Mermet Technical Fabric Guide
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Mermet Technical Fabric Guide © 2017 Mermet Corporation Table of Contents 1. Intro.....................................................3 13. Determining Design Intent: Considerations................................31 2. Yarn and Fabric Properties...............4 14. Determining Design Intent: 3. Manufacturing Process.....................7 Fabric Applications........................33 4. Weaving and Knitting........................10 15. Interior and Exterior.......................36 5. Types of Weaves...............................12 16. Fabric Styles: High Performance..........................38 6. Fabric Orientation.............................15 17. Fabric Styles: 7. Solar Energy Spectrum....................18 Sustainable Fabrics........................42 8. Performance Analysis: 18. Fabric Styles: Thermal Properties...........................20 Decorative Fabrics.........................46 9. Performance Analysis: 19. Fabric Styles: Optical Properties.............................22 Conventional Fabrics.....................51 10. Measuring Brightness Levels........25 20. Fabric Styles: Privacy Fabrics...............................55 11. Glare................................................27 21. Common Certifications..................58 12. Acoustical Performance................29 Disclaimer and Notices Mermet's Technical Fabric Guide is protected by U.S. and International copyright protection laws. Reproduction, distribution, display and use of any content within this document is prohibited without written permission from Mermet. If you would like to use any of the materials located within this document, please contact Mermet Marketing: Lauren Jensen Marketing Business Manager [email protected] TABLE OF CONTENTS | 2 Mermet: The global leader in Sun Control Textiles™ 1 Intro to Mermet Mermet has been a world-leading manufacturer of premium solar screen fabrics since 1976. With more than 40 years of experience mastering the engineering and design of sun control textiles, Mermet’s mission has always been to provide our customers with shading solutions that enhance solar protection, energy savings, durability, aesthetics, acoustical comfort and more. Our diverse and versatile product range includes high performance, sustainable, decorative, conventional, and privacy screen fabrics that can be used for automated and motorized roller shades, roman shades, panel track, retractable awnings, tensile structures and much more. With installations ranging from the John Hancock Tower in Boston, to the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, our products have been installed in a multitude of applications for thousands of projects across the world. Bring your next project to life with Mermet, Sun Control Textiles. GreenScreen Evolve INTRO | 3 Section 2 Yarn & Fabric Properties SECTION 2 | 4 Section 2: Yarn & Fabric Properties 2.1 Core Yarn Materials Woven or knitted fabric can be made up of staple or filament fibers. These filament fibers can be produced from animal, plant, mineral or synthetic fibers. Staple fibers are short fibers spun together to make yarn long enough for weaving. The friction caused by the spinning is what holds these fibers together. Mermet uses long strands of filament fibers that can be used independently or spun together to create extra thickness. Filament yarns have greater tensile strength allowing them to withstand greater pulling tension and making them ideal for solar fabrics. 2.2 Yarn Count & Core Yarn Thickness Core yarn thickness is measured by weight of the yarn per 1 kilometer, so a kilometer of T-95 thread (95 Tex) weighs 95 grams. The higher the Tex, the thicker and more durable the fiberglass core will be. Mermet produces fabrics that use both 95 Tex and thicker 165 Tex yarns. Yarn count is the number of yarns going in the warp and weft direction within a given square centimeter. (Reference 3.3) 2.3 Yarn Composition This is expressed as a percentage based on the ratio of the materials used. For example, if a fabric was made of fiberglass yarn for its core and coated with vinyl, it would have the following: (34% fiberglass / 66% vinyl coating). 2.4 Vinyl Coating Think of a fabrics core yarn, consisting of fiberglass or polyester, as the skeleton and its coating as the tissues that protect the skeleton. For added strength, the skeleton must be surrounded with tissues, in this case the vinyl coating, to make it more resilient to the outside factors that it is not already affected by. Within this vinyl coating, there are a number of ingredients that formulate the plastisol coating. These include pigments, UV stabilizers, fire retardants and vinyl plasticizers. All of these ingredients add to the fabrics composition and performance. 