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Design and fabrication of Temperature Sensing Fabric

Article  in  Journal of Industrial Textiles · October 2013

DOI: 10.1177/1528083713495249

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DOI: 10.1177/1528083713495249
of Temperature Sensing jit.sagepub.com

Fabric

Muhammad Dawood Husain1, Richard Kennon2 and

Tilak Dias3

Abstract
A temperature sensing fabric is described, along with the manufacturing techniques
required to produce the fabric on a computerised flat-bed knitting machine. Knitted
sensing fabrics with copper, nickel and tungsten wire elements have been produced with
resistances ranging from 3 to 130
. The most successful samples have been created
using textile-wrapped, enamelled wire and not only the textile character of the sensing
element was enhanced, but also its tensile strength. A mathematical relationship has
been derived between the temperature and resistance of the knitted sensors and this
can be used to optimise its dimensions to achieve a targeted reference resistance. The
temperature-resistance curves demonstrate a linear trend with a coefficient of deter-
mination in the range of 0.99–0.999 and can be integrated into garments to monitor
skin temperatures.

Keywords
Temperature sensor, resistance temperature detector, textile sensors, wire inlaying into
knitted structure, electronic flat-bed knitting machine

Introduction
In recent years, intensive research has been carried out in the area of electronic
textiles, particularly in respect of the incorporation of sensing and actuating func-
tions into textile products. Being close to the body, textiles can offer a comfortable,
flexible platform for the embedding of sensing functions. The direct consequence of

1
Textile Engineering Department, NED University of Engineering & Technology, Karachi, Pakistan
2
School of Materials Textiles and Paper, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
3
Advanced Textiles Research Group, School of Art and Design, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

Corresponding author:
Muhammad Dawood Husain, Textile Engineering Department, NED University of Engineering & Technology,
Main University Road, Karachi 75270, Pakistan.
Email: dawood@neduet.edu.pk
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applying this technology is the development of wearable monitoring systems

intended for continuous usage in monitoring the human body, for vital signs
over extended periods of time. One of the key components of this system is the
sensor which gathers data from the wearer and passes it for further processing. This
information may be used to help creating a general health picture for various
medical purposes [1]. Human body temperature is one of the four vital signs
used in conjunction with heart rate, blood pressure and respiratory rate for medical
assessment of the state of health. It is an important indicator of the physical con-
dition of the human body and relates to comfort, performance, and heat or cold
stresses [2].
Within the domain of wearable monitoring systems, most of the research has
been focused in the development of textile-based electro-cardiography (ECG) and
respiration sensors. To measure human body temperature, the majority of
researchers have relied on commercially available temperature sensors (mainly
thermistor and temperature measuring minute integrated circuits), which are usu-
ally attached externally to the garment [3–6]. Previous research also demonstrates
that the fabrication of sensing fabric for temperature measurement has been little
explored in a few individual studies [7–11].
De Rossi et al. [9] developed sensing fabric by coating a polypyrrole on a Lycra
fabric; Locher et al. [10,11] developed a woven sensing fabric by incorporating
insulated copper wires into a woven fabric and devising a routing technique;
Ziegler and Frydrysiak [7] developed various types of textile thermocouple by
utilising conductive fabric, non-conductive fabric and conductive yarn/wire and
Sibinski et al. [12] developed a ‘thermistor yarn’ by depositing a thermo-resistive
paste, on a polyvinylidene fluoride yarn. All of them are preliminary studies; their
products were manufactured by cumbersome manual processes and are limited in
their depth of characterisation and performance of the sensor in either the labora-
tory or in the real-life environment.
This study presents an improved method of embedding temperature sensing
functionality into a textile substrate by using industrial scale textile process, and
preliminary characterisation of its laboratory performance. The developed sensing
fabric can be deployed for continuous measurement of the human body tempera-
ture in non-clinical settings, e.g. sports, military, general healthcare, firefighting
situations and studies related to biorhythms and assessment of thermal strain in
extreme environments.

