Global
shipments of electronic flat knitting machines soared by 99% in 2016 to around
139,600 machines, according to the latest figures from the International
Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF).
Not
surprisingly, the highest share of shipments were to Asia, accounting for 94%, and China remained by far the
world’s largest investor for flat knitting machines in 2016, with Chinese
investments increasing from 35,500 units to 101,550 – a global share of 73%.
What the
ITMF’s figures don’t show, however, is how many new flat knitting machines are
now given over to the production of technical textiles, due to the emergence of
a number of new end-use markets in recent years – from seamlessly knitted
sports shoe uppers to multi-layered reinforcements for composites.
This
made the Techtextil and Texprocess shows, which took place from May 9-12th, in
Frankfurt, important for some machinery manufacturers who in the past may have
primarily served the traditional apparel markets.
Seamless
progress

“We exhibited our MACH2XS123
machine in 15L and SVR123SP in 14G at Techtextil, both drew crowds throughout
the show interested in different aspects of knitting as a solution for
technical textiles,” said Masaki Karasuno, creative director of the planning
group for flat and seamless 3D knitting machinery specialist Shima Seiki,
headquartered in Wakayama, Japan.
“Visitors were of course, very interested in
our WHOLEGARMENT technology and new developments specifically for technical textile applications, such as the
prototype exhibit of the elastic yarn tension control option on the MACH2XS, which
was demonstrated knitting compression socks at the show.”
Other
Shima-Seiki product samples exhibited related to sports and medical
applications, as well as wearable technology.
“There was particular interest in
the video presentation of custom-fit compression wear being produced from an
initial 3D body scan performed on our original 3D body scanner,” said Karasuno.
“The raw data is converted into programming data for a WHOLEGARMENT knitting
machine on the SDS-ONE APEX3 3D design system. This can produce virtual samples
of the product for evaluation before even having to knit an actual sample.”
Complex
structures

Martin
Legner, head of technical textile product management for Stoll, another flat
knitting machinery leader, headquartered in Reutlingen, Germany, was equally
enthusiastic.
“We unveiled our new cluster
concept for applications in the sports, medical, home and mobility areas, along
with the new CMS 330 HP W flat knitting machine, which is suitable for the
manufacture of shoe uppers, orthopaedic supports, and textile accessories with
complex shapes,” he said.
“No other manufacturing process
for textiles combines complex structures, functionality and aesthetics as well
as our flat knitting technology. Whether it’s for industrial applications or
electrically-conductive textiles – the demand for which is increasing – flat
knitting technology offers highly efficient, tailored solutions.”
The
global apparel markets are currently very stable, he added, and while China has
now slowed down its investments for this market to some extent after last
year’s surge in deliveries, this is being compensated for by demand from other
countries such as Bangladesh and Vietnam.
“Bangladesh is now a huge market
and this has happened very quickly. But at the same time, technical textiles
are becoming more and more important to Stoll and whereas, in the past, it was
an area for two specialised sales divisions, it is now involving all of our
sales force.”
Quality
control

Automated
quality control systems are of course, a must on such modern textile production
technology, and BTSR, headquartered in Olgiate Olona, Italy, supplies to both
the machinery builders and to individual mills.
“Our key products are yarn break
sensors, yarn quality sensors and tension control feeders, along with our
PC-Link Twist software solutions,” said sales and marketing manager Angelo
Rizzo.
“The software is specifically
aimed at the analysis of data concerning the count and control of yarn twists
in yarn preparation processes and makes it easier to optimize the programming
and monitoring of the quality control sensors installed on one or multiple
machines. Our units add considerable value in yarn and weaving preparation
processes, as well as hosiery, knitting and seamless machines,” he explained.
Reinforced
concrete
Another
new application for knitted fabrics was displayed on the stand of warp knitting
systems specialist Karl Mayer – textile-reinforced concrete, which is poised to
become the next main building material.
The
weft-inserted, warp-knitted textiles for the reinforcement are produced on Karl
Mayer’s machines to enable lightweight, narrow concrete components to be
produced using tough, carbon-fibre grids.

Textile-reinforced
concrete represents a valid lightweight alternative to conventional concrete
with steel reinforcements, which are susceptible to corrosion and can lead to
cracking and structural problems in today’s buildings.
Karl
Mayer’s vice president of sales for technical textiles, Hagen Lotzman, observed
that while glass fibre-based products remain the dominant market for multiaxial
knitted reinforcements for composites – primarily for making wind blades –
carbon fibre-based fabrics have become increasingly important over the past
fifteen years. The company’s Cop Max 5 has rapidly become the standard
technology for these.
“Carbon fibre is expensive, and
initially, what was important was to minimise waste, while speed was not so
critical,” he said. “As the industry progresses, however, output has become
much more significant, and in many cases, quality control is much more
important when it comes to aerospace and automotive applications where there
are very strict requirements.
“For its standard configuration,
the Cop Max 5 is equipped with a high standard of quality control and many
sensors to ensure exact reproducibility.”
There is
now a need for the whole composites manufacturing chain to work together to
ensure the ultimate consideration is the final part, added product manager Swen
Petrenz.

“Working together with customers,
there’s a lot we can achieve in looking at the final contour of a part and
considering the influence of drape and shape, and moving more towards near-net
shape products. We come from roll goods and customers producing one material of
a certain width and structure from the beginning of the roll to the end of it,
but we’re moving far from that now.”
Live in
Space
A Karl
Mayer multiaxial knitted fabric made from carbon fibre was also among exhibits
at the special Live in Space exhibition created by Messe Frankfurt in
co-operation with ESA, the European Space Agency, and DLR, the German Aerospace
Centre.
It
featured an original Mars Rover and ESA and DLR space suits along with a host
of other exhibits housed in a special lightweight pavilion.
This
‘Space Habitat’ consisted of 60 individual aluminium modules covered with a
PTFE fabric specially designed by Swiss-headquartered textile architecture
specialist MDT-tex to be extremely light weight, without sacrificing high
temperature resistance.
Fabrics
on display included warp-knitted metal mesh photovoltaic panels developed at
RWTH Aachen in Germany and knitted spacers and multiaxials were also well
represented.