Examining the physical properties of technical textile in greenhouse cover applications

The gradual decrease in agricultural lands in Turkey, the high rate of population growth and the inadequacy of the yield per unit area in agricultural production make measures to increase agricultural productivity inevitable. In this context, ensuring interdisciplinary cooperation is of great importance in terms of developing sustainable solutions. Agricultural textiles cover all textile products intended for use in agriculture. The most common and extensive area of use of agricultural textiles is greenhouse cultivation. The main features sought in agricultural textiles are strength, elongation, hardness, and resistance to sunlight. Polypropylene fiber was used in the experimental study. In the study, 5 different fabrics with different constructions were produced using nonwoven, warp knitting and weaving technologies. Rubber, silicone and PLA coating processes were applied to each fabric produced. Each fabric produced was developed separately as uncoated, rubber coated, silicone coated and PLA coated, and 20 different greenhouse covers were developed and their physical properties were examined. Considering consumer expectations, the most important feature required for greenhouse covers, namely strength, was addressed. In this direction, tensile strength and bursting strength tests were conducted for each fabric and the test results were examined. In the study, the effect of fabric constructions and coating materials on the strength properties of greenhouse covers was investigated. According to the results, it was determined that woven fabric covers had better bursting and tensile strength performance.