Since the first automobiles appeared on American streets
more than 100 years ago, fabrics have had important functions in car
manufacturing—most obviously in upholstery. But the use of specialty fabrics
extends far beyond seating, and many textiles used in vehicles are not as
obvious.
Fabrics are used in carpeting and protective floor mats; the
interior ceiling, called the headliner; seat belts; magazine or map pockets on
the backs of the front seats; interior door panels; trunk liners; steering wheel
and gear shift covers; convertible tops; and the shelf underneath the back
window in cars—and that’s just what the eye can see. Still other materials are
used as protective barriers and for thermal control.
In total, a mid-sized car will use about 44 pounds of
textiles, according to www.fibre2fashion.com. For all of those fabrics
manufacturers must meet safety and performance standards required by automotive
OEMs and the government—and please the consumer.
A long history
Seat design alone has necessitated a number of fabric
innovations. Cotton, wool, mohair and leather were favorite materials in the
first vehicles; as seat design changed, the fabrics covering them did too. “We
went from stiff vinyl upholstered bench seats in the 1950s to bucket seats that
ergonomically fit the body,” explains Nancy Powell, an associate professor at
the College of Textiles at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C. “With
those seats you had to use materials that would stretch to fit the form and
wouldn’t wear out when they were trimmed around that shape.”
When cars and trucks incorporated more glass, the interior
fabrics had to meet higher light-fastness standards, and with the advent of
minivans and SUVs, textiles had to be more rugged for these vehicles. Heated
and air-cooled seats, too, required fabrics that could work equally well with
this relatively new technology.
Interior intelligence
Vehicle interiors are made primarily of polyester for many
reasons. Not only is it cost effective and easily available, but the fabric
meets the high performance standards, such as durability, required by the
automotive industry. For instance, fabrics need to withstand sitting under the
blazing desert sun or below-zero temperatures and still tolerate moisture
buildup in warm, humid climates. Durability also means that a driver or
passenger can get in and out of the car repeatedly without damaging or dulling
the seat fabric.
Automobile manufacturers have added soil and stain
resistance to the list of performance standards for fabrics because consumers
are spending more time in their cars, including eating on the go. Comfort and
aesthetics also play a role. Woven and knit polyester fabrics can showcase
lustrous or matte finishes, while a nonwoven polyester can look and feel like
suede. Customers also want the fabric to have a soft hand and be colorfast.
To continually and consistently meet these needs, automotive
textile manufacturers have focused their R & D efforts on improving
aesthetics and exceeding performance standards in their offerings. Sage
Automotive Interiors of Greenville, S.C. is driving innovation with its YES
Essentials® fabric, used most recently in the 2011 Hyundai Sonata. Not only
does the fabric inhibit mold and bacteria growth, it also improves air quality
by eliminating odors—even those caused by VOCs. Furthermore, Sage’s “repel and
release” technology allows spilled drinks to bead up and be wiped away, and YES
Essentials has anti-static properties too.
Safety first
In addition to important factors such as durability, car
fabric manufacturers must meet rigorous safety standards set by the U.S.
government in conjunction with the automotive industry. Such is the case with
safety restraints. “Seat belts need to outlive the car,” says Woody Dew,
president of Tennessee Webbing in Knoxville. “You can find 20-year-old vehicles
in the junkyard where the whole seat belt assembly still performs flawlessly.”
The seat belts are made of 100 percent high-tenacity
polyester. “It is the perfect fiber for this application because it doesn’t
change,” Dew notes. “It doesn’t shrink or stretch over time.”
From a safety standpoint, seat belts have to meet a certain
percentage of elongation in the webbing, which is the stretch of the webbing on
impact. “This prevents the material from cutting into your skin or organs and
minimizing the damage to the body in an impact situation,” Dew explains.
Additional safety requirements include a high breaking strength and
self-extinguishing flammability standards.
Seat belts also feature UV inhibitors and a slick,
siliconelike finish—both of which are integrated into the fabric during the dye
process. Aesthetics are important too. “The car companies want their own
signature on their safety restraints,” Dew says. “They may request that their
webbing have a particular weave pattern. It is purely cosmetic and has no
impact on a seat belt’s safety.”
What consumers want
Consumers influence many of the choices available in both
current and future automotive interior fabrics, and they have very high
expectations, Powell says. “We can go on the Internet and experiment with
placing a certain color in a car’s interior. That’s why when we go to buy a
vehicle we may not want the one that’s in the dealer’s showroom. We want to
order something that’s customized to our preferences.”
