Glossary of terms used on this site
There are 54 entries in this glossary.C
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Carbon Fiber |
The carbon fibre is easy to work and provides exceptional strength. It does have the drawback that it's expensive, an order of magnitude more than glass fibre, especially the lighter weaves; it's also very brittle and snaps suddenly with little bending beforehand. It's lighter than glass too coming in at ~1.8g/cm³. Areal weights are generally 100-200 gsm although I see that woven carbon is now available in Germany at 60 gsm - whether this is a result of a loose weave or some lighter variant of carbon fibre itself I do not know. Certainly, it's a useful addition to the range of cloths available for tailplanes, HLG's and the like. |
| Cellulose |
A material derived from the cell walls of certain plants. Cellulose is used in the production of many vegetable fibers, as well as being the major raw material component used in the production of the manufactured fibers of acetate, rayon, and triacetate. |
| Composite fabric |
An engineered fabric made from two or more components. One component is often a strong fiber such as fiberglass, Kevlar®, or carbon fiber that gives the material its tensile strength, while another component (often called a matrix) is often a resin, such as polyester or epoxy that binds the fibers together. |
| Core-Spun yarns |
Consist of a filament base yarn, with an exterior wrapping of loose fiber which has not been twisted into a yarn. Polyester filament is often wrapped with a cotton outer layer in order to provide the strength and resiliency of polyester, along with the moisture-absorbent aesthetics and dye affinity of cotton. Sewing thread as well as household and apparel fabrics are made from these yarns. |
| Crimp |
1. The waviness of a fiber expressed as crimps per unit length. 2.The difference in distance between two points on an unstretched fiber and the same two points when the fiber is straightened under specified tension. Crimp is expressed as a percentage of the unstretched length. 3. The difference in distance between two points on a yarn as it lies in a fabric and the same two points when the yarn has been removed from the fabric and straightened under specific tensions, expressed as a percentage of the distance between the two points as the yarn lies in the fabric. |