Conceptualisation of temperature sensing fabric

In order to imbue a textile substrate with temperature sensing functionality, a
detailed review has been conducted to identify what are currently the most com-
monly used temperature sensing technologies, i.e. the resistance temperature detec-
tor (RTD), thermistor and thermocouple.
Thermistors are fragile semiconductor devices, usually encapsulated in glass,
whose resistance varies as a function of temperature [13]. Thermocouples are
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Husain et al. 3

made of two dissimilar conducting wires which have been welded together and
require relatively complex ‘conditioning’ electronics. Neither thermistors nor
thermocouples are as accurate as the RTD [14]. The RTD measures temperature
by correlating the resistance of a fine coiled wire (wrapped around an insulator)
which changes with the temperature. The wrapped wire is further protected from
the environment by placing it inside a sheathed probe [15].
The review has demonstrated that the RTD is probably the most suitable type of
temperature sensor, whose design can be integrated into a textile substrate and
could ultimately be fabricated on an industrial scale by a fabric forming machine
with minimal manual input. The associated electronic circuit (to measure resist-
ance) is also relatively simple. Thermistors and thermocouples, in contrast, have to
be sewn into the fabric and do not become part of the cloth.
Technically, textile-based RTD sensors can be developed by integrating a piece
of metal wire (as a sensing element) into a textile fabric. However, various factors
have to be taken into account. For example, an appropriate alloy for the sensing
element and the most appropriate material for the base fabric have to be selected.
The most suitable textile structure for embedding the sensing element must be
found. It is also necessary to identify which textile process is most appropriate
for undertaking the manufacture.
Embedding of metallic wires into textile structures for sensing purposes has been
documented by several researchers. Various fabric forming techniques such as
knitting, weaving and embroidery have been exploited for these purposes.
Various forms of stainless steel wire have also been used to develop textile-based
ECG electrodes [16–18] and pressure sensors [19]. An elastic belt with embedded
copper wire has been developed for inductance plethysmography-based respiration
sensing [17]. A number of studies have been conducted in respect of the develop-
ment and characterisation of routing methods for power and signal transmission in
woven electronic textiles, by introducing networks of metallic wires at specified
distances along the warp and weft [19–23].
Both knitted and woven fabrics have been used for the development of sensors
and as sensing platforms for wearable health monitoring systems [24, 25]. However,
in those sensor applications where close contact to the body is required, e.g. respir-
ation or ECG sensors, the knitted structures are usually preferred over woven struc-
tures due to their ability to conform to body shape. Moreover, the breathability of
knitted structures makes them comfortable to wear. The knitting technology offers
significant advantages over other fabric forming systems in respect of the develop-
ment of textile sensors [26], e.g. simple preparatory processing, the processability of a
wide selection of conductive yarns, one-step garment manufacturing and exact pos-
itioning of sensing patches in the garment. Considering the above-mentioned bene-
fits and the required application (human body skin temperature measurement), the
knitting technology has been found to be an obvious choice to produce a tempera-
ture sensing fabric (TSF) by embedding a sensing wire into a knitted structure.
TSF has therefore been developed by embedding fine metallic wire into the
structure of textile material on a computerised industrial flat-bed knitting machine.
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The operational principle of the TSF is based on the inherent propensity of metal
wire to respond to changes in temperature with corresponding variation in its
electrical resistance. A modified relationship between the resistance of the TSF
and temperature has also been established. Various types of the metal wire identi-
fied as potential sensing elements for the TSF were compared in conjunction with
the selection criteria. The TSF samples were tested under laboratory conditions
within the temperature range of 20–50 C, to observe the relationship between the
temperature and the resistance of the sensing fabric. The resistance–temperature
(R–T) relationship demonstrates a linear trend with a coefficient of determination
(r2-value) of over 99.9%.

