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Spandex or elastane is a synthetic fiber known for its exceptional elasticity. Synthetic fibers are the result of extensive research by Scientists to improve upon naturally occurring Animal and plant A material is said to be elastic if it deforms under stress (e It is stronger and more durable than rubber, its major non-synthetic competitor. It was invented in 1959 by DuPont chemist Joseph Shivers. An invention is a new form composition of matter device or Process. The year 1959 ( MCMLIX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. E I du Pont de Nemours and Company (,) is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a Gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée Joseph Clois Shivers Jr was an American chemist who lived in West Chester Pennsylvania When first introduced it revolutionized many areas of the clothing industry. Clothing (also called clothes, accoutrements, accouterments, or habiliments) protects the Human body from extreme Weather For other uses of this term see Industry (disambiguation An industry (from Latin industrius, "diligent industrious"

Example of spandex
Example of spandex

"Spandex" is a generic name and not derived from the chemical name of the fiber, which most manufactured fibers are, but derived by shifting around the syllables in the word expands. [1] "Spandex" is the preferred name in North America; elsewhere it is referred to as "elastane".

The most famous brand name associated with spandex is Lycra, a trademark of Invista (formerly part of DuPont). Invista, headquartered in Wichita Kansas is the world's largest integrated fiber resin and intermediates company Such is the prominence of the Lycra brand that it has become a genericised trademark in many parts of the world, used to describe any kind of spandex. A genericized trademark (also known as a generic trademark or proprietary eponym) is a Trademark or Brand name that has become the colloquial Invista discourages such use, protecting its trademark vigorously.

Other spandex trademarks include Elaspan (also Invista's), Dorlastan (Asahi Kasei) and Linel (Fillattice). is a Japanese company The main products are chemicals and in Materials science.

Contents

Chemical composition and molecular arrangement

Spandex is a block copolymer of polyurethane and polyethylene glycol. A heteropolymer or copolymer is a Polymer derived from two (or more Monomeric species as opposed to a Homopolymer where only one monomer is A polyurethane, commonly abbreviated PU, is any Polymer consisting of a chain of organic units joined by urethane links Poly( Ethylene glycol) (PEG also known as poly( Ethylene oxide) (PEO or polyoxyethylene (POE is the most commercially important type of polyether

Spandex consists of rigid and flexible segments in the polymer chain. The flexible segments give the fiber the stretch and the rigid segments hold the chain together. [1] When force is applied, the folded flexible segments straighten out and then return to their original position when the force is removed. The proportions of flexible and rigid segments in the polymer chain determine the amount of stretch.

Physical structure of fiber

Spandex is produced as monofilament or fused multifilament yarns in a variety of deniers. Denier Denier is a unit of measure for the Linear mass density of Fibers. [1] Monofilaments are round in cross section. Multifilaments are partly fused together at intervals and are found in fibers with deniers of 40 and above. [1] The deniers of a spandex fiber range from 20 to 4300 and are determined by what the product use will be. 20 denier spandex, for example, is used in ligthweight support hoisery, in which a large amount of stretch is necessary for the products use and durability. Coarser yarns, with a denier of 1500 to 2240 denier, have less stretch capacity and can be used for support hosiery tops, swimwear, and foundation garments. [1]

Spandex fiber production

Spandex fibers are produced in four different ways including melt extrusion, reaction spinning, solution dry spinning, and solution wet spinning. All of these methods include the initial step of reacting monomers to produce a prepolymer. Once the prepolymer is formed it is reacted further in various ways and drawn out to produce a long fiber. The solution dry spinning method is used to produce over 90% of the world's spandex fibers. [2]

Solution dry spinning

Step 1: The first step is to produce the prepolymer. This is done by mixing a macroglycol with a diisocyanate monomer. The two compounds are mixed together in a reaction vessel to produce a prepolymer. A typical ratio of glycol to diisocyanate is 1:2. [2]

Step 2: The prepolymer is further reacted with an equal amount of diamine. This reaction is know as chain extension reaction. The resulting solution is diluted with a solvent to produce the spinning solution. The solvent helps make the solution thinner and more easily handled and then can be pumped into the fiber production cell.