As such, OEMs and textile manufacturers perform significant
research to understand the end user’s lifestyle. Sage Automotive, for one, took
this approach when introducing FXC®, a fabric designed to stand up to
adventure. “The roots of FXC came from a research project we had done that
indicated consumers’ desires to have a more functional material,” says Julie
Jacobs, design manager for Sage Automotive. Sage then partnered with Honda,
which wanted to enable its adventure-loving customers to hose down the
interiors of its Element® vehicle. The result: a seating fabric that is
waterproof, comfortable, stain repellent and resists mildew and fungus.
Automotive OEMs and fabric makers need to find a balance,
though, according to Powell. “Because automotive product developers are working
so far in advance of new vehicle introduction, you don’t want to be too far
reaching. But if you are too slow bringing it to market, then the consumer will
think it looks dated or old.”
Fuel-efficient designs
Car manufacturers have put millions of dollars into
researching and developing hybrid and electric vehicles that emit fewer
pollutants into the environment—and fabrics are along for the ride. “We have to
create materials that are just as safe and strong while reducing the weight of
the vehicle to get better gas mileage,” Powell says.
That is exactly what BMW is doing. In 2013, the Munich,
Germany-based car manufacturer will introduce the Megacity Vehicle (MCV), its
volume-produced electric car with a passenger cell made from carbon fiber
reinforced plastic (CFRP). Made from polyacrylic fibers that are carbonized by
exposing them to heat, then spun into fibers, the fibers are woven into a CFRP
fabric, which provides the actual raw material used by the motor industry.
“The car companies cut them to size for the required
component and lay them in a mold,” explains BMW spokesman Tobias Hahn. “A resin
system is then injected to create the required shape, and the component is
hardened.”
CFRP counts many benefits, including its high strength and
rigidity combined with low weight. “It is around 50 percent lighter than
high-tensile steels and around 30 percent lighter than aluminum,” Hahn says.
“CFRP is also highly resistant to corrosion.”
The material’s light weight adds to MCV’s fuel efficiency.
The car will be 772 lbs. (350 kg) lighter than electrical vehicles of
comparable size. “The weight advantage directly translates into a more
efficient use of energy,” Hahn notes. “In other words, the MCV will achieve
better mileage per kilowatt hour of stored battery power.”
Gearing up for the future
BMW’s Megacity Vehicle illustrates where the automotive
future is heading: sustainability. “We are always looking for new materials
that rely on a less energy-intensive process in the making of the fiber and
yarn,” says Jacobs of Sage’s green efforts, adding that the company has
researched alternative materials such as corn and bamboo. “But we certainly
have a lot of engineering and safety requirements to meet, and we know that
polyester can do that.”
Recycling interior fabric is another area that Sage
Automotive is exploring. The practice would involve removing the seat cover
after its life, grinding it up and creating new materials with it. “The
adhesive used to bond these materials together is also an area that we should
consider,” says Jacobs, because of the need to find more earth-friendly
adhesives and new technology for attaching them to the seating. To achieve
sustainable results, OEMs and textile manufacturers need to put their heads together,
Jacobs says. Of interest to Sage is developing new fabric constructions that
would allow for suspension seating rather than the traditional seat built with
thick foams and springs.
New demands for personal transportation in emerging
economies are resulting in significant growth in global automotive markets.
This increase in total number of vehicles in the world’s cities and roads also
affects consumption of resources and environmental concerns, such as emissions,
Powell says.
The automotive industry is starting to address the big
question of what happens to a vehicle at the end of its life. In the European
Union, legislation requires that the vehicles and the materials within can be
recycled, reused or disposed of safely. In this regard, the U.S. lags behind.
“Given the economic pressures that OEMs are under, they say their customers are
not willing to pay a premium for greener materials,” Powell says.
“Unless the
government or market demands it, it will be difficult to commit to such a major
change.”
Other big ideas for the future include creating new fibers
and finishing technology to produce a different touch and look, as well as
using smart seating fabric as part of the onboard electronics. At NCSU, for
example, 80 researchers across the university’s colleges are studying
transportation-related topics, including employing lighter weight composite.
“We need to be as innovative in the second hundred years [of
vehicle interiors] as we have in the first,” Powell says. “Textiles have a
tremendous role to play in that, and they could have an impact not only on
economic development but also sustainability. We need to continue creating
products that the consumer wants.”
Article Credit: www.specialtyfabricsreview.com
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