Materials and methods

Figure 1. presents the concept of the TSF showing a metal wire inlaid in the middle
of a rib knitted structure. By supplying a constant current to the inlaid wire and
measuring the resulting voltage drop across it, its resistance can be calculated, and
the temperature can be determined.

The temperature–resistance relationship

The standard equation showing the relationship between the resistance of metal
wire and its length, diameter and resistivity is stated in equation (1) [14]:

4lref
Rref ¼ ð1Þ
d2

Figure 1. TSF showing inlaid sensing wire in a rib knitted structure.

TSF: temperature sensing fabric.
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Husain et al. 5

where Rref and ref are the resistance (wire function) and resistivity (metal func-
tion), respectively, at a reference temperature. Rref is also known as the nominal
resistance. While, the length (l) and diameter (d) are the dimensions of the wire.
A mathematical relationship between the length of the metal wire (sensing element)
and the dimensions of the sensing fabric has been derived as:

l ¼ ðWs Ls Di Þ þ Ls ð2Þ

where Ls and Ws are the length and width of the TSF and Di represents the inlay
density of the sensing wire. From equation (2), it can be seen that, a 4  4 cm2 patch
of the TSF with an inlay density of 6 cm1 might easily contain a 1 m length of
sensing wire. Combining equations (1) and (2) gives a modified relationship for the
TSF resistance in terms of its dimensional parameters:

4ref ½ðLs Ws Dc Þ þ Ls 
Rref ¼ ð3Þ
d2

Equation (3) could be used to optimise the dimensions of a TSF patch for a
required reference resistance, once the resistivity and diameter of the wire are
known. The higher the resistivity and the finer the sensing wire, the smaller may
be the sensing area within which a target reference resistance may be achieved. It is
thus important to lay-in the sensing element as densely as possible to achieve the
maximum ratio of reference resistance to sensor area. High reference resistance is
desirable in order to achieve high sensitivity while a small sensor area is desirable
for a fast response time. The effect of temperature (T) on the resistance of a metal
(RT ) conductor can be expressed as [27]:

RT ¼ Rref ð1 þ ref ðT  Tref ÞÞ ð4Þ

where ref is the temperature coefficient of resistivity for a given temperature range
starting from the reference temperature (Tref Þ. After combining equations (3)
and (4), the temperature-resistance relationship of a TSF can be described in the
form:

4½ðLs Ws Dc Þ þ Ls 
RT ¼ ð5Þ
d2 ð1 þ ðT  Tref ÞÞ

The sensing element

In RTD sensors, a very fine and relatively short sensing element (platinum wire of
less than 25 mm in diameter) is employed, which changes its resistance upon change
in temperature. Although platinum is the most commonly used sensing element
in RTDs, copper- and nickel-based RTDs are also available in the market.
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Various metal wires could be used as the sensing elements of TSFs in the form of
bare wire, enamelled wire or textile wrapped (braided) wire. The desirable proper-
ties for the sensing element of a TSF include the following items:

. Nominal resistance: Nominal resistance is one of the most important baseline

specifications of the RTD. The RTDs are available from 10
to 10,000
of
nominal resistance but 100
is the most common figure. The nominal resistance
depend upon the resistivity of the sensing element and the dimensions of the
TSF as stated in equation (3). High nominal resistance is desirable and could be
achieved by choosing a long, fine wire of high resistivity.
. Sensitivity: Sensitivity is directly related to the temperature coefficient of resist-
ivity and nominal resistance. High sensitivity of the sensor is desirable for creat-
ing a detector with high accuracy, resolution and minimal electronic circuitry.
. Response time: Temperature sensors with fast response times are desirable espe-
cially during the measurement of the temperature in a dynamic environment.
The response time of a sensor may be minimised by keeping the thermal mass of
the sensing element as low as possible. The thermal mass is calculated as the
product of the mass of the sensing element and the specific heat capacity of its
material, and is typically measured in units of J/ C.
. Self-heating: Sensing elements may be prone to a self-heating (Joule heating)
error if excitation currents of 10 mA or above are used. High thermal conduct-
ivity of the sensing element is desirable to minimise this error by dissipating the
heat rapidly.
. Repeatability: Continuous and smooth dependence of resistance on temperature
without any hysteresis is important for high precision, accuracy and
interchangeability.
. Mechanical properties: Sensing wire should have sufficient ductility for smooth
bending along the edges and high tensile strength to meet the tension require-
ments of the inlaying process performed during machine knitting, without any
breakages.
. Availability and reproducibility: Sensing wire should be low in price and readily
available in fine diameters, so the sensors are readily and consistently
reproducible.

