight of jacket but also it acts as a much better life saver. Non-Newtonian fluid hardens when an external force is applied to them resulting in restriction of bullet’s energy to even penetrate vest and reach towards the person’s body. This not only restricts the bullet but also bullet is collected in a layer of vest which can easily be removed and can be used for evidence.

This is the basic idea how a bullet proof fabric is formed. There are many advancements and researches going on to improve this fabric to make it more effective and efficient!

Dynamic Dust

J.N.G.E.C, Sundernagar

Active Intelligent Textiles: Something For Future

Technology Behind Light Weight Bullet-Proof Jackets

Like us on FB

Popular Posts

Blog Archive

About Me

Follow me on FB

Most Viewed