Smart and structural textiles and composites

illustrations from www.designinsite.dk

Textiles being two dimensionally arrangements of fibers held together exclusively by friction has for thousands of years been a common material used for clothing and living. When textiles or loose fibres are bound using a fixating agent it becomes a composite material. Recent developments in fibres and textiles technology has expanded the application areas so they now are used within high tech areas like aerospace and equipment for sports and medicine and as large building components like roofing membranes and structural elements.

The new properties include high strength and socalled smart functionality like light emmision, selective electrical conductivity, controled thermal insulation and sensing. Advanced weaving and knitting technology makes it possible to expand the material into the 3 dimension and it is also possible to achieve materials that can shift between being flexible and stif.

The present project aims at building an overview of materials and new possibilities and suggest new applications and business areas. Furthermore will selective technologies be developed.

People:

Torben Lenau,
Elisabeth Heimdal,
Department of Manegement Engineering,
Technical University of Denmark

Kasper Guldager Jørgensen, 3xNielsen

Karina Mose, www.karch.dk

Projects:
Poul Laksafoss: Ultra light composite aircraft 2006.
Maria Bjerregaard Andersen, Louise Laumann Kjær, Kira Gizella Olah Thume, Rasmus Vistesen: Portable Vessel (Bærbart fartøj) 2005-2006
Signe Pedersen, Rikke Premer Petersen, Marie Louise Larsen, Thor Højlund Olsen: Shelter for refugees, 2006
Shin Knudsen, Henriette Nielsen, Tobias Toft,Anders Klose Dahlfelt, Peter Friderichsen: Water proof bags, 2006
Textiles in Architecture and Design, Collaboration between DTU and KARCH, spring 2007
Materialets potentiale - tekstilbeton (The potential in the material - textile concrete), Collaboration between DTU and KARCH, autumn 2007
Jonas Brandt Jakobsen, Elisabeth Heimdal, Joakim Juhl, Anne Birgitte Skovholm Hedegaard, Stressmonitorering af udsendte soldater, Coursework in Holistic Design, DTU Management, dec 2008.
Elisabeth Heimdal: Interactive Inspirational Tool fors Responsive Textiles, Master Thesis July 2009
Elisabeth Heimdal: Integrated innovation within textile materials, Ph.D.-project sept. 2009 - dec. 2012.

Links:
North Carolina State University, College of Textiles
www.tx.ncsu.edu/departments/tatm/
www.tx.ncsu.edu/ncrc/
European Masters Programme in Advanced Textile Engineering
cinark.dk Center for Industriel Arkitektur
cita.karch.dk Center for Informations Teknologi og Arkitektur
www.designskolenkolding.dk
www.hyposurface.org
Extreme textiles, an exhibition at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum
www.textilearts.com Art and textiles
www.teko.dk
www.chr-dalsgaard.dk
www.diffus.dk an interdisciplinary design studio working with smart textiles
http://www.tekstile-kvaliteter.dk a Danish research project on userdriven textile innovation

Papers:
Elisabeth Heimdal, Torben A. Lenau, Michel Guglielmi and Hanne-Louise Johannessen: Interactive Sample Book (ISB) – An Inspirational Tool for Smart Textiles, Working paper for the 8th Nordcode seminar and workshop, 27-29 May 2009, Kolding Denmark.

Torben Lenau og Elisabeth Heimdal, Textiles and innovation at DTU, Future Textiles - – theme day on technological and intelligent textiles, Centre for Textile Research, Copenhagen University, 3. November 2009.

Elisabeth Heimdal and Torben Lenau, Physical tools for textile creativity and invention, Duck Journal for Research in Textiles and Textile Design, Loughborough University, ISSN: 2042-0854, summer 2010 Volume 1