TXL371 –Theory of Textile Structures

Text Books
1. Structural Mechanics of Fibres, Yarns, and Fabrics by J W S Hearle,
P Grossberg and S Backer. Wiley Interscience, Inc, 1969
2. Theory of Structure and Mechanics of Yarns by Bohuslav Neckar
and Dipayan Das. Woodhead Publications, 2018
Evaluation Policy: (Theory of Yarn Structures)

 Tutorial Quiz 10
 Minor 15
 Major 25

 Total 50
Basic properties of single fibers
Fiber Geometry
Fiber length…l s p
Fiber cross-sectional area… s
.
Fiber volume… V, V  ls
Fiber perimeter… p
m
Fiber surface area… A V
l
Fiber mass… m A
m m 1m 1
Fiber density… ,      t
V ls s l s

Fiber fineness… t, t  s

Intuitively, fiber fineness is generally thought in terms of fiber geometry, that is,
fiber size or fiber thickness, etc.
Fibre Densities
Limitation of concept of ‘Fiber Fineness’
Compare the fineness of a polyester fiber of 2 104 mm2 cross-sectional area with
the fineness of a polypropylene fiber of 3 104 mm2 cross-sectional area.
3
Considering polyester fiber density is   1380 Kg m . Then, its fineness t is

ttex   kgm-3  smm2   1380  0.0002  0.2760

   

Considering polypropylene fiber density is   910 Kg m3 . Then, its fineness t

is
ttex    kgm-3  smm2   910  0.0003  0.2730
   

Thus, two different fibers having highly different cross-sectional area (50 %
difference) have almost the same fineness!
Does the traditional definition of fiber fineness truly express the fiber
geometry?
Fibre Fineness Values
Equivalent Fiber Diameter
Fiber cross-sectional area… s, s  t 
For circular fiber cross-section: s  d 2 4, where d is fiber diameter
Then, s

d 2 t 4t d
s  or, d 
4  
For non-circular fiber cross-section , let us consider that its cross-sectional area s
is equal to the cross-sectional area of a circle of diameter d. Then,

d 2 t 4t p d
s  or, d  ,
4  
s  s
where d is called as equivalent fiber diameter.
d
Fiber Perimeter, Surface Area and Shape

The perimeter of a fiber having non-circular cross-section is always higher than the
perimeter of a circle. Then, it is logical to introduce a quantity called fiber shape
factor q such as

p
q 1  0
d

Fiber perimeter: p  d 1  q 

Fiber surface area A, A  pl  d 1  q  l s

Fiber Specific Surface Area
d 2
Fiber mass m, m  V   l
4

A d 1  q  l 4 1  q 
Fiber specific surface area a  
m  d 4  l
2
d

d 1  q  l 4 1  q 
Fiber surface area per unit volume   2
  a
d d
 l
4 s

Note: The fiber surface area per unit volume is a geometrical variable and it is more
expressive than the fiber specific surface area.
 Fiber aspect ratio 

The numerical values of fiber aspect ratio are in the order of

thousands.

In this connection, let us here introduce one interesting example. If

we enlarge our model of staple fiber, we may get a pipe of 1 cm
diameter (such a pipe is frequently used for supplying gas in
chemical laboratories), and if we consider the aspect ratio of that
pipe same as that of the fiber, for example, = 2000 ; then the
length of that pipe will be around 20m .

We may recognize from this example that the application of

mechanical force at one end of a fiber may not affect the other end
of that fiber
Tensile stress

In engineering mechanics, the ratio of the applied force F to the cross-sectional area defines mechanical (or engineering)
stress . (In SI system, it is measured in the unit of 1N/m 2 =1 Pa .) In fiber/textile technology, it has become a tradition to use
the term specific stress s, which is expressed by the ratio of the applied force to the linear density of the fiber (or yarn).

The specific tensile stress is not a reasonable expression for fibers possessing different densities, because fiber fineness
depends on fiber density.
We consider a polyester fiber whose tenacity is = 0.43Ntex−1 and density is =1360kgm−3 . The calculated value of mechanical
(engineering) strength is = 585MPa . Similarly, for a cotton fiber with tenacity = 0.32Ntex-1 and density =1520kgm−3 , the
mechanical (engineering) strength is = 487MPa . If we compare the tenacities (N tex-1) of the fibers then we find that polyester
fiber exhibits 33% higher tenacity than cotton fiber. But, if we compare the mechanical (engineering) strength (MPa) of the fibers,
then we observe that polyester fiber offers only 20% higher specific (engineering) strength than cotton fiber. Here we may
remind that ordinary steel has mechanical (engineering) strength of = 500MPa .

This means that the mechanical (engineering) strengths of both fibers are almost comparable with that of ordinary steel.
Breaking length, R (RKM value)

Breaking length is defined by the length required to break the fiber under its own weight

Force acting on the fibre = Length x (Weight /length)