Textila sensorer för både hästar och sjukvården

Två av Textilhögskolans masterstudenter i textilteknik, Therese Engvall och Karin Rundqvist, presenterar på onsdag den 29 maj sina examensarbeten om textila sensorer. Även om de båda har berört samma ämne visar de på vitt skilda områden för tekniken.

Therese Engvall har undersökt möjligheten att integrera textila sensorer i sadelunderlag för att undvika ett för högt tryck på hästen, och därmed ryggskador.

Karin Rundqvist har i sin tur undersökt hur det vore möjligt att integrera piezoelektriska fibrer direkt i materialtillverkning. Piezoelektriska fibrer innebär fibrer som generar elektricitet när de tänjs ut. Lyckas man med att få in fibrerna i en tillverkningsprocess kommer de att kunna användas till att t.ex. enkelt mäta EKG.

Läs mer i nedanstående abstrakt.

Välkommen!
Välkommen att lyssna på Therese Engvalls och Karin Rundqvists presentationer den 29 maj kl. 9:30 i sal T6211a, Textilhögskolan, Bryggaregatan 17, Borås.

Kontakt
Vid frågor, kontakta utbildningsledare Anders Persson, anders.persson@hb.se, 0704-915753

ABSTRACTS:

Therese Engvall: Pressure sensitive textiles for integration in saddle pads

Horses are sensitive animals and a poorly fitted saddle will cause the horse pain and eventually back problems. A saddle with good fit on the other hand enhances the performance of both the rider and horse. In this thesis textile pressure sensors have been developed. Textiles are usually thin, soft and flexible and a piece of fabric is already commonly used between the saddle and horse's back - a saddle pad. Therefore, textile pressure sensors would be suitable for integration into saddle pads as they would be able to measure the pressure between the saddle and horse. Textile pressure sensors were both laminated and woven and their pressure sensitivity were tested. Most of the sensors were able to sense a 50g change in pressure even when a 700g load already was on the sensor. The effect of water and high humidity on the sensors was also tested and the results showed that the sensor must be protected from water and moisture to function correctly. It was also found that more research must be made on how textile structures and fibres behave under compression and release.

Karin Rundqvist: Piezoelectric behaviour of woven constructions based on poly(vinylidene fluoride) bicomponent fibres

The prefix piezo comes from the Greek word Piezin, which means press or squeeze. Materials with piezoelectric properties are able to generate voltage when it is pressed or squeezed. Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) is a polymeric material, which has the piezoelectric properties. Today piezoelectric film made out of PVDF is commercially available and can be found in various applications, such as speakers, underwater microphones and measuring devises for pressure, vibration and impact. Now there exist a piezoelectric fibres created by Swerea IVF and Swedish School of Textiles and in this study it is investigated if it could be used in production of textiles. In this study the PVDF bicomponent fibres were integrated into different weave constructions, such as plain weave, twill and weft rib. Different conductive materials were integrated together with the PVDF bicomponent fibre and the behaviour of the PVDF fibre was analysed. It was shown that it was possible to extract a voltage signal when the samples were subjected to a mechanical stress. A fully textile piezoelectric sensor can be produced for e.g. medical devices, such as health monitors measuring electrocardiogram (ECG) and respiratory signals.