Veleria Andrea Mura

Aramid.
A manufactured polyamide fiber that exhibits high strength and high modulus. Commercially known as Kevlar®, Technora®, Twaron® ect.

Bias.
The 45° direction to the warp or fill. Also called diagonal.

Calender or calendering.
A finishing step where the cloth is subject to heat and pressure to improve bias stability.

Count.
Number of yarns in fill or warp direction. Usually expressed in yarns per inch or cm.

Creep.
The property of fibers to gradually stretch under a constant load.

Crimp.
Woven yarns bend up and down as they pass over and under one another. Chrimped yarns are shortened due to this bending and tend to exhibit more stretch.

Dacron.
DuPont’s trade name for polyester fiber.

Denier.
A system for coding filament yarns and fibers, with low numbers representing finer sizes and higher numbers representing heavier yarns. Denier represents the weight in grams of 9000 meters of a fiber.

Diolen.
Akso Nobel trade name for polyester fiber.

Dyneema.
A high modulus polyethylene fiber similar to Spectra.

DPI.
Denier Per Inch.

Dtex.
Decitex. The weight in grams of 10.000 meters of a given yarn.

Elongation.
The difference between the length of a stretched sample and its initial length; expressed in 1/100ths of an inch.

Ends.
Used for expressing the amount of warp yarns in a fabric.

Fiber.
Strand of material used to spin into a yarn.

Fill.
The 90° direction to the edge of the cloth. Also the name of yarn running from one edge to the other.

Film.
Most films used in sailcloth is polyester. Best known brand name are Mylar® and Tedlar®.

Finish.
A material or process applied to a fabric to alter its characteristics. In sailcloth a finish can be applied by coating, saturating (impregnating) or laminating.

Flex resistance.
The cloths ability to resist flex. Normally measured in terms of remaining tensile strength after a 50 to 60 cycle flex.

Flutter Test.
A laboratory test designed to simulate a sail luffing when not being trimmed. This test determines the fabrics ability to resist degradation.

Foot.
1 Foot = 12 inches = 30,48 cm.

Gsm.
Weight in grams of a square meter of cloth.

Hand.
The feel of a fabric. Not a scientific measurement.

Impact flutter.
Where the test strip hits a board when flutter tested.

Inch.
1″ (Inch) = 2.54 cm.

Laminate.
A layered fabric made by bonding scrims and/or taffetas to one or two plies of film.

Lab Test.
A stretch test done by elongating the fabric at various loads before fluttering.

Lot.
One unit of production of one style.

Knit.
A type of fabric construction where fill and warp yarns are not woven together but are tied together with a small polyester knit yarn. Knits tend to have less crimp.

Mil.
1 mil=1/1000 inch.

Modulus.
The measure of stretch or elasticity of a fabric. The number associated with modulus is the amount of load in grams it takes to initiate stretch in a 1000 denier yarn, a higher number reflects lower stretch.

PBO.
An extremely high modulus fiber by Toyobo.

Peel strength.
A measure of the force required to separate or peel apart two layers in a laminate.Usually expressed as a force per width (being peeled).

Pentex.
Modified polyester produced by Allied Corp. with approximately 2.5 times the stretch resistance of standard polyester or Dacron.

Polyester.
A strong, reliable and inexpensive fiber ideal for cruising and low-tech racing laminates and woven sailcloth.

Pick.
A yarn running in the fill direction.

Primary yarn direction.
The orientation (warp or fill) in which a fabric is the most stretch resistant.

Ripstop.
Integrally woven pattern of heavier yarns within a fabric to restrict tear and crazing.

Sailamkers (SM. OZ.) Weight.
Weight of a 36″ x 28.5″ sample.

Scouring.
The cleaning process of a fabric before further finishing.

Scrim.
Very light open-weave construction. Only usable with film or other fabrics.

Sley.
Number of warp yarns per inch in a fabric.

Sm-oz.
Sailmakers square yards. The weight in ounces for a piece of fabric 28.5″ by 36″.1Sm-oz=42.83 g/m2.

Specs.
The units of stretch the fabric stretches when loaded in the warp, fill and bias before and after flutter.

Spectra.
A highly modified polyethylene fiber developed by Allied Signal Corporation.

Strength.
The ability to resist breaking or permanent deformation during elongation.

Substrate.
Any non-film layer in a laminate.

Taffeta.
A light woven fabric used on laminates to add durability and abrasion resistance.

Tenacity.
The breaking strength of a yarn or fabric stated in force per unit of the cross-sectional area.

Tensile strength.
The level of stress where a fabric or yarn breaks under tension.

Threadline.
The direction of the yarns, warp and fill.

Twaron.
Family of aramid fibers made by Akso Nobel.

Unit.
One unit of stretch is 1/100 inch of elongation in a 16 inch sample. 1% elongation is 16 units.

Vectran.
Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP) fiber made by Hoechst Celanese.

Warp.
The 0° direction to the edge of the cloth.

Yard.
1 Yard = 3 Feet = 36 inches = 91,44 cm.

Yarn.
A bundle of individual filament drawn together to be used in a textile abric.