DEFINITIONS 5

2 DEFINITIONS
C. Aldea, Saint-Gobain Technical Fabrics, Northborough, USA
T. Gries, A. Roye, ITA at RWTH Aachen University, Germany

ABSTRACT: This paragraph is intended to be a convenient reference for textile terminology and other
technical terms related to textile reinforced concrete used in the current document.

2.1 Textile materials

Most of the following definitions are used as listed in “Dictionary of fibre & textile
technology”, Hoechst Celanese. In brackets you find a translation into French / German.

Fabric (Fabric / Textile Struktur) - A manufactured planar textile structure made of fibres and/or
yarns assembled by various means such as weaving, knitting, tufting, felting, braiding, or bonding of
webs to give the structure sufficient strength and other properties required for its intended use.

Roving (Roving / Roving)

• In spun yarn production, an intermediate state between sliver and yarn. Roving is a condensed
sliver that has been drafted, twisted, doubled and redoubled. The product of the first roving
operation is sometimes called slubbing.

• The operation of producing roving.

• In the manufacture o composites, continuous strands of parallel filaments

Textile (Textile / Textil) - originally, a woven fabric; now applied generally to any one of the
following:

• staple fibres and filaments suitable for conversion to or use as yarns, or for the preparation of
woven, knit, or non-woven fabrics;

• yarns made from natural or manufactured fibres;

• fabrics and other manufactured products made from fibres as defined above and from yarns.

• garments and other articles fabricated from fibres, yarns, or fabrics, when the products retain the
characteristic flexibility and drape of the original fabrics.

Non-woven fabric (Textile non-tissè / Vlies)- an assembly of textile fibres held together by
mechanical interlocking in a random web or mat, by fusing of the fibres (in case of thermoplastic
fibres) or by bonding with a cementing medium. Initially the fibres may be oriented in one direction or
may be deposited in a random manner. This web or sheet is bonded together by one of the methods
before-mentioned. Normally, crimped fibres that range in length from 19 and 114 mm are used.

Scrim (Canevas / Träger)- a lightweight, open-weave, coarse fabric; fabric with open construction
used as base fabric in the production of coated or laminated fabrics.
6 STATE OF THE ART REPORT – TEXTILE REINFORCED CONCRETE

Yarn (Fil retordu / Garn) - A generic term for a continuous strand of textile fibres, filaments of
material in a form suitable for knitting, weaving or otherwise intertwining to a form of textile fabric.
Yarn occurs in the following forms:

• a number of fibres twisted together (spun yarn);

• a number of filaments laid together without a twist (zero twist yarn);

• a number of filaments laid together with a degree of twist;

• a single filament with or without a twist (a mono-filament);

• a narrow strip of material, such as paper, plastic film of metal foil, with or without twist, intended
for use in a textile construction.

Tow (Corde / Tow)- a large strand of continuous manufactured fibre filaments without definite twist,
collected in loose, rope-like form, usually held together by crimp. Tow is the form that most
manufactured fibre reaches before being cut into staple.

Twist (Angle de torsion / Drehungen) - the number of turns about its axis per unit of length of a yarn
or other textile strand. Twist is expressed as turns per inch, turns per meter, or turns per centimetre.
Direction of twist: S and Z.

Denier (Denier / Denier) - a weight-per-unit-length measure of any linear material. Officially it is the
number of unit weights of 0.05 grams per 450-meter length. This is numerically equal to the weight in
grams of 9000 meters of the material. Denier is a direct numbering system in which the lower numbers
represent the finer sizes and the higher numbers the coarser sizes. In the U.S. the denier system is used
for numbering filament yarns (except glass), manufactured fibre staple (but not spun yarns), and tow.
In most countries outside the U.S. the denier system has been replaced by the tex system.

Tex (Titre / Tex, Titer)- a unit for expressing linear density, equal to the weight in grams of 1
kilometre of yarn, filament, fibre or other textile strand.

Filament (Filament / Filament) - a fibre of an indefinite or extreme length such as found naturally in
silk. Manufactured fibres are extruded into filaments that are converted into filaments yarn, staple or
tow.

Fibre (Fibre / Faser) - a unit of matter, either natural or manufactured, that forms the basic element of
fabrics and other textile structures. A fibre is characterised by having a length at least 100 times its
diameter or width. The term refers to units that can be spun into a yarn or made into a fabric by
various methods including weaving, knitting, braiding, felting, and twisting. The essential
requirements for fibres to be spun into yarn include a length of at least 5 millimetres, flexibility,
cohesiveness, and sufficient strength. Other important properties include elasticity, fineness,
uniformity, durability and lustre.

Strand (Méche / Strand)

• A single fibre, filament, or mono-filament.

