ABSTRACT
This chapter includes major properties of textile fibers that have important industrial textile usage. There are many synthetic fibers of the same generic class, manufactured by different companies. The chapter discusses the significance of fiber properties as they influence the performance characteristics of yarns and fabrics. Refractive indices are useful for identifying fibers and, in research, indicating the nature of molecular order in experimental fibers. Textile fibers and other high polymers such as rubbers, elastomers, films, and plastics which exhibit varying “stress-strain” properties are stated to be "viscoelastic." The ratio of stress to strain is called the "modulus" of a material. Since engineering stress is given in pounds per square inch, modulus units for engineering materials normally are reported as psi per unit strain, or simply psi. Carbon, Spectra olefin, and Kevlar aramid fibers have moduli far above the range of other textile fibers. High modulus fibers have low loop strength efficiencies and weak, extensible fibers have higher efficiencies.