Step 3: The spinning solution is pumped into a cylindrical spinning cell where it is cured and converted into fibers. In this cell, the polymer solution is forced through a metal plate, called a spinneret. This causes the solution to be aligned in strands of liquid polymer. As the strands pass through the cell, they are heated in the presence of a nitrogen and solvent gas. This process causes the liquid polymer to chemically react and form solid strands. [2]

Step 4: As the fibers exit the cell, an amount of solid strands are bundled together to produce the desired thickness. Each fiber of spandex is made up of many smaller individual fibers that adhere to one another due to the natural stickiness of their surface. [2]

Step 5: The resulting fibers are then treated with a finishing agent. This can be magnesium stearate or another polymer. This process prevents the fibers sticking together and aid in textile manufacture. The fibers are then transferred through a series of rollers onto a spool.

Step 6: When the spools are filled with fiber, they are put into final packaging and shipped to textile manufacturers.

Spandex fiber characteristics

Spandex is classified as an elastomeric fiber. An elastomer is a natural or synthetic polymer that, at room temperature, can be stretched and expanded to twice its original length. After removal of the tensile load it will immediately return to its original length. [1] Along with spandex, rubber and anidex (no longer produced in the United States) are considered elastomeric fibers. Spun from a block copolymer, these fibers exploit the high crystallinity and hardness of polyurethane segments, yet remain "rubbery" due to alternating segments of polyethylene glycol. A heteropolymer or copolymer is a Polymer derived from two (or more Monomeric species as opposed to a Homopolymer where only one monomer is In Materials science, a crystal is a Solid in which the constituent Atoms Molecules or Ions are packed in a regularly ordered repeating A polyurethane, commonly abbreviated PU, is any Polymer consisting of a chain of organic units joined by urethane links Poly( Ethylene glycol) (PEG also known as poly( Ethylene oxide) (PEO or polyoxyethylene (POE is the most commercially important type of polyether

This yields the following combination of materials properties:

Major spandex fiber uses

In clothing it usually appears as a small percentage of total material. Clothing (also called clothes, accoutrements, accouterments, or habiliments) protects the Human body from extreme Weather A wetsuit is a protective garment used for watersports such as Scuba diving, Surfing, Windsurfing, Kitesurfing, and Triathlon A swimsuit, bathing suit or swimming costume is an item of Clothing designed to be worn for Swimming. Competitive swimwear generally refers to the apparel equipment and accessories used in the aquatic sports of Swimming Netball is a non-contact team Sport similar to and derived from Basketball. brassiere ( Brit /'bɹæzɪə(ɹ/ US /bɹə'ziɹ/ commonly referred to as a bra, /bɹɑ/ is an article of clothing that covers supports and elevates A ski is a long flat device worn on the feet designed to help the wearer slide smoothly over snow Trousers are an item of Clothing worn on the lower part of the body from the waist to the ankles covering both legs separately (rather than with cloth stretching across Hosiery is knitted coverings for the legs and feet Also referred to as legwear hosiery describes garments worn directly on the feet and Legs The term Leggings are any of several sorts of fitted Clothing to cover the legs A sock is a knitted or Woven type of Hosiery garment for enclosing the human foot Skinny jeans have a snug fit through the legs and end in a small leg opening A belt is a flexible band typically made of Leather or heavy Cloth, and worn around the Waist. Undergarments are clothes worn under other clothes often next to the skin Compression garments are pieces of clothing such as socks pantyhose sleeves etc that provide support that is especially useful for people who have to stand for long periods or people Cycling shorts (also known as bike shorts or bicycling shorts) are short skin-tight legwear designed to improve comfort and efficiency while Cycling A wrestling singlet (or simply singlet) is a one-piece tight-fitting colored uniform usually made of Spandex, Lycra, or Nylon, used in In North America it is rare in men's cheaper clothing, but prevalent in women's. It is used more often in women's as their clothes are usually more form-fitting. It is usually mixed with a greater percentage of one other textile such as cotton, polyester, or others. This keeps the reflection of light reduced to being hardly noticeable.

Spandex in popular culture

Superheroes

In comic books, superheroes and superheroines commonly wear costumes thought to be made of spandex. A comic book (often shortened to simply comic and sometimes called a comic paper or comic magazine) is a Magazine or Book of narrative A superhero (sometimes rendered super-hero or super hero) is a Fictional character "of unprecedented physical prowess dedicated to acts of derring-do A superhero (sometimes rendered super-hero or super hero) is a Fictional character "of unprecedented physical prowess dedicated to acts of derring-do However, early superhero comics predate the invention of spandex (Superman-1938, Batman-1939, Captain America-1941). Superman is a fictional Comic book Superhero widely considered to be one of the most recognized of such characters and an American Cultural icon Batman (originally referred to as the Bat-Man and still referred to at times as the Batman) is a fictional Comic book Superhero co-created Printing processes for early comics only rendered images with distinctly separate solid blocks of color well. Overprinting and color mixing yielded inconsistent results and bad looking muddy colors.

