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Establishing toughness performance in concrete using steel fibres is well understood, and design guides are available to assist with this process. What is less readily understood is the use of Type 2 synthetic fibres to provide toughness. This problem is exacerbated by the wide range of synthetic fibres available, with each different fibre providing different structural properties. This paper seeks to address this issue.

The paper examines the relative pull‐out values of two single fibre types, i.e. steel and Type 2 synthetic fibres. The pull‐out test results have informed the doses of fibre additions to beams which have been used to equate near equal toughness performance for each fibre type.

The results show that synthetic Type 2 fibres, when used at a prescribed additional volume, can provide toughness equal to steel fibre concrete.

The scientific study of fibre pull‐out behaviour is well understood and described herein under additional reading. Practical testing to show contractors and clients how to balance the dose of fibres in concrete, so that synthetic fibres could be used as a steel fibre replacement, is not well researched. This paper bridges the information gap.

The main idea is the comparison between composites including natural fibres (such as the linoleum fibres) and typical composites including carbon fibres or glass fibres. The comparison is proposed for different structures (plates, cylinders, cylindrical and spherical shells), lamination sequences (cross-ply laminates and sandwiches with composite skins) and thickness ratios. The purpose of this paper is to understand if linoleum fibres could be useful for some specific aerospace applications.

A general exact three-dimensional shell model is used for the static analysis of the proposed structures to obtain displacements and stresses through the thickness. The shell model is based on a layer-wise approach and the differential equations of equilibrium are solved by means of the exponential matrix method.

In qualitative terms, composites including linoleum fibres have a mechanical behaviour similar to composites including glass or carbon fibres. In terms of stress and displacement values, composites including linoleum fibres can be used in aerospace applications with limited loads. They are comparable with composites including glass fibres. In general, they are not competitive with respect to composites including carbon fibres. Such conclusions have been verified for different structure geometries, lamination sequences and thickness ratios.

The proposed general exact 3D shell model allows the analysis of different geometries (plates and shells), materials and laminations in a unified manner using the differential equilibrium equations written in general orthogonal curvilinear coordinates. These equations written for spherical shells degenerate in those for cylinders, cylindrical shell panels and plates by means of opportune considerations about the radii of curvature. The proposed shell model allows an exhaustive comparison between different laminated and sandwich composite structures considering the typical zigzag form of displacements and the correct imposition of compatibility conditions for displacements and equilibrium conditions for transverse stresses.

In this paper, the clothes made of synthetic and natural fibres were tested. The characteristics of selected physical parameters such as temperature, electrical resistance, thermal resistance of fabrics used for tested clothes have been presented. The electrostatical charge and temperature distribution of clothes were investigated on human body. The temperature distribution and the coefficient of heat transmission were measured by a new thermovision method.

Rising wool prices and technical advances in artificial fibres have provided Europe's man‐made textile producer's with booming business. But with prices yet to regain a healthy level after last year's production surplus, British manufacturers view with growing concern the Government's counter inflation measures. Roger Eglin reports.

Cleanrooms are highly controlled enclosed rooms where air quality is monitored and ensured to have less contamination according to standard cleanliness level. Air filters are used to optimize indoor air quality and remove air pollutants. Filter media and filtering system are decided as per requirement. Depth filter media are mostly used in cleanroom filtrations. This paper aims to present a comprehensive review of the evolution of cleanroom filter media. It evaluates the advantages and disadvantages of air filter media. It is also studied which air filters have additional properties such as anti-microbial properties, anti-odour properties and chemical absorbent. Development and innovation of air filters and filtration techniques are necessary to improve the performance via the synergistic effect and it can be a possible avenue of future research.

This paper aims to drive the future of air filter research and development in achieving high-performance filtration with high filtration efficiency, low operational cost and high durability. Air pollutants are classified into three types: suspended particles, volatile organic pollutants and microorganisms. Technologies involved in purification are filtration, water washing purification, electrostatic precipitation and anion technology. They purify the air by running it through a filter medium that traps dust, hair, pet fur and debris. As air passes through the filter media, they function as a sieve, capturing particles. The fibres in the filter medium provide a winding path for airflow. There are different types of air filters such as the high-efficiency particulate air filter, fibreglass air filter and ultra-low particulate air filter.