Table 1 presents the important properties of sensing elements i.e. platinum,

nickel, tungsten and copper. For ease of understanding, these properties are also
compared relatively in Figure 2. Platinum exhibits the highest resistivity of the
range of metals. Therefore, a sensing element made of platinum would require a
reduced length in order to achieve any desired nominal resistance; but copper
would require a much longer length to achieve the same nominal resistance.
High resistivity, along with a high-temperature coefficient of resistivity, also con-
tributes to high sensitivity, as exhibited by both the nickel and platinum elements.
Because of their low thermal mass, the response time of tungsten and platinum
would be faster than nickel and copper. The tungsten is the strongest sensing
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Table 1. Important properties of TSF sensing elements [28–31].

Property Unit Copper Tungsten Nickel Platinum

Temperature resistance coefficient (1/  C) 0.0038 0.0044 0.0069 0.00392

Electrical resistivity
m 1.67e08 5.6e08 7.5e08 10.6e08
Thermal massa J/K 0.39 0.13 0.54 0.13
Thermal conductivity (W/mK) 386 180 86 72
Sensitivityb (m
/  C) 9 32 60 53
Tensile strength MPa 260 2500 500 130
Price $/oz 0.26 1.6 0.64 1835
TSF: temperature sensing fabric.
a
g of sensing element.
b
1 m long sensing element with diameter of 100 mm.

Copper
Tungsten
Nickel
Planum

Temp. Resist. Electrical Thermal Thermal Sensivity Tensile Price

Coeff. Resisvity Mass Conducvity Strength

Figure 2. Comparative chart of important relative properties of TSF sensing elements.

TSF: temperature sensing fabric.

element, in terms of its tensile properties. This would be beneficial for processing on
a knitting machine. The platinum is regarded as the best sensing element for RTDs
due to its high sensitivity, low thermal mass, its availability in its purest form and
its stability over a wide range of temperatures; however, it is relatively expensive.
In terms of price, copper is the least expensive of the viable sensing elements and
is readily available in range of diameters in bare and insulated form. The tungsten
and nickel elements may not be readily available in their purest form which may
result in large variations in the values of resistivity and the temperature coefficient
of resistivity when purchased from different sources. In comparison to copper, it is
relatively difficult to find tungsten and nickel sensing elements of the required
purity and diameter so they might have to be manufactured by order.
In respect of the properties presented in Figure 2, the sensing elements i.e.
copper, nickel and tungsten possess some advantages over each other. It was
thus decided to make use of all these metals as sensing elements for the TSF.
Platinum was completely ruled out for purchase due to its high cost. These sensing
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Table 2. Sensing elements of temperature sensing fabric.