In Japan, spandex is the common material for costumes used in the popular Super Sentai series (known overseas as Power Rangers). The is the name given to the long running Japanese Superhero team genre of shows produced by Toei Company Ltd Power Rangers is a long-running American Children's television series adapted from the Japanese Tokusatsu Super Sentai Series, though it The first use of the material was in 1983's Kagaku Sentai Dynaman. translated into English as Scientific Squadron Dynaman, is the seventh installment of Toei Company 's Super Sentai series

Because spandex is skintight, as many superhero costumes appear to be drawn, and because spandex is almost exclusively made in the same bright solid colors as the early Golden Age comics, the after-the-fact assumption of spandex composition was made. The same assumption of costume composition is also made for latex / rubber garments, which are also solid in colour and skin-tight.

'70s/'80s rock/metal

During the 1970s and 1980s, spandex leggings rose in popularity amongst many rock and heavy metal bands, particularly British NWOBHM and American glam metal bands. This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. The New Wave of British Heavy Metal (frequently abbreviated as NWOBHM) is a heavy metal music movement that started in the late 1970s in Britain, and achieved Glam metal (also known as pop metal) is a sub-genre of Heavy metal music that arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the United States. The main reasons for this massive, almost universal, embracement of spandex amongst rock/metal bands was due to the fact that spandex retained its stretchy, tight fitting quality, even after extended wear. Denim jeans and leather strides tended to sag and wear, while spandex did not. Denim is a rugged Cotton Twill Textile, in which the Weft passes under two ( twi- "double" or more warp fibers Leather is a material created through the Tanning of hides and Skins of Animals primarily Cattlehide The Tanning process Also, the stretchiness of the material did not constrict musicians' movement onstage, allowing them to perform high kicks, or to rest their feet on monitors. Some of the rock/metal bands who used spandex leggings included Queen, Ratt, Van Halen, Mötley Crüe, Judas Priest, Scorpions, Iron Maiden, Saxon, Whitesnake, Bon Jovi and Twisted Sister. Queen were an English rock band formed in 1970 in London by guitarist Ratt is an American Glam metal band that formed in San Diego and enjoyed significant commercial success in the 1980s Van Halen is a Hard rock band formed in in 1972 They enjoyed success from the release of their self titled debut album in 1978 Mötley Crüe ( IPA pronunciation: /'mɒtliː Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in 1970 in Birmingham. Scorpions are a heavy metal / Hard rock band from Hanover, Germany, probably best known for their 1980s rock anthem " Rock You Like a For other uses see Iron maiden. Saxon are an English heavy metal band formed in 1977 in Barnsley, Yorkshire. Whitesnake are an English Hard rock band founded in 1977 by David Coverdale (formerly of Deep Purple) Bon Jovi is an American Hard rock band from Sayreville New Jersey. Twisted Sister is an American heavy metal band from New York City. By the end of the 1980s and the decline of glam metal, and metal in general, with the advent of grunge, spandex fell out of fashion and many older glam bands found themselves being referred to as 'Spandex Jockeys'.

70s/80s country

While glam metal bands were getting into the spandex craze, so were many glam-oriented Country stars, especially women like Dolly Parton, Margo Smith, and Dottie West. Glam metal (also known as pop metal) is a sub-genre of Heavy metal music that arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the United States. Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American Country music Singer / Songwriter, Author, actress Margo Smith (b Betty Lou Miller April 9, 1942 in Dayton Ohio) is an American Country Music Singer. Dottie West (born October 11, 1932 &ndash September 4, 1991) was an American Country music singer and was one of Country Dottie West is probably the best-known out of any Country singer for wearing spandex outfits on stage.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Kadolph, Sara J. A textile is a flexible material comprised of a network of natural or artificial Fibres often referred to as thread or Yarn. Spandex fetishism is a fetishistic attraction to people wearing Stretch fabrics or in certain cases to the garments themselves Darlex, sometimes sold under the trade name Darlexx, is made from two layers of Spandex fused together with a thin layer of rubber in between Skin tight suits that cover the entire body are commonly called zentai (from the Japanese ゼンタイ Glam metal (also known as pop metal) is a sub-genre of Heavy metal music that arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the United States. Textiles.
  2. ^ a b c d "How spandex is made" from How Products Are Made

External links

Dictionary

spandex

-noun

  1. a synthetic fibre known for its exceptional elasticity
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