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INTELLIGENT FABRIC
INSPIRED BY PINE CONES

BY

P. Sasikumar, D.TT
B.Tech, Final Year
Department of Textile Technology
Jaya Engineering College
Chennai- 602024

S.Vijayalakshmi, D.TT
B.Tech, Final Year
Department of Textile Technology
Jaya Engineering College
Chennai- 602024
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ABSTRACT

Today it's needed to adopt a different approach to textiles; fabrics have to be regarded
not only as a surface, to be interpreted graphically, but as a material to all purposes, with its
own intrinsic structure and performance. In the sector of smart textiles there are a large number
of designs and products.

In this way the present innovation in the field of smart textile is the pine cone effect on
the fabric which is greatly influenced by changing temperature of the atmosphere where the
structure of the fabric gets open or closed. This effect is similar to that of the pine cone which is
closed while on trees and after they drop they gradually open, allowing their seeds to be
released which influenced the scientists to work out on the pine cone effect which is studied in
this article.

1. INTRODUCTION

Globally it is known that the days when the weather alters quickly it is difficult to dress
to match the changing temperature. But here is the smart clothing which makes it all
unnecessary. A new smart-fabric which is derived from the properties of pinecones, the fabric
adapts to changing temperatures by opening up when warm and shutting tight when cold just like
a pinecone's scales do in nature, and is just one of the emerging developments in field of
"Biomimetics".
Biomimetics is the concept of obtaining ideas from nature and mimicking them to
develop a new design and product. This isn’t a new thing as many of the inventions are
influenced by biomimetics like the flying machine based on birds, water repellent fabrics based
the behavior of leaves of lotus, etc,. And the smart fabric which is dealt is inspired by the
behavior of pine cone.
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2. THE PINE CONE EFFECT

The pine cone effect is a technology designed to offer a solution to the discomfort
sensations caused by the moisture which is build up due to the changing temperature in
clothing. It is impossible to predict the Indian temperature, humidity and activity level so that to
accommodate in a selection of clothing to ensure comfort.

There may be the other ways for producing ventilating or insulating fabrics by adding or
removing layers of clothing, addition of garment parts or by introducing ventilating features to
the garments but the limited availability of space and the wearer’s ability makes discomfort
sensations, to overcome this the pine cone effect is employed in clothing which is advantageous
over others.

2.1. PRINCIPLE

Pine cones in the trees are seemed to be closed but when they fallout from the tree it
gets opened to release the seeds. The scales of the pine cone gets open as they are made up of
two layers of stiff fibres running at different directions.

As the cone dries out, the scales inside gets expanded more than outside, causing the outer scales
to bend outwards, releasing the seeds inside which is the principle used in the smart fabric.

Fig 1. Pine cone when damp Fig 2. Pine cone when dry
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3. THE SMART GARMENT

As same as the pine cone, the garment will consist of

two layers where the top layer is of tiny spikes of water-
absorbent material, possibly wool, each only 1/200th of a
millimeter wide. When the wearer of the clothing gets hot and
sweats, the tiny spikes in the material will react to the
moisture and automatically open up, so that air from the
outside can get through the material to cool the wearer. When
the wearer stops sweating, the spikes will close down again to
stop air getting in.

The lower layer will be of material that is not porous

so that rain can never get through from the outside, even the
spikes are open.

This type of adaptive "smart fabric" could be of

particular interest to the defence industry because a minimum
of layers of clothing need be worn at all times, particularly in
areas of the world with widely fluctuating temperatures. A
Fig 3. Tiny spikes in the fabric open
soldier in the desert, for instance, might need only a few layers and close to control ventilation
by day in the heat but lots of layers by night in the chill of the
sand.

3.1. MECHANISM BEHIND

As the water absorbent material is used, when the fibre absorbs the sweat is gets swelled
as the clothing is cut into flaps these bends backwards due to swelling where the mechanism of
pine cone is reversed to obtain this (i.e.) pine cone closes themselves when damp and opens up
when dry which is reversed in case of fabrics where they open in case of dampness and closes in
case of dryness.
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3.2. CHALLENGES

 The drape or comfort of the fabric is still questionable.

 In case of wool, they are generally shape memory polymers. If it gets wet it recoils into
the memory shape, but if it dries it returns to its original shape.
 While weaving open fabrics as a part of the solution, it is required to have something to
"pump the heat away".

4. APPLICATIONS

The fabrics functioning like a pine cone, promise to absorb moisture before you feel it,
while at the same time providing insulation when in it is needed. But performance and comfort
wear are not only the areas where the new pine cone textile technology can be utilized. It has
application in the following also,

 Athletic wear (active sportswear)

 Performance wear (climbing, walking, skiing)
 Comfort wear (underwear, nightwear)
 Military (underwear, multi-climate clothing)
 Health (hospital bed linens, wound dressings)
 Agricultural technology (Geo-textiles, greenhouse screening panels)
 Technical solutions (Formula 1 protective clothing, firefighting, industrial clothing,)
 Industrial (filter & valve technology, building, packaging)
 Upholstery (transport, domestic)

4.1. SWEAT PROOF FABRICS

The underarm sweat stains may soon be the thing of past all with the
fabrics that biomimic the response of pine cone of humidity. This is achieved
when those fabrics render moisture, as in perspiration the fabric swells
reducing the porosity of its fibres. Which means the less air can circulate
through the fabric when it is most needed to quickly dry the perspiration. Fig4. Underarm sweat
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5. SOCIAL FUNCTION

The pine cone fabrics have an interesting social function besides preventing damp
patches under the arms. Having the clothing changing its colour when it gets humid could be
quite fun and is almost a fashion statement.

When a person is met and finds them attractive, the human body nature is to get heated,
so as per the pine cone fabrics it gets a curly surface due to sweat where the structure of the
fabric gets opened. So when you have an inner layer of different colour of the outer layer, the
color of the fabric changes.

Meantime, if someone of the opposite sex looks our way and their clothes start switching
color like a chameleon, and probably it is at the cutting edge of fashion.

6. RESEARCHES AROUND THE GLOBE

The technological world is in need of a huge range of smart textile goods for better and
comfort of mankind, how are such developments likely to be achieved? An UK based Centre for
Biomimetic and Natural Technologies and the University of Bath is finding the solutions for
producing the pine cone effect on the fabric and there are researches which are carried out in
MMT Textiles Ltd., by biomimickinng the secret of pine cone.

7. CONCLUSION

The article has the concept of pine cone effect on fabrics with examples and principle.
Wide range of application of the garment with pine cone effect was studied highlighting the main
role players in this technology who are driving towards the realization of truly intelligent and
smart textiles for the near future.

Thus it is now the turn of us to make India also actively participate in the world
technological race and contribute for comfortable tomorrow.
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REFERENCES:

http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1213575.htm
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/10/1013_041013_smart_clothing_2.html
http://www.gizmag.com/go/3515/
http://inventorspot.com/articles/sweat_proof_fabrics_biomimic_reponse_pine_cone_humidity_30937
http://www.mmttextiles.com/technology.shtml
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/10/041005073957.htm