Wire Tag Form Metal Diameter (mm) Source

N100 Bare Nickel 100 Scientific Wire

N90 Bare Nickel 270a 90 Alloy Wire
W80 Bare Tungsten 80 Good Fellow
W50 Bare Tungsten 50 Good Fellow
NC125 Bare 27% Nickel 125 Temco
coated
copper
NC127 Bare 4% Nickel 127 Temco
coated
copper
C150 Bare Copper 150 Scientific Wire
EC150 Enamelledb Copper 150 (170 including Scientific Wire
enamel)
BEC150 Braidedc and Enamelledb Copper 150 (220 including Scientific Wire
enamel
and braid)
BEN61 Braidedd and Enamelled Nickel 61 (120 including Scientific Wire
enamel
and braid)
a
A high purity grade of nickel.
b
Solderable polyurethane 156 C enamel.
c
Double artificial silk covered.
d
Double nylon covered.

elements, in the form of bare and insulated wire, were purchased from different
sources in various diameters, as shown in Table 2. The temperature-resistance
curves of all the selected metals are fairly linear over the required temperature
range i.e. 20–50 C and can be represented by equation (4).

TSF structure and manufacturing

The main requirement of the TSF structure includes the smooth embedding of wire
in the middle of the textile layers so that it neither contacts itself, nor protrudes
from the main body or the edges of the fabric. It was also desirable to pack a high
density of wire in order to achieve high nominal resistance in a small-sized TSF.
The most suitable way for smooth embedding of wire into knitted structure is by
the inlaying technique which involves trapping the inlay between the needle and the
sinker loops on a double needle-bed machine. This technique offers the possibility
of introducing those yarns which are difficult to process in the knitting machine due
to their physical properties.
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Husain et al. 9

Various types of knitted structure can be used as a platform for laying-in metal
wire. Double layer knitted structures are more suitable than single layer structures
due to their better cover for the metal wire from wear and tear. Secondly, the metal
wire would not be visible and does not affect the aesthetic properties of the fabric.
Moreover, the wire will assume a straight configuration which avoids any distor-
tion or flow towards an area of the fabric under tension.
In order to meet the requirement, a double layer structure of the TSF was
devised using Shima Seiki Knit design software as shown in Figure 3; it com-
prises knit courses, spacer courses and metal inlays. The samples were fabricated
on a 10 gauge Shima Seiki flat-bed knitting machine (as shown in Figure 4) by
employing two feeders. First feeder was responsible for knitting spacer and knit
courses, by taking five ends of highly textured 167 decitex polyester yarn, as
drawn in blue lines. The second feeder was used for inlaying metal wire along
with three ends of the same polyester, as shown by the magenta lines. It was
difficult to pack the sensing element in every course of fabric without it shorting
to itself. Therefore, a few courses of spacer yarn were introduced to keep the
sensing element separated in between courses. After much experimental manipu-
lation of the spacer, knit and inlay densities, the highest element concentration
that was successfully achieved was of 46 wire inlays in an 8  8 cm2 knitted TSF
structure (&3.8 m length of element) as shown in Figure 5. The structure had to
be constantly varied to achieve such a high density whilst avoiding the shorting of
adjacent wires and minimising the protrusion of wire along the edges. For ease of
understanding, the concept of the TSF structure may be represented in a simpli-
fied form by reducing the number of knitting and spacer courses as shown
in Figure 6.
The TSF sample comprised 39 wales; 33 for the inlay area and six for the edges.
Since it is a double layer structure, 39 needles on the front needle bed and 39 nee-
dles on the lower needle bed were utilised. The non-sensing part of the
TSF comprised full cardigan stitch (top and bottom) to minimise relaxation of
the fabric. Samples developed with various types and thicknesses of metal wire
(as mentioned in Table 2) provided a useful range of nominal resistances from
3 to 130
.
The wires purchased from the various manufacturers were on small spools due
to the shortness of the length. It was not prudent to use these small spools directly
on the knitting machine because of two problems. Firstly, excessive wire breakage
occurred due to interaction with the flanges of the spool while withdrawing the wire
strand. Secondly, it was difficult to maintain constant tension in the wire. In order
to address these issues, the metal wire was wound manually on a hank winder from
small spools as shown in Figure 7.
Care was exercised while winding on the hank winder in order to maintain
constant tension in the wire. The hank winder was fastened to a stand and
placed at the top of the machine.
Smooth withdrawal and constant tension in the feed material is a prime require-
ment for inlaying. In the initial phase of manufacturing, frequent breakages of the
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Figure 3. Needle notation of temperature sensing fabric designed in Shima Seiki Knit Paint.

