Use Of Manufactured Fibers example essay topic

Today they " re many thousand different materials. Most of them are different types of clothing, or cloth. Good portions of these are combinations of synthetic fibers woven or threaded together to make a final product. These synthetic fibers are a large group of polymers. Synthetic polymers offer more possibilities, since they can be designed with molecular structures that impart properties for desired end uses. All fibers are ploy-something or polymers.

That means they are long strings of repeating chemical elements. Some fibers come from ground plants that synthesize connected units of cellulose like cotton. Others are protein chains found on animals - wool, or the hair on your head. Other fibers are spewed from insects and worms, like spider webs and silk. Many of these polymers are capable of dissolving or melting, allowing them to be extruded into the long, thin filaments needed to make most textile products. Synthetic polymer fibers can be made with regular structures that allow the chains to pack together tightly, a characteristic that gives strength.

Filaments today can be made from some synthetic polymers that are much lighter and stronger even than steel (Warner, p 129-139). All manufactured fibers can be engineered to produce desired qualities. The size of polymer molecules is important. A polymeric material contains many chains with the same repeating units, but with different chain lengths.

Mostly, higher molecular weights lead to greater strength. As polymer chains get bigger, their solutions become more viscous and difficult to process. These straight chains may be branched, with small chains extending out from the backbone. The branches also may grow until they join with other branches to form a huge, three-dimensional matrix. Then, a century ago, the first manufactured fiber, rayon, was developed.

The secrets of fiber chemistry for countless applications had begun to emerge. It started in France when rayon was produced from reconstituted wood pulp. Later, acetate would be invented in a similar way. More new fibers followed when chemists learned how to make them in the laboratory.

The earliest published record of an attempt to create an artificial fiber took place in 1664. English naturalist Robert Hooke suggested the possibility of producing a fiber that would be, as good, ore better than silk. His goal remained un achieved for more than two centuries. The first patent for artificial silk was granted in England in 1855 to a Swiss chemist named Audemars. He dissolved the fibrous inner bark of a mulberry tree, and chemically modified it to produce cellulose. He formed threads by dipping needles into this solution and drawing them out.

In the early 1880's, Sir Joseph W. Swan, an English chemist and electrician, was spurred to action by Thomas Edison's new incandescent electric lamp. He experimented with forcing a liquid similar to Audemars solution through fine holes into a coagulating bath. His fibers worked like carbon filament, and they found early use in Edison's invention. It also occurred to Swan that his filament could be used to make textiles. In 1885 he exhibited in, London some fabrics crocheted by his wife from his new fiber. But electrical lamps remained his main interest, and he soon abandoned work on textile applications (Warner, p 23).

The first commercial scale production of a manufactured fiber was achieved by French chemist Count Hilaire de Chardon net. In 1889, his fabrics caused a sensation at the Paris Exhibition. Two years later he built the first commercial rayon plant at Bes ancon, France, and secured his fame as the "father of the rayon industry. Several attempts to produce artificial silk in the United States were made during the early 1900's but none were commercially successful until the American Viscose Company, formed by Samuel Courtaulds and Co., Ltd., began production its production of rayon in 1910 (Rayon). In 1893, Arthur D. Little of Boston, invented yet another cellulosic product acetate and developed it as a film. By 1910, Camille and Henry Dreyfus were making acetate motion picture film and toilet articles in Basel, Switzerland.

During World War I, they built a plant in England to produce cellulose acetate dope for airplane wings and other commercial products. When entering the War, the United States government invited the Dreyfus brothers to build a plant in Maryland to make the product for American warplanes. The Celanese Company developed the first commercial textile uses for acetate in fiber form in 1924. First Commercial U.S. Production 1910 - Rayon 1941 - Saran 1959 - Spandex 1924 - Acetate 1946 - Metallic 1961 -Aramid 1930 - Rubber 1949 - Modacylic 1983 - PBI 1936 - Glass 1949 - Olefin 1983 - Sulfa r 1939 - Nylon 1950 - Acrylic 1992 - Lyocell 1939 - Viny on 1953 - Polyester Though fibers are very versatile they can burn at the proper conditions, depending on the fiber.

However, most synthetic fibers resist ignition because they melt and shrink away from heat sources. This is why synthetic fibers are used so extensively for children's sleepwear. For some high-risk uses, the inherent ignition resistance of synthetics is not enough to provide enough fire protection. Flame-retardants may be added during manufacturing to add a higher degree of fire resistance. There are also special fibers, such as the aramid's, pb i, and sul far that provide a very high degree of protection. These fibers are made from heat-stable polymers that do not melt or burn.

