Fibers, Textile, and Cordage

Archaeological Chemistry, Second Edition By Zvi Goffer Copyright 2007 John Wiley Sons, Inc. 

The main constituent of all fibers of vegetable origin (see Table 88) is, almost exclusively, cellulose, a polymeric carbohydrate (see Textbox 53). Vegetable fibers are resistant to alkalies and to most organic acids but are destroyed by strong mineral acids. 

Vegetable Cotton, linen Fine fibers Cellulose, a polymeric carbohydrate 

Animal Hair, wooi Staple fibers Keratin, a protein 

Mineral Asbestos Fibers Fibrous mineral silicates 

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In the Philippines, the principal suppHer of abaca fiber, the fibrous layer ia the sheath is separated with a knife between the layers, and the strips of fiber-containing layers, called tuxies, are pulled off and cleaned by hand to remove the pulp. In Indonesia and Central America these operations are performed mechanically. Hand- and spiadle-stripped fiber is graded for braids, fine textiles, and cordage decorticated fiber is another class. A cross-sectional view is shown ia Figure 4a. The abaca fiber has a large lumen and the presence of siUcified plates is not unusual. 

Fiber production industries are ricultural and technical. Forestry and other agricultural industries produce large amounts of cellulosic fiber each year. Production of cellulosic fiber peaked at some 3 million metric tons in 1982, representing 21 percent of the fiber market share, but this heavy production has steadily declined since 1982. By 2002, ceUulosic fiber production had decreased to 6 percent of the world fiber-market share. Production in Eastern Europe dropped from 1.1 million metric tons to just 92,000 metric tons, and production in Asia increased by 660,000 metric tons over the same period, accounting for fuUy 69 percent of global production in 2002. Most of the cellulosic fiber that is produced by the forestry industry is used in the manufacture of paper and paper products, while the other cellulosic fiber types—cotton, hemp, sisal, and manila—are used primarily for fabrics, textiles, and cordage. 

Class III, Division "f Locations in which easily ignitible fibers are stored or handled (except in process of manufeicture) Storage of textile and cordage fibers Storage of excelsior. Kapok, or Spanish moss Electrical—Types EE, ES, EX, preferred EE Gasoline—Type GOOIEST Diesel—Type DS, DY LP[Pg.215]

Natural polymeric fibers are used for a variety of textile applications ranging from clothing to upholstery to sacks and cordage. Frequently, these are blended with synthetic fibers to obtain an optimum set of properties. Many naturally occurring fibers can be and are used in composites, but mostly in applications involving not very high stresses (Chawla, 1976 Chawla and Bastos, 1979 Roe and Ansell, 1985 Chand and Rohatgi, 1994)... 

Table 6. World Production of Cordage and Textile Fibers, 10 t...

Some of the plants readily release numerous fine, strong, and long fibers that could be spun into fine yams comparable to those observed in the prehistoric fabrics (21, 22). While coarser splits of wood could have been used in making baskets or cordage, the first focus of the CPFC was the fibers used in textiles that would show advanced fiber processing technology. 

Use Textile fabrics and suitings, often combined with wool and other fibers cordage fire hose. 

Humans have used all these natural fibers for textiles because of their wide availability, long fiber geometries, chemical stability, and favorable mechanical properties. The coarse texture and high mechanical properties of many bast and leaf fibers have been utilized in making common cordage fibers for rope, twine, and string [68]. 

Plied yams IVisted yams plied with reverse twist on standard textile ply fi ames. B to K fiber, up to /,g ply— many fiber and yardage variations. Starch. Weaving industrial fabrics and tapes in many different cloth styles also heavy cordage. 

Industries that consume finished fibers include weaving mills that produce febrics and textiles from all manner of fibers, including glass, basalt, and carbon. These fibers are then used accordingly, for clothing, composites, or other uses. Cordage manufecturers use finished fibers as an input feedstock to produce every type of cordage, from fine thread to coarse rope. 

The principal bast and leaf fibers are produced in yields of 2-5%, with some exceptions such as flax (15%) and kapok (17%), on a green plant basis. The world production of several cordage (leaf) and textile (bast) fibers is given in Table 6. 

Fibers, and often hlms, are oriented polymers. Because of the widespread use of fibers in all areas of human life (e.g., textiles, carpets, ropes, twine, cordage, furniture, curtains in the healthcare area, with synthetic arterial replacement and sutures fibers for tire reinforcement, protective fabrics, e.g., in ballistic protection), their thermal analysis is very important. A detailed description of the thermal analysis of fibers is given by Jaffe et al. (1997). Fiber and film preparation is also briefly described in the Section 5.5 of this book. 

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