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This paper aims to provide an overview of the current manufacturing methods for three-dimensional textile preforms while providing experimental data on the emerging techniques of combining yarn interlocking with yarn interlooping.

The paper describes the key textile technologies used for composite manufacture: braiding, weaving and knitting. The various textile preforming methods are suited to different applications; their capabilities and end performance characteristics are analysed.

Such preforms are used in composites in a wide range of industries, from aerospace to medical and automotive to civil engineering. The paper highlights how the use of knitting technology for preform manufacture has gained wider acceptance due to its flexibility in design and shaping capabilities. The tensile properties of glass fibre knit structures containing inlay yarns interlocked between knitted loops are given, highlighting the importance of reinforcement yarns.

The future trends of reinforcement yarns in knitted structures for improved tensile properties are discussed, with initial experimental data.

This paper aims to examine and compare the export performance and competitiveness of Indian and Chinese textile and clothing industry in post-multifibre arrangement (MFA) era.

Balassa’s revealed comparative advantage Index is used to assess the competitiveness of Indian and Chinese textile and clothing exports.

The results indicate that China’s textiles and garments sector holds a greater proportion of the global market compared with India. India has a robust comparative advantage in silk, carpets and cotton post-MFA. Vegetable textile fibers, paper yarn and woven fabrics of paper yarn are also competitive. China had a strong comparative advantage in silk and fabrics; special woven fabrics, tafted textile fabrics, lace, tapestries, trimmings and embroidery in 2005. China also recorded comparative advantage in silk, man-made filaments: strip and the like of man-made textile materials, fabrics; special woven fabrics, tafted textile fabrics, lace, tapestries, trimmings and embroidery and fabrics; knitted or crocheted in 2021.

This study’s results and recommendations could assist the Indian and Chinese Governments develop policies to upgrade their garment industries.

Though vast literature reviews are available for textile and apparel export performance in India and China separately, there are few studies on comparisons. This study is a significant attempt to evaluate India and China’s competitiveness in the global market.

This paper aims at examining the dynamic patterns and traits of bilateral trade between Korea and Vietnam. The major findings of this paper can be summarized as follows. First, the structure of trade between Korea and Vietnam conforms to each country’s factor proportion. Second, the structure of Korea’s imports from Vietnam did not change over the last two decades. In other words, Vietnam has failed to climb up the industrial ladder. Third, the degree of intra-industry trade between Korea and Vietnam has been low and unstable. Fourth, the trade pattern between Korea and Vietnam has been complementary not competitive in nature. Korea-Vietnam FTA will open a new horizon for the deeper vertical integration of the two.

This study aims at evaluating the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the export trade system for Mauritius during the first half of 2020 (January 2020–June 2020).

An initial analysis of the monthly export time series data proves that on the whole, the series have diverged from their actual trends after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic: observed values are less than those predicted by the selected optimal forecast models. The authors subsequently employ the Bayesian structural time series (BSTS) framework for causal analysis to estimate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the island's export system.

Overall, the findings show that the COVID-19 pandemic has a statistically significant and negative impact on the Mauritian export trade system, with the five main export trading partners and sectors the most affected. Despite that the impact in some cases is not apparent for the period of study, the results indicate that total exports will surely be affected by the pandemic in the long run. Nevertheless, this depends on the measures taken both locally and globally to mitigate the spread of the pandemic.

This study thus contributes to the growing literature on the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic by focussing on a small island economy.

In this paper, we examine the comparative advantage of Korea and China while focusing on their technology level. The three digit SITC (Standard International Trade Classification) data is classified by technology level and the revealed comparative advantage (RCA) is derived from 1992-2009 by using UN COMTRADE data. For careful interpretation of the comparative advantage and technology levels, we also examined intra-industry trade and unit values of bilateral Korea-China trade, and semi-conductor industry technology. We found that the revealed comparative advantage has moved from low technology products to high technology products in Korea. China still maintains a comparative advantage in low technology products such as textiles and clothing, but at the same time, China’s high and medium-high technology products have recently gained a comparative advantage. The perception that China only has a comparative advantage for labor intensive products with low technology should be changed based on our analysis. However, China’s advancement in technology should not be overestimated. When comparing the unit value of basic materials of Korea’s and China’s exports, we found that Korea’s export product prices are on average higher than that of China’s, although the gap is reducing. A wider technology gap between Korea and China still exists in the semi-conductor industry, which is one of the most advanced high technology industries throughout the world.

The study aimed to clarify differences in fabric hand perceptions among Japanese and Chinese participants and implement online shopping strategies that enable consumers to easily recognize fabric texture.

Forty (20 Japanese and 20 Chinese) participants knowledgeable about clothing and fabric were recruited. Participants evaluated fabric by sight and touch in a visuotactile experiment (VTE). The stimulus material comprised 39 fabric samples representing a broad range of fabric attributes (7 fibers, 5 weaving/knitting techniques and 3 yarn thicknesses and density). A Mann–Whitney U test and a factor analysis were conducted to determine differences in responses for the different fabric variables.