• An ordered assemblage of textile fibres having a high ratio of length to diameter and normally
used as a unit; includes slivers, roving, single yarns, plied yarns, cords, braids, ropes etc.

Greige (Ècru / Vorprodukt) - an unfinished fabric, just off the loom or knitting machine.
DEFINITIONS 7

Coating (Enduit / Beschichtung) (see also binder or finish) - an adhesive applied with a solvent, or a
softenable plastic melted to bond fibres together in a web or to bind one web to another. Organic
compounds applied to fabrics after weaving to protect the fibres and give the fabric stability.

Binder content (Taux d’enduit / Binderanteil) - the weight of adhesive used to bond the fibres of a
web together. Usually expressed as percent of fabric weight.

Sizing (Ensimage / Schlichte) - a generic term for organic compounds that are applied to warp yarn to
bond the fibre or filaments together and stiffen them to provide abrasion resistance during weaving.

Impregnation – (Impregnation / Imprägnierung) - the ingression of a liquid into a mesh fabric so that
the liquid occupies the majority of the air space between filaments of each strand of the mesh. The
liquid may remain a liquid or eventually become a solid phase through the process of evaporation,
polymerisation, phase-change by cooling or other means. Remarks:

• The definition implies that there are degrees of impregnation.

• Virtually complete impregnation implies that there is virtually no residual air in any strand. This is
analogous to the term “wet-out” in the FRP industry.

• Because the fabric is an open mesh, there is no requirement for the space between strands to be
filled for the definition to apply.

Warp (Chaîne / Kette) - the set of yarn in all woven fabrics that runs lengthwise and parallel to the
selvage and is interwoven with the filling.

Machine direction (Chaîne / Produktionsrichtung) - the long direction within the plane of the fabric,
i.e. the direction in which the fabric is being produced by the machine.

Weft / Filling (Trame / Schuss) - in a woven fabric the yarn running from selvage to selvage at right
angles to the warp. Each crosswise length is called a pick.

Cross direction (Trame / Querrichtung) - the width direction, within the plane of the fabric that is
perpendicular to the direction in which the fabric is being produced by he machine.

Laid scrim (Produit turibiné / Gelege) - a structure produced using a set of yarns positioned at
established angles (0 to 90º, e.g. cross direction over machine direction), then a chemical bond of the
layers follows.

Weaving (Tissage / Weben) - the method or process of interlacing two or more yarns of similar
materials so that they cross each other at constant angles to produce woven fabric. The warp yarns, or
ends, run lengthwise in the fabric, and the filling threads (weft) or picks, run from side to side.

Woven fabric (Produit, Tissu tissé / Gewebe) - generally used to refer to fabric composed of two sets
of yarns, warp and filling, that is formed by weaving, which is the interlacing of these sets of yarns.
However, there are woven fabrics in which three sets of yarn are used to give a triaxial weave. In two
dimensional wovens, there may be two or more warps and fillings in the fabric, depending on the
complexity of the construction. The manner in which the two sets of yarns are interlaced determines
the weave. By using various combinations of the three basic weaves, plain, twill, and satin, it is
possible to produce an almost unlimited variety of constructions. Other effects may be obtained by
varying the type of yarns, filament or spun, and the fibre types, twist levels, etc.

• Plain weave (Armure toile, toile / Leinwandgewebe) - each filling yarn passes successively over
and under each warp yarn, alternating each row.
8 STATE OF THE ART REPORT – TEXTILE REINFORCED CONCRETE

• Satin weave (Armure satin / Atlasgewebe) - the face of the fabric consists almost completely of
warp or filling floats produced in the repeat of the weave. The points of intersection are distributed
as evenly and widely separated as possible. Satin-weave and a characteristic smooth, lustrous
surface and has a considerably greater number of yarns in the set of threads, either warp or filling,
that forms the face than in the other set.

• Twill weave (Arumure sergé / Körpergewebe) - diagonal lines are produced by a series of floats
staggered in the warp direction. The floats are normally formed by filling (filling-faced twill). A
warp-face twill is weave in which the warp yarns produce the diagonal effect.

• Leno weave (Armure gaze / Drehergewebe) - a weave in which the warp yarns are arranged in
pairs with one twisted around the other between picks of filling yarn as in marquisette. This type
of weave gives firmness and strength to an open-weave fabric and prevents slippage and
displacement of warp and filling yarns.

Knitting (Tricotage / Maschenbildung) - a method of constructing fabric by interlocking series of

loops of one or more yarns. The two major classes of knitting are warp knitting and weft knitting.

• Warp knitting (Tricotage à maille jetée / Kettengewirk) - a type of knitting in which the yarns
generally run lengthwise in the fabric. The yarns are prepared as warps on beams with one or more
yarns for each needle. Examples of this type of knitting are tricot, Milanese, and raschel knitting.

