INNOVATE WITH FIBRES ASSESSMENT 3 SHREYA MEHTA PDP 201
CONCEPT NOTE
• I TOOK UP WHERE I HAD LEFT OFF WITH THE FIRST ASSINGMENT. SINCE I WAS EXPLORING METAL, I THOUGHT OF LOOKING INTO FLEXIBILITY AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, ELASTICITY. • AFTER RESEARCH I REALISED THAT WHILE IT WAS POSSIBLE TO MAKE A METAL “ELASTIC” USING ALLOYS AND COMPOSITION, THERE WAS NO WAY OF DOING THE SAME USING THE STRUCTURAL TENDENCIES OF THE METAL. • I THEN BEGAN TO LOOK AT ELASTICITY IN GENERAL, AND I FOUND THAT KNITTING WAS ONE OF THE WAYS BY WHICH WOOL, A NON-ELASTIC MATERIAL OTHERWISE BECOMES ELASTIC. • FROM HERE I THEN DECIDED TO TRY KNITTING FURTHER, BY APPLYING IT TO OTHER UNLIKELY MATERIALS, AND SEEING IF I CAN INDUCE THE ELASTIC PROPERTY TO IT.
MIND MAPS
JUTE
• FRICTION BETWEEN THE FIBRES IS MUCH MORE • FINER KNITS ARE DIFFICULT TO ACHIEVE DUE TO THE THICKNESS AND STURDINESS OF THE FIBRE. • DESPITE THE THREAD BEING A TWINE OF SEVERAL THREADS, IT RARELY SEPARATES. • THE FINAL SAMPLE IS EASILY ROLLED IN ONE DIRECTION, WHILE SHOWING A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF ELASTICITY WHEN ROLLED IN ANOTHER DIRECTION. • DUE TO THE STURDINESS OF THE FIBRE, IT MAY BE EASIER TO USE IT IN OPEN KNIT.
BANANA FIBRE- DRY
• I KNEW THAT BANANA FIBRE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE USED WHEN WET, BUT I NEVERTHELESS TRIED TO USE IT DRY SO I UNDERSTAND THE FIBRE BETTER. • WHEN DRY, THE FIBRE IS EXTREMELY BRITTLE. A SLIGHLTY HARDER TUG WOULD BREAK IT. • AS COMPARED TO JUTE, THE FIBRE WHEN DRY WAS NOT ABLE TO TAKE THE STRAIN EXERTED WHILE KNITTING.
BANANA FIBRE- WET
• THE FIBRE WAS VERY DIFFERENT WHEN WET. • IT HAD GREATER TENSILE STRENGTH AND WAS ABLE TO WITHSTAND TUGGING AND PULLING TO A GREATER EXTENT. • IT HAD A TENDENCY TO GET STUCK TO THE KNITTING NEEDLES. • SINCE THE YARN WAS MADE OF SEVERAL SHORTER STRANDS, IT WAS DIFFERENT IN DIFFERENT PLACES. • AFTER KNITTING THE PIECE CAN TAKE PULLING.
COTTON
• I INITIALLY TRIED A OPEN KNIT WITH THE THREAD, BUT IT WAS NOT STURDY ENOUGHT TO HOLD IT, AND IT THEREFORE ENDED UP IN A KNOT. • I THEN TRIED TO START WITH A TIGHT KNIT AND THEN PROGRESS TO A MORE OPEN KNIT. • THE FABRIC THAT I ENDED UP WITH IS CERTAINLY FLEXIBLE BUT NOT STURDY. MAYBE IT CAN BE USED IN A COMBINATION WITH ANOTHER FIBRE WHICH CAN IMPART STURDINESS.
COPPER
• THE FIBRE IS RIGHT AT THE OPPOSITE END OF THE SPECTRUM • I ENDED UP WITH SOMETHING COMPLETELY UNIQUE. • THE WIRE WAS TOO HARD TO WORK WITH, AND BECAUSE THE FIBRE BY ITSELF DOES NOT MOVE, IT HARDLY LOOKED LIKE A KNITTED PIECE. • THE METAL, BEING TOO HARD, WAS NOT ABLE TO TURN AND TWIST AS MUCH. • MAYBE IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER TO DO A LARGER OPEN KNIT, WHERE THE FIBRE COULD ACCOMODATE ALL THE TURNS.
WIRE COATED WITH ALUMINIUM
• THIS WIRE WAS EASIER TO WORK WITH AS COMPARED TO COPPER. • IT WAS AVAILABLE IN SMALLER PIECES, WHICH IS WHY I HAD TO SOLDER THE ENDS TO GET A LONG, CONTINOUOS FIBRE. • BUT ONCE THE WIRE IS BENT IN A CERTAIN WAY, IT DOES NOT “BOUNCE“ BACK TO ITS ORIGINAL SHAPE. • HENCE THE ELASTICITY OF THE ORIGINAL FIBRE IS NEGLIGIBLE. • AFTER KNITTING, IT DOES NOT HAVE AN ELASTICITY PER SAY, BUT IT RETAINS ITS STURDINESS, ALONG WITH ITS MOLDABILITY.
SOLDER WIRE
• THE SOLDERING WIRE IS AN ALLOY OF TIN AND LEAD. • IT IS FAR MORE FLEXIBLE THAN ANY OF THE PREVIOUS WIRES. • BUT IT TENDS TO SNAP IF TOO MUCH STRAIN IS APPLIED AT ONE POINT. • AFTER KNITTING, IT IS QUITE FIRM AS WELL AS ELASTIC. • MAYBE, THE ADDITION OF ANOTHER ELEMENT TO THE ALLOY WILL LEND IT THE STRENGTH THAT IT NEEDS. • BUT BY FAR, THIS HAS BEEN THE MOST SUCCESFULL OF ALL OF THE METALS IN ACHIEVING THE INTENDED GOALS.
THE NATURAL FIBRES HAVE SHOWN A VERY SPECIFIC CHARACTER OF ELASTICITY UPON KNITTING. AT THE MOMENT, ELASTICITY IS IMPARTED ON THESE FIBRES, SPECIALLY COTTON, USING PETRO-CHEMICAL MATERIALS, LIKE SPANDEX. THIS PROJECT MAY LEAD TO THE COMPLETE REMOVAL OF PETRO CHEMICALS FROM THIS SECTOR, USHERING IN THE USE OF ONLY NATURAL FIBRE.
SO FAR, THE SAMPLES THAT I HAVE CREATED HAVE USED JUST ONE MATERIAL. THEN THE NEXT STEP FOR THIS PROJECT WOULD BE TO EXPLORE A COMBINATION OF THESE ELEMENTS, AND TO SEE IF DIFFERENT MATERIALS ARE ABLE TO IMPART THEIR INDIVIDUAL CHARECTERISTICS TO THE FINAL SAMPLE.
FUTURE VISION
THE EXPERIMENTS WITH METALS ARE IN A VERY SMALL SCALE TO REALLY PREDICT THEIR FUTURE. BUT I HAVE OBSERVED THAT THESE QUALITIES OF THE METALS MAY PROVE TO BE USEFUL IN CONSTRUCTION, WHERE STRENGHTH AS WELL AS ELASTICITY AND MOBILITY IS REQUIRED. THIS CAN ADD TO THE ONGOING RESEARCH IN CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS FOR CREATING NOTURAL DISASTER-PROOF BUILDINGS AND INFRASTRUCTURE. IF NOT ANYTHING TOO LARGE-SCALE, INDIVIDUAL PRODUCTS CAN ALSO EMPLOY THESE METAL MESHES.