Industrial Fabric

a fabric used for manufacturing parts of machines, structures, and various other technical articles. Industrial fabrics may be produced from virtually all types of textile fibers and threads. Certain nonindustrial fabrics, such as gauze, calico, and serge, may also be used for industrial purposes—in the manufacture of tracing cloth, gaskets, and covers. Industrial fabrics are usually subjected to more severe wear and tear than nonindustrial fabrics. Most are produced by the single or multiple interlacing of threads into cloth, as this technique results in the strongest link between the warp and weft. The most widely used industrial fabrics are cord fabrics, belting, conveyor belting, hose fabrics, press cloth, and filter cloth. In certain branches of industry, industrial fabrics are being replaced by synthetic films.

Rubberized cord fabrics are used for the carcasses of tires. The warp threads are made from viscose, polyamide, and polyester combination double-twist threads; cotton yarn is used as the weft. The warp density is significantly greater (up to 94 threads per 100 mm) than the weft density (up to 30 per 100 mm); the breaking load is between 150 and 250 newtons per thread. Fabrics made from cotton thread or monofilament are used for protecting tire sidewalls from being damaged by the edge of the wheel rim and for imparting rigidity and strength to the tires.

Belting is used for manufacturing conveyor and drive belts. Such fabrics have warps with significantly higher densities than the wefts.

Hose fabrics are used for equipment that transports substances under pressure or in a vacuum, such as fire hoses. They are manufactured from linen, cotton cloth, and combination and synthetic threads. Hose fabrics are used in the carcasses of hoses to provide strength and dimensional stability. They are manufactured on special circular or flat looms. The principal requirement for hose fabrics is equal breaking strengths and stretch for the warp and weft. The breaking load of these fabrics for the warp and the weft ranges from 1,250 to 5,000 newtons per 50 mm. Cord fabrics and other fabrics with equal warp and weft strengths may also be used for the manufacture of hoses.

Press cloth is used as a covering for the drying rollers on printing and textile machines, as press linings in vegetable-oil mills, and as a material for bookbinding. Such fabrics are manufactured mainly from wool (for industrial cloths) or cotton yarns. They have a high resistance to abrasion and a smooth surface, and they are graded according to their water permeability.

Filter cloth is used for removing solid particles from liquids, gases, and air in the chemical, coal, food, pulp and paper, and medical industries. These fabrics are usually manufactured from cotton, wool, flax, asbestos, or synthetic fibers. The breaking load of the fabrics must correspond to the pressure under which the liquid or gas is filtered and thus varies widely—from 3 to 15 kilonewtons per 50 mm. Filter cloth manufactured from synthetic fibers is now widely used. It has exceptional resistance to the action of chemical agents, such as alkalis, acids, and salts, and its breaking load exceeds those of natural fibers.

Industrial fabrics are also used for parachutes, the shells of inflatable structures, tents, flexible skirts on air-cushion vehicles, leather substitutes, and sieves.

Tekhnicheskie tkani i ikhprimenenie. Moscow, 1965.