Almost every type of synthetic compound has a level of durability. The trick in the laboratories is to make the lightest material at no cost of strength. Micro fibers are often used in winter jackets, or windbreakers because they let air breathe through the jacket, and are waterproof at the same time. They are also very tough because of the tightly woven pattern (Synthetic) (see diagram).

Today most synthetic and cellulosic manufactured fibers are created by extrusion, by forcing a thick, viscous liquid through the tiny holes of a device called a spinneret to form continuous filaments of semi-solid polymer. Wet spinning is the oldest process. It is used for fiber-forming substances that have been dissolved in a solvent. The spinnerets are submerged in a chemical bath and as the filaments emerge they precipitate from solution and solidify.

Dry spinning is also used for fiber-forming substances in solution. However, instead of precipitating the polymer by dilution or chemical reaction, solidification is achieved by evaporating the solvent in a stream of air or inert gas. In melt spinning, the fiber-forming substance is melted for extrusion through the spinneret and then directly solidified by cooling. Gel spinning is a special process used to obtain high strength or other special fiber properties. The polymer is not in a true liquid state during extrusion. Not completely separated, as they would be in a true solution, the polymer chains are bound together at various points in liquid crystal form (Yang, p 50-61) (see diagram).

Traditional consumer products, such as apparel, carpets, upholstered furniture, bedding and window treatments, have been changed because of the use of manufactured fibers that are used in less obvious ways. Tire cords made of polyester, nylon, aramid or rayon give the strength necessary for tires to run at high speeds and withstand a variety of road hazards (Yang, p 29). Reinforcing fibers of nylon, aramid, glass and other high-tech fibers provide the strength and rigidity needed by composite materials used for everything from auto bodies and bath fixtures to sports equipment. Fabric use for engineering and building construction is a rapidly developing area. Highly sophisticated medical devices, from artificial arteries to antibacterial wound dressings are based on manufactured fibers (synthetic). Electronic circuit boards make wide use of fiber composites (Warner, p 123).

Acetate is the largest volume application for acetate fiber in cigarette filters. Alone, or in blends with manufactured or natural fibers, acetate imparts a luxury feel and drape valued by fashion designers. Acrylic was once regarded primarily as a cold weather fiber for blankets and sweaters. By modifying the basic fiber, engineers now produce acrylic that expands the look and feel of sweaters to year-round use. It provides socks with greater comfort and significantly longer wear life, and it blends well with polyester and rayon in other garments. Aramid are used in protective garments for firemen, police, and the military.

Lighter and tougher than steel, a seven-layer aramid under vest weighing 2-1/2 pounds can stop a. 38-caliber bullet fired from a distance of about 10 feet. Each year more ways are found to use these fibers in industrial applications as replacements for steel, fiberglass, asbestos, aluminum, and graphite. Yachts use sails of aramid fibers because of their stability; skis with aramid fiber cores have increased flex life, greater strength, and better performance.

Lyocell, the newest of the cellulosic manufactured fibers, and is wrinkle-free and washable. Its yarns have an especially soft and luxurious touch, and finds use in casual and high priced jeans, shirts, and other clothing. Nylon carpet yarn resists stains, hides soil, resists mildew and bacteria, and prevents static. High-filament nylon yarns are often blended with spandex and used in athletic apparel, swimwear, and hosiery. In the Arctic, the Army uses three-dimensional nylon fabrics for insulated shelters that keep inside temperatures at 50 degrees Fahrenheit when outside temperatures drop to as low as 65 degrees below zero. Olefin fiber is used in artificial turf for athletic fields, disposable diapers, housing insulation, protective garments, road-paving fabrics, and tear and puncture resistant envelopes.

A high strength, high density olefin fiber has been developed that is ten times stronger than steel. Nonwoven olefin and polyester fabrics control erosion on steep slopes, line roadside ditches, and re-enforce streambeds and shorelines. Polyester has a high strength to weight ratio, and is the most widely sold manufactured fiber. It is utilized in all types of clothing, home furnishings and as a reinforcing fiber in tires, belts, and hoses. It is also the most heavily recycled polymer in the world. New insulating polyester fiberfill products put to the test by climbers on Mount Everest.

They are used in climbing suits, sleeping bags, parkas, and other high performance outdoor wear. Polyester fleece lines dry suits to permit winter windsurfing (Yang, p 68). Rayon's versatility and color range long have made it a popular fiber in apparel and home furnishings. Ultra fine rayon gives blouses and dresses a silkier look and feel. High-wet modulus rayon, used alone or in blends, produces apparel fabrics that are wrinkle and shrink resistant. They hold color well and can be washed rather than dry-cleaned.

Rayon filament is used in tire cord, fiber deniers, suit linings, and jewel boxes. Flame-resistant rayon / wool blends are used in commercial airline seats (Rayon... )..