Vivekanandan D., Sakthivel M., Srinivasa Moorthy S. and Ajith Arul Daniel S.
In this study, TiO2 is used to enhance the mechanical properties of the composite material containing agave Americana fiber and polyester resin.
Abstract
Purpose
In this study, TiO2 is used to enhance the mechanical properties of the composite material containing agave Americana fiber and polyester resin.
Design/methodology/approach
Agave Americana fiber was first treated with 5% of NaOH, and the composition of treated and untreated fiber was kept constant, whereas the particulate and resin were alternatively used. The handlay method is used to fabricate the composite plates. The morphology of the composites was studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM).
Findings
The composite was composed of 30% treated agave Americana, 10% of TiO2 particulates and 60% of a polyester resin for better and enhanced mechanical properties.
Practical implications
The composite can be used for aero-structural components, automobile components and other areas where light-weight components are required.
Originality/value
A new type of agave Americana fiber with TiO2 and polyester resin composite was fabricated and investigated.
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Boubaker Jaouachi and Faouzi Khedher
This work highlights the optimization of the consumed amount of sewing thread required to make up a pair of jeans using three different metaheuristic methods; particular swarm…
Abstract
Purpose
This work highlights the optimization of the consumed amount of sewing thread required to make up a pair of jeans using three different metaheuristic methods; particular swarm optimization (PSO), ant colony optimization (ACO) and genetic algorithm (GA) techniques. Indeed, using metaheuristic optimization techniques enable industrialists to reach the lowest sewing thread quantities in terms of bobbins per garments. Besides, the compared results of this research can obviously prove the impact of each input parameter on the optimization of the sewing thread consumption per pair of jeans.
Design/methodology/approach
To assess objectively the sewing thread consumption, the optimized sewing conditions such as thread composition, needle size and fabric composition are investigated and discussed. Hence, a Taguchi design was elaborated to evaluate and optimize objectively the linear model consumption. Thanks to its principal characteristics and popularity, denim fabric is selected to analyze objectively the effects of studied input parameters. In addition, having workers with same skills and qualifications to repeat each time the same sewing process will involve having the same sewing thread consumption values. This can occur in some levels such as end of sewing, the number of machine failures, the kind of failure and its complexity, the competency of the mechanic and his way to repair failure, the loss of thread caused by threading and its frequency. Seam repetition due to operator lack of skill will obviously affect clothing appearance and hence quality decision. Interesting findings and significant relationship between input parameters and the amount of sewing thread consumption are established.
Findings
According to the comparative results obtained using metaheuristic methods, the PSO and ACO technique gives the lowest values of the consumption within the best combination of input parameters. The results show the accuracy of the applied metaheuristic methods to optimize the consumed amount needed to sew a pair of jeans with a notable superiority of both PSO and ACO methods compared to experimental ones. However, compared to GA method, ACO and PSO algorithms remained the most accurate techniques allowing industrials to minimize the consumed thread used to sew jeans. They can also widely optimize and predict the consumed thread in the investigated experimental design of interest. Consequently, compared to experimental results and regarding the low error values obtained, it may be concluded that the metaheuristic methods can optimize and evaluate both studied input and output parameters accurately.
Practical implications
This study is most useful for denim industrial applications, which makes it possible to anticipate, calculate and minimize the high consumption of sewing threads. This paper has not only practical implications for clothing appearance and quality but also for reduction in thread wastage occurring during shop floor conditions like machine running, thread breakage, repairs, etc. (Kawabata and Niwa, 1991). Unless the used sewing machine is equipped within a thread trimmer improvement in garment seam appearance cannot be achieved. By comparing and analyzing the operating activities of the regular lock stitch 301 machine with and without a thread trimmer, a difference in time processing can be grasped (Magazine JUKI Corporation, 2008). Time consumed in trimming by a lockstitch machine without a thread trimmer equals 3.1 s compared to 2.6 s by a thread trimming one. Hence, the reduction rate in the time processing equals 16.30%. This paper aimed to implement the optimal consumption (thread waste outstanding number of trials). Unless highly skilled workers are selected and well-motivated, the previous recommended changes will not be applied. The saved cost of the sewing thread reduction can be used to buy a better quality of fabric and/or thread. However, these factors are not always the same as they can vary according to customer's requirements because thread consumption is never a standard for sewn product categories such as trousers, shirts and footwear (Khedher and Jaouachi, 2015).
Originality/value
Until now, there is no work dealing with the investigation of the metaheuristic optimization of the consumed thread per pair of jeans to minimize accurately the amount of sewing thread as well as the sewing thread wastage. Even though these techniques of optimization are currently in full development due to some advantages such as generality and possible application to a large class of combinatorial and constrained assignment problems, efficiency for many problems in providing good quality approximate solutions for a large number of classical optimization problems and large-scale real applications, etc., are not applied yet to decrease sewing thread consumption. Some recent published works used statistical techniques (Taguchi, factorial, etc.), to evaluate approximate consumptions; conversely, other geometrical and mathematical approaches, considering some assumptions, used stitch geometry and remained insufficient to give the industrialists an implemented application generating the exact value of the consumed amount of sewing thread. Generally, in the clothing field 10–15% of sewing thread wastage should be added to the experimental approximate consumption value. Moreover, all investigations are focused on the approximative evaluations and theoretical modeling of sewing thread consumption as function of some input parameters. Practically, the obtained results are successfully applied and the ACO method gives the most accurate results. On the other hand, in the point of view of industrialists the applied metaheuristic methods (based on algorithms) used to decrease the amount of consumed thread remained an easy and fruitful solution that can allow them to control the number of sewing thread bobbin per garments.
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Srinivasula Reddy I. and Vadivuchezhian Kaliveeran
This paper aims to focus on the effect of normal load, sliding speed and temperature on the coefficient of friction of Al 6061-T6 alloy under dry sliding conditions.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to focus on the effect of normal load, sliding speed and temperature on the coefficient of friction of Al 6061-T6 alloy under dry sliding conditions.
Design/methodology/approach
Dry sliding experiments were conducted using rotary type pin on disk tribometer. Pins with 3 mm radius of contact and circular disks of 165 mm diameter were fabricated to simulate Hertzian contact configuration. Experiments were conducted by applying three different normal loads (1, 1.5 and 2 kg) and three different sliding speeds (1.25, 2 and 3 m/s) at different temperatures [room temperature (31 ± 1 °C), 60 °C, 100 °C and 150 °C].
Findings
Coefficient of friction at end of the first cycle of sliding, stabilized stage, unsteady state and steady state are reported elaborately in this study. Adhesive and abrasive wear mechanisms were observed in the dry sliding of Al 6061- T6 alloy contacts from the microscopic analysis of worn contact surfaces. The coefficient of friction was more influenced by the increase in normal load than the increase in sliding speed and temperature.
Practical implications
The results obtained from this study are significant for the design of aluminium-to-aluminium contacts in aerospace engineering and automobile engineering.
Originality/value
This study reveals the coefficient of friction of aluminium-to-aluminium (Al 6061-T6 alloy) contacts under cylinder on flat contact configuration.