Investigation of polyurethane water dispersions of the Aquapol® brand for the production of artificial leather

The paper presents the results of a study of water dispersions of Aquapol® 11 and Aquapol® 22 polyurethane grades for use in the production of artificial leather.

Comparative identificational characteristic of artificial leather with embossed surface damages caused by airgun pistol pellets with different head end forms

Background: Authors of this article have made a comparative identificational description of artificial leather damage caused by air gun pistol pellets with different head end forms. Aim: This study aimed to provide a comparative identification characteristic of injuries caused by shots from an air pistol MP-53 M on artificial leather with a raised surface and a textile net glued to the wrong side at different angles and from different distances by bullets with different head end shapes (hemispherical, flat round, and conical). Used: Air pistol MP-53M, bullets with different head end shape, a fragment of black artificial leather with an embossed surface, and a textile mesh glued to the wrong side. Shots were fired at close range, 50 and 100 cm at angles of 30, 45, 60, and 90. The prevailing forms of damage (defects) of artificial skin, characteristic of bullets with a hemispherical, conical, and flat rounded head end, dependence of the form of damage (defect) on the distance of the shot, and the angle of entry of the bullet into the material. Conclusion: A comparative study showed that the form of damage to the material depends on the head end shape of bullets. Moreover, intragroup differences were found in the damage due to the distance of the shot and angle of entry of the bullet into the material in groups of bullets with the same head end shape.

Perception modeling based on vision and touch: “authenticity” of leather defined through observational experience

Nowadays, numerous products use artificial leather as it is a cost-effective alternative to genuine leather. However, products made from artificial leather may leave impressions on consumers that are dissimilar to those left by products made of genuine leather. In other words, products that use artificial leather but are perceived as genuine leather are more attractive to consumers. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to understand and quantify the factors that affect the mechanism via which consumers perceive a leather product to be made of genuine leather. We conducted several experiments to evaluate the hypothesis regarding human perception. Measurement experiments were performed to obtain the visual and physical properties of such impressions. We estimated the representative impressions formed by people during their interaction with leather samples through subjective experiments and derived models of these impressions in terms of the measured properties. Subjective evaluation experiments were performed under visual, tactile, and visual–tactile conditions. Finally, we quantified leather “authenticity” using these representative impressions. Participants, who are general consumers, were divided into two groups according to their familiarity with leather. The “authenticity” perception model of the group familiar with leather was constructed under visual and visual–tactile conditions, whereas the model of the group unfamiliar with leather was constructed under visual–tactile conditions, suggesting the influence of a cross-modal phenomenon. The results of this study can be applied to develop attractive artificial leather, which is expected to contribute to the protection of animal rights while promoting the sale of artificial leather products.

Comparison of the Technical Performance of Leather, Artificial Leather, and Trendy Alternatives

The market for biogenic and synthetic alternatives to leather is increasing aiming to replace animal-based materials with vegan alternatives. In parallel, bio-based raw materials should be used instead of fossil-based synthetic raw materials. In this study, a shoe upper leather and an artificial leather, and nine alternative materials (Desserto®, Kombucha, Pinatex®, Noani®, Appleskin®, Vegea®, SnapPap®, Teak Leaf®, and Muskin®) were investigated. We aimed to compare the structure and technical performance of the materials, which allows an estimation of possible application areas. Structure and composition were characterized by microscopy and FTIR spectroscopy, the surface properties, mechanical performance, water vapor permeability, and water absorption by standardized physical tests. None of the leather alternatives showed the universal performance of leather. Nevertheless, some materials achieved high values in selected properties. It is speculated that the grown multilayer structure of leather with a very tight surface and a gradient of the structural density over the cross-section causes this universal performance. To date, this structure could neither be achieved with synthetic nor with bio-based materials.

Tangram based technology for clothing design

The trends in the society regarding environment protection and more optimized production are reason for the research of the author in this direction. The technology of the item connect with the stamina of the product. Within the report, there is an author’s development for series of clothing presented in the context of the steady design. Using zero-waste technology aims the improvement of the functional characteristics, as it is being experiment with different textile materials like artificial leather, cotton, wool, spandex and others. The design through transformation of square into other figure through cutting connect with the Chinese tangram game. Problems are included, such as construction, functional, and aesthetic character, as well social and ecological aspect.

Weight-loss Percentage Improvement of PVC Artificial Leather Products in Automotive Part Industry by Six Sigma

The purpose of this research was to improve the weight-loss percentage of PVC artificial leather products manufactured by the calendering process. It was noticed that the weight-loss percentage was greater than 5% which did not pass the specification given by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). Hence, the DMAIC Six Sigma methodology was applied to improve the situation. The cause-and-effect matrix and the Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) were adopted to identify the potential factors that affect the quality of the products. After that, the design of experiment (DOE) was used to determine significant factors and optimal parameter settings for the production process to prevent a recurrence. The result shown that the average weight-loss percentage was reduced to only 0.9% after applying new parameter settings.