wire were experienced. Occasionally, extensive tension in the wire and interference
between the needles and the slack wire caused issues. Reduced tension in the wire
was also responsible for excessive bending at the fabric edges which resulted in wire
protruding from the edges and sometimes from the main body of the knitted
sample.
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Husain et al. 11

Figure 4. Shima Seiki computerised flat-bed knitting machine.

Figure 5. TSF sample of 8  8 cm2 sensing area along with a magnified view of the knit
structure.
TSF: temperature sensing fabric.

In order to rectify this issue a number of remedial actions were implemented:

. The wire feed was moved to the side from the top of the machine; this reduced
the angular path, resulting in more uniform tension and smoother feeding.
. A negative let off mechanism was developed at the hank winder, comprising
tension plates and a spring system, to minimise discontinuities in the feed and to
ensure even tension in the wire before, after and during inlaying.
. Extra polyester yarn was used as an inlay along with the metal wire to increase
the strength of the inlay.
. A special feeder (see Figure 8) was used to inlay the metal wire, as the ordinary
feeder did not meet the fundamental requirements of straight laying-in and
smooth bending of wire at the edges of the TSF. This special feeder was tubular
and was set at a lower height than the machine bed so that during the knitting
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Figure 6. A schematic representation of temperature sensing fabric course notation.

Figure 7. Wire transfer from small spool to hank winder.

Figure 8. Special feeder for wire inlay.

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Husain et al. 13

cycle, the needles go over the wire without causing breakages. This inlay feeder
must not be used for knitting as it would crash into the needles because of its
lower adjusted height. The stitch presser was not used due to the risk of it
interfering with the inlay wire.
. The special feeder responsible for metal inlaying was programmed to run at an
extremely slow speed of 0.05 ms1.

Results and discussion

Processability of metallic wire during TSF manufacture
Table 3 presents an overview of the processability of metallic wire during the TSF
manufacture, in terms of wire breakage, manual handling and the quality of inlay-
ing. ‘Wire breakages means the average number (or percentage) of machine stop-
pages because of wire breakage during knitting. Manual handling of the wire
includes all manual processes prior to and during manufacture and preparation
of samples for testing. The quality of inlaying was considered good if the metal wire
was smoothly embedded exactly in the middle of the double layer structure without
any projection from the surface or at the edges.
It was observed that the frequent wire breakages were related to excessive ten-
sion whilst poor quality of inlaying was related to slackness in the wire. For smooth
bending of the wire at the edges, and a straight configuration of inlay, relatively
high tensions were found to be preferable; considering that the wire was able to
sustain them. That is the reason that coarser wires (over 100 mm) such as BEC150,
EC150, C150, NC127 and NC125 showed better overall processability than their
finer counterparts.
Among the medium diameter wires, i.e. N100, N90 and W80, nickel wires
demonstrated smooth bending at the edges (because of its high ductility) but
slightly more breakages (because of its low tensile strength) in comparison with
tungsten wire. The tungsten wire is inherently strong and brittle in nature; there-
fore, inlaying of W80 suffered fewer breakages but displayed the poor behaviour in
respect of bending at the edges.
The fine diameter wires such as BEN61 and W50 showed contrasting behaviour.
Although the metallic core diameter of the BEN61 wire is 61 mm, due to its
increased tensile strength resulting from the addition of the enamel and the braid-
ing layers, the wire showed good processability during manufacture. The 50 mm
tungsten wire suffered the highest number of breakages and was found to be rela-
tively difficult to handle and to set into the feeder, as it gathered whenever any
breakage occurred. In some of the samples, wire protruded from the surface of the
edges, as shown in Figure 9.
RTDs are commonly specified with their nominal resistance which is usually
100
at 0 C. In order to achieve 100
a very fine and relatively short sensing
element (<25 mm in diameter) is employed in the RTDs. Similarly, it was desirable
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Table 3. Metallic wire processability during temperature sensing fabric manufacture.