• Milanese knitting (Maille Milanaise / Mailandgewirk) - a type of run-resistant warp knitting with
a diagonal rib effect using several sets of yarns.

• Raschel knitting (Tricotage Raschel / Raschelgewirk) - a versatile type of warp knitting made in
plain and Jacquard patterns; the later can be made with intricate eyelet and lacy patterns. Raschel
fabrics are coarser than other warp-knit fabrics, but a wide range of fabrics can be made. Raschel
machines have one or two sets of latch needles and up to thirty sets of guides.

• Tricot knitting (Tricotage chaîne / Tricotgewirk) - a run-resistant type of warp knitting in which
either single or double sets of yarns are used.

• Weft knitting (Tricotage trame / Gestrick) - a common type of knitting, in which one continuous
thread runs crosswise in the fabric making all of the loops in one course. Weft knitting types are
circular and flat knitting.

• Circular knitting (Tricotage circulaire / Rundstricken, -wirken) - the fabric is produced on the
knitting machine in the form of a tube, the threads running continuously around the fabric.

• Flat knitting (Tricotage rectiligne / Flachstricken, -wirken) - the fabric is produced on the
knitting machine in flat form, the threads alternating back and forth across the fabric. The fabric
can be given shape in the knitting process by increasing or decreasing loops. Full-fashioned
garments are made on a flat-knitting machine.

Knit fabric (Tricot, tissu tricoté / Gestrick, Gewirk) - a structure produced by interloping one or more
ends of yarn or comparable material.

Braiding (Tressage / Geflecht) - the intertwining of three or more strands to make a cord. The strands
form a regular diagonal pattern down the length of the cord.

Braid (Tresse / Geflecht): a narrow textile band, often used as trimming or binding, formed by plaiting
several strands of yarn. The fabric is formed by interlacing the yarns diagonally to the production axis
of the material.
DEFINITIONS 9

• Biaxial braid - braided structure with two yarn systems one running in one direction and the other
in the opposite direction.

• Triaxial braid - a braided structure with axial yarns running in the longitudinal direction.

Braided fabric (Tissu tressé / Geflecht): a narrow fabric made by crossing a number of strands
diagonally so that each strand passes alternatively over or under one or more of the other strands.

Spacer fabric (Tissu tressé / Abstandstextil) is a special type of 3D-textiles with a 3-dimensional yarn
architecture and a three-dimensional textile architecture. Spacer fabrics can be made by weaving
processes (woven spacer fabrics) or by double needle bar warp knitting processes (warp knitted spacer
fabric). For use in concrete applications, especially the warp knitted spacer fabrics are of major
importance, as straigth multifilament yarns can be implemented in the textile.

3D-textile (Textile tri-dimensionnel / 3D-Textil) is a textile that has three directions in yarn
architecture and/or textile architecture, regardless of whether it is made in a one-step-process or
multiple-step-process [Roy2005].

• Yarn architecture: arrangement of yarns in the level of textile. Yarn architecture is defined as
three-dimensional, if three or more systems of yarns or main yarn orientations create the textile, by
allowing a right-angled system of co-ordinates to fit into the orientations that way, that one co-
ordination axis is at a right angle to each of the yarn orientations [Bue1993].

• Textile architecture: Geometry of the textile. Textile architecture is defined as three-dimensional,

if a volume is formed and/or embraced by the textile, regardless of the number of yarn systems
and the so created yarn architecture.

• One-step-process: Production of near-net-shape textile products in a single production process

(e.g. 3D-warp knitting, 3D-braiding etc.)

• Multiple-step-process: Production of near-net-shape textile products in several production

processes (e.g. Warp knitting and Transforming or Weaving and Sewing etc.)

• Near-net-shape: textile architecture, which has a profile similar to the final products profile. This
term is used mostly in the field of fibre reinforced materials, such as FRP or textile reinforced
concrete.

2.2 Matrix
The matrices used for TRC have to meet special demands regarding production process,
mechanical properties of the composite and durability of the reinforcement material. In most cases
small maximum grain sizes (< 2 mm) are used and hence these matrix systems can be considered as
mortar. On the other hand these matrices offer high performance properties in many respects and are
used for a construction composite material, such that these matrix systems are also called fine grained
concrete (or fine concrete).

REFERENCES

[Roy2005] Roye, A., Stüve, J., Gries, T., Definition for the differentation of 2D- and 3D- textiles –
Part 1: production in one-step-processes, Technical Textiles 48 (2005), No. 3, pp. 15-18.
[Bue1993] Buesgen, W. A., Neue Verfahren zur Herstellung von dreidimensionalen Textilien für den
Einsatz in Faserverbundwerkstoffen. (New production techniques for textiles used in fibre
composties.) Aachen, Techn. Hochsch., Diss., 1993.