Standardization News

A proposed ASTM International standard will support continued growth of the smart-textiles industry by outlining common terms that can be used as the textiles and electronics industries converge and new products are introduced into the market.

The proposed standard, created by ASTM International’s committee on textiles (D13), will include definitions that help differentiate various products and components. According to members of the committee, the standard will help buyers – both businesses and consumers – better understand what smart-textiles products they are purchasing.

“Creating this standard is the first step toward developing future test methods that will support quality and innovation in smart textiles and intelligent textile systems,” adds ASTM International Carole Winterhalter, a textile technologist at the U.S. Natick Research, Development, and Engineering Center in Massachusetts.

Winterhalter says that the standard will be useful to the entire smart-textiles community, including developers, suppliers, laboratories, retailers, and consumers. In addition, she notes that this terminology standard will serve as a foundation for future standards that objectively measure performance of traditional textile products (such as clothing) that also function as high-tech products.

The committee is looking for people interested in helping create these new terms. The standard is expected to evolve continuously to keep pace with innovation. The title of the proposed standard is New Terminology for Smart Textiles and Related Terminology (WK58009).

ASTM welcomes participation in the development of its standards. Become a member here. The next meeting of committee on textiles is January 21-28, 2018, at the Sheraton New Orleans in Louisiana, USA.