Wire Quality of Manual Process-ability

Metallic Wire breakage inlaying handling (overall)

BEC150 0% Good Easy Good

EC150 0% Good Easy Good
C150 0% Good Easy Good
NC127 0% Good Easy Good
NC125 0% Good Easy Good
BEN61 10% Good Easy Good
W80 10% Poor Medium Poor
N100 20% Medium Medium Moderate
N90 20% Medium Medium Moderate
W50 50% Poor Difficult Poor

Figure 9. A W50 temperature sensing fabric sample showing Tungsten wire protruding near the
edges.

to produce TSF samples with high nominal resistance, which can be achieved by
employing very fine metallic wires. However, the results of the TSF manufacturing
demonstrated that it would be difficult to process the finer wires in the knitting
machine. This problem was solved by replacing a bare sensing element with a
braided–enamelled sensing element. The textile wrapping around the wire
improved not only the textile character of the sensing element but also its tensile
strength. Insulation would help in protecting the sensing element from external
influences such as moisture and corrosion.

TSF structure
All TSF samples were made of polyester as a base material with 46 inlays of sensing
element. The TSF structure was finalised following numerous development cycles,
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in order to meet the fundamental requirement of smooth embedding of sensing

wire in the middle of fabric, without electrical short circuits. The developed TSF
structures may not be the fully optimised one but the structures do meet the basic
requirements of the research.
Highly textured polyester yarn was employed as the base material of the TSF.
Polyester was preferred over cotton because of its extremely low moisture regain
and high tensile strength. The low absorbency and good wicking properties of
polyester fabrics assist the transfer of moisture from the skin to the outer surface
of a garment where it evaporates. Moreover, the textured characteristics of the yarn
increased the fabric bulkiness and provided better cover of the sensing element.

Modified temperature–resistance relationship

A modified temperature–resistance relationship for the TSF in terms of its dimen-
sional parameters could be used to optimise the dimensions of a TSF patch for a
required reference resistance. That will facilitate the specification and visualisation
of the sensor characteristics. For example, the nominal resistance of an 8  8 cm2
TSF could be calculated. Similarly, the area of TSF could be predicted that would
be required in order to make a 100
sensor. The derived relationship in equa-
tion (2) between the length of sensing element and the dimensions of the TSF is
only valid for rectangular sensing areas.

Manufacturing variation
The variations among the TSF samples may (manufacturing uncertainty) be rep-
resented in terms of their nominal resistance, however, for ease of understanding
and to simplify comparison, the nominal resistance was converted into a calculated
length of sensing element. The length of the sensing element ðlcal Þ in each sample
was calculated using equation (1):

d2 R20
lcal ¼ ð6Þ
420

where R20. stands for the experimental reference resistance of TSF at 20 C.
The calculated length of sensing element was also compared with the target
length ðltar Þ of sensing element as defined in equation (2):

ltar ¼ ðWs Ls Dc Þ þ Ls ð7Þ

After inserting the 8  8 cm2 dimensions and 46 inlays into equation (7), the
target length of the TSF samples was calculated to be 3.8 m.
Figure 10 presents the uncertainty amongst various sample types in terms of the
calculated length of inlaid sensing element. Variations within the sample type are
expressed by error bars of standard uncertainty. It is evident from Figure 10 that
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Figure 10. TSF manufacturing variations in terms of length of sensing element.

