Definition
A textile fabric is a planar or three-dimensional structure produced from textile raw materials such as fibers, yarns, or threads, in which the extension in two dimensions — length and width — dominates over the thickness. It is formed by processes such as weaving, warp knitting, weft knitting, braiding, felting, or by bonding fibers into nonwovens. Textile fabrics are characterized by properties such as flexibility, porosity, tensile strength, and a definable areal weight (mass per unit area). Depending on the manufacturing process and the raw material used, different structures result, which determine the mechanical, thermal, and optical properties of the fabric.
Use in the textile industry
Textile fabrics are used in the apparel industry, in technical applications, and in the home textiles sector. Technical textile fabrics are used, for example, as filter media, geotextiles, medical draping materials, or as reinforcement layers in composite materials. Depending on the application, properties such as tensile strength, air permeability, basis weight, and dimensional stability play a decisive role.
Learn textile knowledge in context
You have just looked up a single technical term. In textil trainer, you learn how textile materials, processes, and contexts are connected.
The free learning platform teaches textile fundamentals step by step in interactive online courses. Each online course includes its own glossary with the most important terms of the respective topic. Across all courses, more than 600 textile terms with narrated explanations are available.
textil trainer is developed together with the Chair of Textile Technologies at Chemnitz University of Technology, chemmedia AG, and companies and educational institutions from the textile sector.