The fabric hand perceptions factors were similar between both groups. Japanese participants showed a stronger preference for fabrics that felt wet. Japanese participants’ fabric hand perceptions had a 3-factor structure, while Chinese participants had a 2-factor structure. Chinese participants regarded “crisp” as perceptually and linguistically equivalent to “stretchy.”

The study’s findings suggest that Chinese people have stronger preferences in fabrics than Japanese people do. Japanese people evaluate fabric hand in a more nuanced manner than Chinese individuals, including discerning different fabric attributes, such as fiber and yarn thickness and density. Thus, nationality may influence fabric hand perceptions more than fabric knowledge does. Specifically, in evaluating “crispness,” the results required further analysis because differences in nationality may have affected evaluations regarding perception and linguistic perspectives. The findings provide design guidelines for implementing online shopping strategies adapted to each participant group.

Technology and market pressures are encouraging localized and small-series production in customer-driven industries. The purpose of this paper is to explore and understand the supply chain-, product- and process-design factors for small-series production in EU’s textile and apparel industry, to understand configuration decisions, priorities and challenges.

An interview study was undertaken with ten companies that represent diverse small-series production models and value chain roles. Interview data was analysed to identify supply network configuration characteristics, decision priorities and challenges.

Three small-series production models emerged from the analysis, differing with respect to adoption of process postponement and customization. The findings confirm and extend past research regarding diverse decision priorities and product, process, supply chain structure/relationship configurations. Challenges identified relate to planning (priorities) and implementation (configuration). Whereas competence availability and digital technology challenges are common, several difficulties are linked to production model like tensions related to priorities and small volumes, which are not found with customization.

Future research can make comparisons with other industry and location contexts; adopt dynamic approaches to distinguish between design and reconfiguration processes; and address indicated paradoxical-tensions.

The study findings can provide guidance for companies regarding identification of priorities and management of (planning/implementation) challenges impacting small-series production in T&A.

The paper brings a configuration perspective at the supply chain level to the problem of small-series production implementation, which demands holistic and context-specific understanding.

In the field of research on the application of digital printing to textile materials, there are still many research issues that arise from the very demanding interaction of digital printing technology and the complex, heterogeneous surface system of textile materials. This is precisely why the area of pre-treatment of textile materials is in need of research, and the purpose of this research was to establish the level of influence of physical and chemical activation of the textile surface with plasma and the possibility of improving the quality of the print and colour reproduction.

The paper deals with the possibility of applying argon and oxygen cold low-pressure plasma in the processing of cellulose knitted fabrics, with the aim of improving the quality of the print and colour reproduction in digital pigment inkjet printing. The selected raw material samples were 100% raw cotton and lyocell. After plasma treatment, the samples were printed by digital ink jet printing with water-based pigment printing ink. An analysis of the micromorphological structure of untreated and plasma-treated samples before and after printing was carried out, and a comparative analysis of the colour of the printed elements was carried out depending on the pre-treatment.

The conducted research showed a positive influence of plasma pre-treatment on the coverage of the fibre surface with pigments, the uniformity of pigment distribution along the fibre surface and the uniformity of the distribution of the polymeric binder layer. This has a positive effect on colour reproduction. Also, certain improvements in colourfastness to washing were obtained.

Considering the complexity of the topic, although exhaustive, this research is not sufficient in itself, but opens up new questions and gives ideas for further research that must be carried out in this area.

Also, this kind of research contributes to the possibility of adopting the idea of industrial plasma transformation, as an ecologically sustainable functionalisation of textiles, which has not yet been established.

This research is certainly a contribution to the establishment of acceptable textile pre-treatment methods in the field of digital printing, as one of the key quality factors in digital textile printing (DTP). Considering the still large number of obstacles and unanswered questions encountered in the field of digital printing on textiles, this kind of research is a strong contribution to the understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of the complex interaction between printing ink and textile.

The paper aims to investigate the comfort-related performances of an innovative solar shading solution based on a new composite patented material that consists of a cement-based matrix coupled with a stretchable three-dimensional textile. The paper’s aim is, through a performance-based generative design approach, to develop a high-performance static shading system able to guarantee adequate daylit spaces, a connection with the outdoors and a glare-free environment in the view of a holistic and occupant-centric daylight assessment.

The paper describes the design and simulation process of a complex static shading system for digital manufacturing purposes. Initially, the optical material properties were characterized to calibrate radiance-based simulations. The developed models were then implemented in a multi-objective genetic optimization algorithm to improve the shading geometries, and their performance was assessed and compared with traditional external louvres and overhangs.

The system developed demonstrates, for a reference office space located in Milan (Italy), the potential of increasing useful daylight illuminance by 35% with a reduced glare of up to 70%–80% while providing better uniformity and connection with the outdoors as a result of a topological optimization of the shape and position of the openings.

The paper presents the innovative nature of a new composite material that, coupled with the proposed performance-based optimization process, enables the fabrication of optimized shading/cladding surfaces with complex geometries whose formability does not require ad hoc formworks, making the process fast and economic.