Specialty Fibers, Fabrics and Textiles

Specialty fibers, fabrics and textiles are based upon a unique composition, weave, or technology, and are designed for specialized applications. There are many different types of products. Specialty fibers are bulk, chopped fibers or thin, continuous filaments that are supplied as monofilaments, multi-filaments, threads, or strands. Specialty fabrics include sleeves and wraps, blankets and batts, knitted products, and braided structures. Sleeves and wraps are flexible, fibrous refractory fabrics for insulating pipes, tubes, ducts and other process components. Knitted products consist of continuous fibers that are processed into a knitted structure with either two or three dimensions. Braided structures are used for tubular composite structures, thermal insulation, and in other applications. Blankets or batts are specialty fabrics that are made of thick layers of fabric sheets. Specialty textiles include a variety of woven and non-woven products. Non-woven materials can be shaped into mats of randomly-oriented fibers, felt, needlepunched cloth, spun bound, or meltblown structures. Wet-laid and air-laid non-wovens are made from short-cut fibers and used to create highly uniform structures. Carded and needlepunched non-wovens offer very high loft (low density) at very low cost. Specialty fibers, fabrics, and textiles such as roving, yarn, rope, cordage, webbing, ribbons, strapping, and tape are also commonly available.

Specialty fibers, fabrics and textiles are made of many different natural and synthetic materials. Natural specialty fibers are often made from plants such as cotton, hemp, jute, or flax. Linen, leather, silk, and wool textiles are also available. Synthetic specialty fabrics contain petroleum-based polymers and fibers. Mineral wool is a category of industrial fabrics that includes slag wool, rock wool, and glass wool. E-glass is a relatively inexpensive glass fiber that combines strength with high electrical resistivity. S-glass^®, a registered trademark of Owens Corning, is stronger than E-glass and has better properties at elevated temperatures. Ceramic specialty textiles are made from alumina or zirconia fibers and are designed for high-temperature applications. Boron, quartz, silica, and silicon carbide (SiC) products are also available. Metallic fibers have a shiny surface, high melting point, high hardness, and high thermal and electrical conductivity. Material type choices for specialty fibers, fabrics and textiles include: acetate and triacetate, acrylic and modacrylic, aramid and polyimide, elastomeric, fluropolymer, nylon and polyamide, olefin and polyolefin, polybenzimidazole (PBI) and poly-p-phenylenebenzobisoxazole (PBO), polypropylene, polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), rayon, styrene acrylonitrile (SAN), polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

Selecting specialty fibers, fabrics and textiles requires an analysis of dimensions, properties, structural features, and applications. Overall thickness, overall width, overall weight, and fabric weight are important dimensions to consider. Properties for specialty fibers, specialty fabrics and specialty textiles fabrics include: use temperature, breaking strength or maximum load, thermal conductivity, and electrical resistivity. In terms of structural features, some specialty fibers, fabrics and textiles are chemical or fuel resistant, electrically conductive, electrically insulating, flame retardant, hydrophilic, absorbent, or suitable for sound-proofing. Other products are hydrophobic, waterproof, fireproof, or thermally insulating. Plastic fibers and elastomeric fibers provide resistance to ultraviolet (UV) light or sunlight. Specialty fibers, specialty fabrics and specialty textiles are used in a variety of industries and applications, including: aerospace, apparel or clothing, architecture and construction, automotive and transportation, chemical processing, electrical, electronic, filtration, marine, and medical. Some products can also be used to control electrostatic discharge (ESD) and provide shielding from electromagnetic interference (EMI) and radio frequency interference (RFI).

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