TSF: temperature sensing fabric.

length variations exist not only amongst the various sample types but also within
examples of the same sample type. It can, nonetheless, be seen that the mean of the
calculated length is found to be relatively close to the target length. In all the TSF
samples, the 95% confidence deviation of the calculated length from its mean was
found to be less than 4 cm; which is not substantial considering the tolerance of
the manufacturing process of the TSF samples. However, 4 cm variations in the
length of the sensing element will shift the reference resistance of a particular TSF
sample. This means the TSF samples may not be used as interchangeable sensors;
or, the calibration equation for one sample may not be applied to another sample.
In other words, each individual sample should be calibrated before using it in an
application environment.

R–T testing
In order to calibrate the TSF samples, a laboratory oven with temperature homo-
geneity of 1 C was employed to create a steady thermal environment at the
temperature points of 30 C, 40 C, 50 C and 60 C. An Agilent multimeter with a
four wire resistance measurement setup was used to measure resistance at steady
temperature points. The reference resistance (R20) of the samples was measured at a
room temperature of 20 C using the same Agilent multimeter.
Experimental R–T curves of all the TSF samples show a linear relationship. One
such relationship belonging to sample N100 is shown in Figure 11. The R–T data
from all the samples have been curve-fitted with straight line equations. Variance
between the data points and the fitted line has been calculated with a coefficient of
determination (r2-value). The r2-values of all the experimental repeats of TSF sam-
ples were found to be in the range from 0.99 to 0.999.
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Figure 11. Temperature–resistance relationship of a TSF sample (N100).

TSF: temperature sensing fabric.

Figure 12. Resistance ratio curves of TSF samples in the temperature range of 20–50 C.
TSF: temperature sensing fabric.

Figure 12 presents the resistance-ratio curves of all the samples. The resistance
ratio was calculated by dividing the fitted resistance ðRT ) at temperature (T) by its
reference resistance (R20) at a base temperature of 20 C. Defining the TSF tem-
perature in terms of resistance ratio instead of resistance has several advantages.
TSF samples comprising the same kind of sensing element but with different dimen-
sions and inlay densities could be more easily compared in this way by normalising
their resistance values with respect to their reference resistance [28].
All the samples with the same kind of sensing element wire followed the same
trend with insignificant sample-to-sample variations as shown in Figure 12.
As expected, nickel-based TSF samples exhibited higher values of resistance ratio
in comparison with the copper- and tungsten-based TSF samples.
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Due to the higher nickel sensitivity, within the category of copper-based TSF
samples, the nickel-coated copper-based TSF samples showed marginally higher
resistance ratios in comparison with the pure copper-based TSF samples.

Conclusions
This paper presents the concept of TSF (a textile-based RTD) and the manufactur-
ing techniques required to produce it on a standard industrial computerised flat-
bed knitting machine. The TSF samples were produced with nominal resistances
ranging from 3 to 130
by using copper, nickel and tungsten wires of different
diameter. Coarser sensing wires showed better overall processability in comparison
to their finer counterparts. However, the coarser wires significantly reduced the
overall sensitivity of the TSF. This problem was solved by replacing a bare wire
with a braided, enamelled wire. The textile wrapping around the wire improved not
only the textile character of the sensing element but also its tensile strength.
A modified mathematical relationship between the temperature and resistance of
a TSF was derived. This relationship can be used, to design sensing fabric with
optimised dimensions, in order to achieve a targeted reference resistance.
Manufacturing uncertainty (sample-to-sample variation) was found to be 4 cm
in terms of the length of the sensing element. The R–T curves showed a linear trend
with a coefficient of determination in the range of 0.99–0.999. The resistance ratio
curves described the insignificant sample-to-sample variations. The TSF can be
integrated into garments for continuous measurement of human body temperature
in non-clinical settings, e.g. sports, military, general healthcare, firefighting situ-
ations and studies related to biorhythms and assessment of thermal strain in
extreme environments.

Funding
The authors would like to acknowledge the funding provided by the NED University of
Engineering & Technology, Pakistan through the Higher Education Commission of
Pakistan, to carry out this study.

Conflict of interest
None declared.

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