Abstract: Human body temperature is an important sign of physical condition in terms of comfort, heat or cold stresses, and of performance. This paper presents the preliminary investigation into the design, manufacturing and testing of the textile based temperature sensor. This sensing fabric may be employed to measure the temperature of the human body on a continuous basis over extensive periods of time, outside the clinical environment. The sensing fabric was manufactured on an industrial scale flat-bed knitting machine by laying-in the sensing element (in the form of fine metal wire) into the double layer knitted structure. The operational principle of the sensing fabric is based on the inherent tendency of metal wire to change in its electrical resistance because of the change in its temperature. An experimental resistance-temperature relationship showed promising validation in comparison with their modeled counterparts.

Abstract: Fibers are materials in the form of elongated threads. They can possess elastic features that are relevant to the integrity and bonding of cells. These features also give man-made fibers a wide range of applications. The large ratio of length to width (aspect ratio), which defines fibers, strongly influences their physical and chemical properties. This quality gives them a relatively large surface area, which can lead to powerful tensile and absorptive characteristics, which are remarkably different from, and cannot be predicted by study of the non-fibrous parent materials. An example of this is asbestos, where the toxicity of the material is heavily influenced by its structural anatomy. Distinctive chemical processes can take place on fibrous surfaces that may themselves seem to be chemically inert. Certain commonalities result from the distinctive geometry of fibers, and lie behind the apparently great diversity of fiber types and materials. [...]