Emerging filtration technologies and filters such as nanofibres, filters with polytetrafluoroethylene membrane are likely to become prevalent over the coming years globally. The introduction of indoor air filtration with thermal comfort can be a possible avenue of future research along with expanding indoor environment monitoring and improving air quality predictions. New air filters and filtration technologies having better performance with low cost and high durability must be developed which can restrict multiple types of pollutants at the same time.

The systematic literature review approach used in this paper highlights the emerging trends and issues in cleanroom filtration in a structured and thematic manner, enabling future work to progress as it will continue to develop and evolve.

Although textiles is one of the oldest crafts and goes back to prehistory—it is believed that weaving grew up in the neolithic or later stone age—our modern civilization is producing such rapid and numerous developments in so many aspects of the subject that the individual is hard put to keep up with only a fraction of them.

Sleep quality, a crucial parameter for health and life performance, is affected by mattress components; particularly mechanical and thermal comfort management ability of the upper layers. The aim of this study is to investigate effects of quilted mattress ticking fabric material (polyester, polypropylene, viscose, lyocell and their blends) on thermal comfort of the bedding system by objective and subjective measurements.

The permeability (air and water vapour), heat transfer, water absorption, transfer and drying behaviours of knitted quilted fabrics which influence the thermal comfort of the bedding system were investigated. Subjective coolness and dampness evaluations were gathered by forearm and hand-palm tests to provide more realistic discussion in light of fabric characteristics.

According to the results, polypropylene can be suggested for winter use with its higher air and water vapour permeabilities, lower thermal absorption and conductivities and warmer evaluation results. Lyocell can be suggested for summer use with also high permeabilities, higher thermal absorption and conductivities and cooler evaluation results. Polyester and viscose may also be considered for winter and summer in turn as a result of thermal feelings they create.

In addition to fabric thermal, permeability, liquid absorption and transfer properties, this study also includes subjective coolness and dampness evaluations which can provide realistic results regarding the coolness-to-touch and liquid transfer performances of mattress ticking fabrics. The relationships among objective and subjective data were investigated and the proposed subjective evaluation techniques can be used for different products.

The aim of this article is to demonstrate the development of environment friendly, low cost natural fibre composites by robust engineering approach. More specifically, the prime objective of the study is to optimise the composition of natural fibre reinforced polymer nanocomposites using a robust statistical approach.

In this research, the material is prepared using multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT), Cantala fibres and Epoxy Resin in accordance with the ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) standards. Further, the composition is prepared and optimised using the mixture-design approach for the flexural strength of the material.

The results of the study indicate that MWCNT plays a vital role in increasing the flexural strength of the composite. Moreover, it is observed that interactions between second order and third order parameters in the composition are statistically significant. This leads to proposing a special cubic model for the novel composite material with residual analysis. Moreover, the methodology assists in optimising the mixture component values to maximise the flexural strength of the novel composite material.

This article attempts to include both MWCNT and Cantala fibres to develop a novel composite material. In addition, it employs the mixture-design technique to optimise the composition and predict the model of the study in a step-by-step manner, which will act as a guideline for academicians and practitioners to optimise the material composition with specific reference to natural fibre reinforced nanocomposites.

This research investigates sustainable knowledge from a consumer perspective, thereby focussing on the issue of microfibre pollution (MFP) within the context of the athleisure wear industry.

This research is exploratory in nature and supports its findings with 15 in-depth semi-structured interviews with consumers who have an invested interest in athleisure wear and have either a fashion or a textile science background.

The results provide an insight into how different types of knowledge influence one another and which ones can act as barriers to acting more sustainably and more specifically in reducing MFP.

Although the sample size is relatively small, participants were selected carefully to have different backgrounds and lifestyles, thus, providing valuable insights that can be explored further in the future.

Communication is a key issue that has been identified and which needs to be carefully addressed by providing both quantity and quality.

This research identifies interlinks between different knowledge types and potential barriers that need to be overcome in order to act more sustainably.

This paper outlines the innovations in high functional and high performance fibres for applications in protective clothing, including fibres for flame and heat protection. It also describes some typical woven and non‐woven constructions for such applications. And presents the trends in producing smart textile materials, capable of interacting with human/environmental conditions.