Vladan Koncar
ENSAIT - University of Lille, France
E-textiles for Defence Applications
Abstract:
E-textile systems and devices have been developed recently for different fields of application, such as Medical & Healthcare, Safety & Security, and Defence. In addition, their reliability and testing, together with their capacity to satisfy sustainability and circularity requirements, must be carefully studied and assessed.
This work is focused on the most recent defence applications involving e-textiles, with an emphasis on:
– Parachute testing: Specifically regarding their performance and aging, using embedded textile strain gauges on the parachute canopy.
– Active textile structures for camouflage, addressing both military and civil challenges. In the military sector, the development of adaptive optical systems for camouflage and stealth has become a major priority to protect soldiers and assets on the battlefield. Among the technologies being developed, electrochromic materials are particularly relevant in the visible range. The security, economic, and societal stakes in the event of conflicts are evident. These active textile structures are based on electrochromic yarns capable of changing their colour in a controlled way. However, many challenges and issues remain to be addressed regarding micro-connections and their reliability and robustness.
– Vital signs monitoring: The monitoring of physiological vital signs of soldiers on the battlefield, integrated into more complex soldier clothing modules. This includes positioning, ballistic systems monitoring, energy management, and human-to-machine interfaces.
These applications of e-textiles reveal advanced structures that possess optimal robustness and reliability, are able to withstand harsh conditions of use, and satisfy REACH regulation requirements and sustainability principles.
Biography:
Vladan Koncar is a Full Professor at ENSAIT (National Graduate School of Arts and Textile Industries) in Roubaix, France, at the University of Lille. He obtained his PhD in 1991 from the University of Lille 1 in Villeneuve d’Ascq.
From November 2009 to November 2015, he served as Research Director at ENSAIT and Director of the GEMTEX research laboratory. Professor Koncar was President of AUTEX (Association of Universities for Textiles, www.autex.org) from June 2007 to June 2010. He received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Iași, Romania, in January 2010.
Professor Koncar began working on smart and e-textiles more than twenty years ago and was one of the pioneers in this field.
He has chaired eleven international scientific conferences and serves on the editorial boards of numerous scientific journals. Professor Koncar is the author of more than 300 scientific publications (ISI Web of Science references, book chapters, books, conference proceedings, and patents). His research interests include flexible textile sensors and actuators, smart clothing and e-textiles, as well as the modeling and control of complex systems. He teaches in the areas of automation, computer networks, virtual reality, and smart textiles.
He has coordinated many national French research projects and has been the scientific coordinator of several European projects.