Comments (0)

|

Comments This Article

Textiles for Innovative Buildings

Civil engineering and building industry are an integral part of the development of human society as they involve the planning, design, building, operation and maintenance of infrastructure. The venturing of technical textiles or high-performance textiles in this sector has given a great impetus to the quality of construction.

Most people have at one time or another spent the night in a tent and have benefited from the protection provided by its fabric, while at the same time enjoying the sensation of being separated from nature by nothing more than a thin shell. Textile forms of habitation have a long history going back to Palaeolithic times and represent an archetypal form of building which has endured to the present day. Textiles are light, easy to convert or dismantle, and they provide protection against wind, ultra-violet rays and rain.

High-strength, high-modulus textile fabrics are increasingly being used in the Building and construction industry as are placement for more traditional materials , Such as wood, concrete, masonry and steel. The mechanical properties of fabrics made with aramid carbon and glass fibres, combined with cross-linking resin systems to form a Composite, provide civil engineers with a range of new materials that offer high strength to weight, High stiffness to weight, and extreme flexibility in design and used. Fabrics for sun protection made of polyester and combined with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or polytetrafluroethylene (PTFE) coatings offer many applications and provide function combined with design to modern architecture, where flexible roofs and wall coverings are a feature.

These textiles are used in the construction of buildings, dams, bridges, tunnels and roads and collectively comprise the 'Buildtech' sector. They offer mechanical properties such as lightness, strength and resilience as well as resistance to many factors such as creep, degradation by chemicals and pollutants in the air or rain and other construction material as well as the effects of sunlight and acid. These textiles play an important role in the modernization of infrastructure.

Some of the major products covered under this sector are used in:

• Hoardings and Signages
• Scaffolding Nets
• Awnings and canopies
• Tarpaulins
• Architectural membranes
• Roofing materials

The fabric or the textile used for construction is generally termed as 'Technical Textile' that can be defined as "Textile material and products manufactured primarily for their technical performance and functional properties rather than for aesthetic or decorative characteristic."

Textiles in architecture

A PVC-coated polyester bandstand canopy Norway's

Modern architecture has rediscovered the principle of the tent as an architectural form and taken its development further - not just for temporary structures but also for permanent buildings. Advanced and durable fabrics enable large areas to be spanned, which has turned their use into a highly specialised sector within the construction industry. At the same time the specific static demands made on textiles by wind load, weathering and distortion together with structural factors such as mounting and bracing these textile elements require a great deal of engineering know-how. Producing stretches of fabric and cutting them to size is implemented on the basis of complex patterns which, thanks to the latest computer technology, can also integrate statically relevant factors.

Fabric is also being used as a building 'skin,' blending visible and performance features, such as thermal control, water and dirt repellence, light transmission, acoustical absorption, and sustainability and disaster protection.

Eco Textiles

Environmental threats loom large on almost every nation in the world today. With this threat gaining its stature day by day, Eco Textiles gain utmost importance as one of the most useful resources that help promote new innovations, in an eco-friendly manner.OEKTECH is the term used for technical textiles that are used for environmental protection. It stands for new ideas and interesting concepts in the area of environmental protection, waste disposal (including innovative filtration media) and new recycling technologies.

It is opening up new avenues for environmental engineers, safety engineers and personnel in environmental protection agencies.

These eco- friendly textiles provide a range of environmentally responsible alternatives to other resource hungry materials. They tap into both post-consumer and post-industrial waste streams & scrap and reuse them for manufacturing an extremely durable and eco-friendly textile. They not only lead to reduction of waste but also more importantly, save the rapidly depleting natural resources.

Some of the features of these textiles are:

• They utilize ecologically grown fibres.
• They are processed with less damaging inputs.
• The processing units are equipped with good sewage treatment.
• The fabrics are of good quality and long lasting.
• A look at some of the products that are manufactured using these textiles:
• Soil seals
• Textile drainage systems
• Erosion prevention systems
• Textiles for protection against hazardous substances
• Mobile containers
• Textile noise barrier systems
• Filter systems (air/water)
• Landfill textiles
  

CONTEX-T¹

New textile materials and innovative techniques for their deployment offer huge potential in the construction of eco-friendly buildings that combine great design freedom with lightness and economy. CONTEX-T, an Integrated Project for SMEs, is researching the underlying technologies.

Today, textiles are perceived by the construction industry mainly as being appropriate for temporary structures. However, with emerging materials and modern methods, they become equally applicable to more permanent buildings. They not only offer architects the possibility to create unusual and beautiful structures, but also score highly in terms of minimal consumption of resources and rapid, low-cost erection.

The CONTEXT-T project, a consortium of 30 partners from 10 countries, led by the Belgian research institute Centexbel, is exploring new multi-functional materials and their intelligent use in lightweight, secure, eco-friendly and economic buildings whose structures should last for up to 60 years.

Three elements

Floating covered swimming pool and sauna on the river Spree in Berlin

Textile-based buildings essentially comprise three elements: membranes, supporting structures and tensioning devices. Currently, typical membranes are simple coated polyester or glass fibre fabrics. These provide only a passive shell, with limited barrier properties and durability. The supporting structure is usually steel, aluminium or wood, tensioned by means of steel cables.

The new research involves the development of membranes with additional functionalities, as well as supporting structures made from composites including textile reinforcement, offering added value in both technical and aesthetic terms.

New coatings and fillers, some derived from nanotechnology, are being tested to produce membranes combining improved acoustic and thermal insulation, efficient energy management and controlled light transmission combined with easy cleaning and decontamination qualities. A further aim is to allow energy harvesting by photovoltaic approaches.

Replacing steel cables with textile belts and ropes for tensioning and load transfer will eliminate corrosion problems and facilitate installation. New textile reinforced composites and other hybrid structures will also form essential elements of the supporting structures.

New glass-fibre-reinforced cement compositions are showing great promise for incombustible and lightweight beams and arches, which are also more environmentally friendly than traditional resin-based materials involving solvents and dangerous waste. A combination of pultrusion and braiding produces plate composites that can be bent and tensioned to form a variety of shapes.

Smart design

The integration of all these elements will create pleasing, safe and comfortable environments for living and working, even under extreme weather conditions. Smart design and architecture, taking full advantage of the new membranes and supporting structures will be reflected in a series of demonstrators at the end of the funded period. This will include new concepts for retractable roofs and kinetic structures conferring outstanding flexibility in use.

At the mid-point of CONTEX-T, five patent applications had already been filed covering various aspects of the technology. Spin-off applications in areas such as protective clothing, furnishing, vehicle covers, inflatable boats and emergency slides are also foreseen.

Conclusion

Whether it's the innovative use of industrial netting as in the last example or the use of special architectural membranes - the potential for the use of fabrics in construction design is far from exhausted because many high-tech textiles used in industry are not yet available for building applications.

At the same time building with textiles and above all the use of membranes are becoming increasingly important in architecture and are being applied to an ever-greater extent in major projects.

Reference:

1. Reproduced from "Innovative technologies for buildings; EU-funded research to transform the construction sector" for reader’s benefit.
2. www.slideshare.net/ttkbal/technical-textile-in-architecture-and-construction
3. www.bch.in/construction-textiles.html
4. www.architonic.com/ntsht/the-very-fabric-of-architecture-textile-use-in-construction/7000625