Development and performance of jacquard woven retro-reflective textiles with African design patterns

Abstract

Retro-reflective materials are important for safety purposes, such as enhancing the visibility of pedestrians at night when they wear garments with reflective materials and therefore reducing pedestrian fatalities. This has challenged different manufacturers to produce effective materials that provide the best retro-reflection. Most of these materials are applied as stripes on clothing, but can also extend to artisans using reflective yarns in their creations. Nevertheless, there is a lack of research and the synthesis of reflective yarns and African design patterns (due to its symbolic value for the African people) to create effective textiles that have the necessary properties for visibility at night. In this research work, a new approach is adopted by using a design process that combines jacquard weaving technology, reflective threads and African design patterns to produce retro-reflective textiles. The subsequent reflective effects captured in a darkroom show the retro-reflective ability of the samples. The testing carried out by using the Kawabata Evaluation System for Fabrics shows that the total hand value (THV) of the samples makes them suitable for men’s winter dress shirts and women’s thin winter dresses (with positive values) but not suitable for the summer garment (with negative values) counterparts respectively. This new approach might extend the ideation to produce retro-reflective textiles that can be applied for many different uses.

Analysis of performance properties of retro-reflective woven fabrics made with retro-reflective yarns and natural yarns

“…To understand the reflective properties of the fabric samples, an experimental setup by Seidu et al. 20 of capturing the images from a 1.5 m distance using a flash from a digital camera was utilized for visualization (Figure 5). Results show the reflective properties of plain and diamond weave structures are higher than those of the 2/2 twill weave.…”

“…3 As such, it improves the visibility, recognition, and conspicuity of road users, most especially pedestrians, at night-time. 4,5 RR materials have witnessed increased usage and higher sales in the global market, from a predicted value of US$3.6 billion to US$8.6 billion within a five-year period of time, that is, from 2021 to 2026. 6 This is largely due to their wide application in protective and visible clothing in the construction and other sectors.…”

“…Due to their inherent properties, researchers have experimented with these materials to understand their ability to enhance the visibility, recognition, and conspicuity of the road user. For example, recent review studies by Wood 7 and Seidu et al 5 and field experiment studies by Black et al, 8 Babi c et al, 9 Black et al, 10 and Fylan et al 4 have highlighted the importance of attaching these RR materials as strips around the movable joints of the body. This practice, known as "biomotion configuration," aims to improve the recognition of the human body silhouette and visibility by the driver on the road at night-time.…”

“…This practice, known as "biomotion configuration," aims to improve the recognition of the human body silhouette and visibility by the driver on the road at night-time. For more functional performance, a recent study by Seidu and Jiang 11 improved ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) protection by depositing thin films onto the surface of RR fabrics. This expanded the possibility of having specific areas coated with these thin films for functional performance but also leaving out areas that can reflect lights back to their source for visibility.…”

“…For example, recent review studies by Wood 7 and Seidu et al. 5 and field experiment studies by Black et al., 8 Babić et al., 9 Black et al., 10 and Fylan et al. 4 have highlighted the importance of attaching these RR materials as strips around the movable joints of the body.…”