2.5 Thermoplastic Otherwise known as a thermosoftening material, it is a plastic material (polymer), that becomes pliable or moldable above a specific temperature and solidifies upon cooling. Fiberglass is not a thermoplastic and therefore does not stretch or shrink. This means fiberglass is not affected by extreme changes in temperature. Fiberglass has the ability to hold its shape better since it has a very low thermal coefficient allowing it to not conduct or retain unwanted heat. SECTION 2 | 5 Section 2: Yarn & Fabric Properties 2.6 Dimensional Stability Dimensional stability refers to a fabrics ability to hold its shape, which in turn, prevents it from developing tracking issues, unsightly buckling and waves. This factor is very contingent upon the entire fabrics composition, weave and structure. SECTION 2 | 6 Section 3 Manufacturing Process SECTION 3 | 7 Section 3: Manufacturing Process 3.1 Mixing Mixing plastisol is the first step of the process that goes into making the fabric. The coating must be made from an exact amount of ingredients. This process varies based on the type of fabric that it is going to be made. These ingredients include UV stabilizers, fire retardants and other additives. All of these have to be mixed together at certain temperatures, rates of mixing, and specified volumes. This also has to occur in the correct sequence and set time frame. After all the pigments and additional substances have been mixed, the batch is tested to ensure it is the correct color,viscosity and free of defects. Once everything passes, then it can be used for coating. 3.2 Coating Thoroughly inspected bobbins of fiberglass yarn are installed on creels in a room that meets a specified temperature and humidity. From this area, the fiberglass yarn is threaded through a series of numbered dyes on the coating tables. The yarn is coated with the desired colored plastisol followed by being strung through the heat set ovens. The yarn is then re-spun into new bobbins until the desired amount is met, roughly 5000 meters. Once the bobbins are removed, they go through their final inspections in the coating process. These final inspections include a visual test, peeling test, weight test, and color verification test to ensure there are not any detectable flaws in the coated fiberglass yarn. Under the contingency that all these tests are passed, the bobbins are then directed to the weaving process for further use. SECTION 3 | 8 Section 3: Manufacturing Process 3.3 Weaving Coated yarns are sent off to create warp beams. A warp beam is a large roller, located on the back of a loom, on which the warp ends are wound in preparation for weaving. These warp beams are loaded onto the loom and continuously run for roughly two weeks straight. The long constant threads that run vertically in the fabric are the warp yarns and the weft yarns run perpendicular to these. Yarn is fed through the warp in the weft direction by a shuttle. A reed pushes the weft yarn back against the woven fabric. This process creates the type of weave that is desired. The fabric is continuously inspected as it is woven to ensure there are no defects. 3.3.1 3.3.2 The shuttle running the yarn through the fabric The reed pushing the weft yarn back against the woven fabric 3.4 Tentering Process Following the weaving process, the woven fabric moves on to tentering, which is a process to heat set the final woven fabric. The tentering machine is set on a certain temperature depending on the fabric style.This binds the warp and weft yarn together at all intersecting points resulting in the final stability of the fabric. From here, it is wound back onto a large roll where it awaits final inspection before being cut into a standard length roll. 3.5 Final Inspection & Packaging Each roll is slowly inspected to ensure there are no unacceptable flaws detected in the fabric. If there are flaws, they are marked as a spot defect or a running defect, ensuring that only the top quality product makes it to the customer. Once the rolls are cut to their desired length, they are carefully wrapped and securely packaged so they arrive in pristine condition at their final destination. SECTION 3 | 9 Section 4 Weaving & Knitting SECTION 4 | 10 Section 4: Weaving & Knitting 4.1 Woven Fabrics Created by interlacing warp and weft yarns at roughly right angles to one another. The long constant threads which run vertically in the fabric are warp yarns and the yarns that run perpendicular are the weft yarns. Fabrics have high tensile strength in the warp direction because there is constant tension on the yarns during the weaving process. The tensile strength in the weft direction is not as great due to the fact that these yarns are not under constant tension while weaving. The lack of tension in the weft yarns is the reason railroading woven fabrics is not recommended unless the fabric is tested for project specific sizes, applications and orientations before the final shade production. 4.2 Knit Fabrics Knit fabrics consist of rows of loops intertwined around each other. The way the loops are intertwined gives unique patterns to different styles of knit fabrics. Warp knit fabrics wrap these loops around straight warp yarns, which give the fabric structure. Warp knitting is a family of knitting methods in which the yarn zigzags along the length of the fabric, following adjacent columns (“wales”) of knitting, rather than a single row (“course”). For comparison, knitting across the width of the fabric is called weft knitting.