Breaking Strength and Elongation Properties of Polyester
Woven Fabrics on the Basis of Filament Fineness
Hatice Kbra Kaynak, PhD1, Osman Babaarslan, PhD2
1
Gaziantep University, Textile Engineering Department, Gaziantep TURKEY
2
ukurova University, Textile Engineering Department, Adana TURKEY
Correspondence to:
Hatice Kubra Kaynak email: tuluce@gantep.edu.tr
ABSTRACT
Woven fabrics produced from microfilament yarns are
superior to conventional filament fabrics in rain
clothes, tents, parachutes, sails, wind-proof clothes,
sleeping bags, filters, and surgical gowns due to their
distinguishing properties such as good filtration,
barrier effect against weather conditions, and light
weight. Breaking strength and elongation are
important and decisive parameters for these end uses
since low strength properties shorten the useful life
time as well disable the functionality of these products.
In this study, breaking strength and elongation
properties of microfilament woven fabrics are
investigated in comparison to conventional filament
fabrics. Three different weave types are used as 1/1
Plain, 3/2 Twill, and 4/1 Satin. Four different weft setts
and five different filament finenesses are applied for
every weave type. In doing so, 60 woven fabric
samples are produced. Important influences of weft
sett and filament fineness are observed on weft
direction breaking strength. Analysis of variance
(ANOVA) results are used to interpret the
experimental data.
INTRODUCTION
Filament woven fabrics are used in many textiles such
as; casual wear, rain clothes, tents, parachutes, sails,
wind-proof clothes, sleeping bags, filters, and surgical
gowns. Fabrics produced from microfilaments are
superior to conventional filament fabrics due to
properties such as good filtration, an effective barrier
against weather conditions, and light weight. A
microfilament can be defined as a filament finer than
1 dtex or 1 denier [1-8]. In the literature, there are some
experimental studies which deal with the performance
properties of microfilament woven fabrics [9-19].
Strength properties are decisive parameters for
filament fabric end uses because low strength
properties shorten the useful life time as well disables
Journal of Engineered Fibers and Fabrics
Volume 10, Issue 4 2015
the functionality of these products. It must be
considered that strength properties of woven fabrics is
a complex phenomenon and can be affected by
different constructional parameters [20]. The desired
strength property of a woven fabric for a particular end
use can be obtained by applying the appropriate fabric
construction such as weave type and yarn sett. In
addition, by changing these parameters, a strength
property can be optimized and negative parameters can
be offset. Many researchers studied the strength
properties of polyester filament woven fabrics [12, 19,
21-26]. Apart from the previous studies, in this study
the breaking strength and elongation properties of
polyester filament woven fabrics are investigated on
the basis of filament fineness and weft sett. For this
aim, the effects of filament fineness on breaking
strength and elongation are investigated for different
weave types and different weft sett values. ANOVA
are conducted to determine the statistical importance
of weft sett and filament fineness on breaking strength
and elongation properties for three different weave
types.
MATERIALS AND METHOD
This study is focused on the effects of filament
fineness and weft sett on breaking strength and
elongation of 100% polyester filament woven fabrics.
Polyester microfilament textured yarns of 110 dtex
with 0.33, 0.57, and 0.76 dtex filament fineness and
conventional polyester textured yarns of 110 dtex with
Weft yarn filament fineness, dtex
0.33 0.57 0.76 1.14 3.05
Yarn tenacity, 4.2 4.0 3.7 3.8 3.8
cN/Tex
Yarn breaking 23 25 19 22 18
elongation, %
TABLE I. Strength and elongation properties of weft
yarns.
1.14 and 3.05 dtex filament fineness are chosen. These
55 http://www.jeffjournal.org
yarns are used only in the weft direction. For warp
yarns, 83 dtex polyester yarn with 1.14 dtex filament
fineness is used. Yarn tenacity and elongation of weft
yarns are determined according to ISO 2062: 2009 [27]
and given in Table I.
Three different weave types of 1/1 Plain, 3/2 Twill,
and 4/1 Satin are chosen for this study. For each weave
type, four different weft sett values are applied
considering the weaveability limitations. The highest
and the lowest weft sett values for the weave types are
determined by production trials. Warp sett is 77
warps/cm for plain weave samples and 85 warps/cm
for twill and satin weave samples. In doing so, 60
woven fabric samples are produced. To obtain
TABLE II. Structural features of fabrics.
:Plain, T:Twill, S:Satin
In this study, the breaking strength and elongation
properties of polyester filament woven fabrics are
determined. All fabric samples are conditioned
according to ISO 139 before testing and tests are
performed under standard conditions of 202C and
654% humidity [32]. Breaking strength and
elongation properties are determined according to ISO
13934-1 [33]. Design-Expert (8.0.7.1) statistical
software is used to interpret the experimental data. A
full factorial design with two replicates at each design
point is constructed for these statistical analyses. A full
factorial design is chosen in order to investigate the
effect of a factor at different levels of the other factor.
This provides higher confidence for the results. At the
same time, a full factorial design enables
determination of interactions between filament
fineness and weft sett for this study. ANOVA is
performed to determine the significant interactions
between filament fineness, weft sett, and breaking
strength and elongation for all weave types.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Breaking Strength
Filament fineness and weft sett are differentiated for
only the weft direction. The breaking strength results
are analyzed only for the weft direction. Weft direction
breaking strength results are given in Figures 1, 2, and
3 for plain, twill, and satin weave types, respectively.
Warp direction breaking strength results are given in
Table III.
Journal of Engineered Fibers and Fabrics
Volume 10, Issue 4 2015
dimensional stability, a thermal fixation process is
applied to samples at 195C with 25m/min process
speed before the desizing process. Structural
properties of sample fabrics after thermal fixation and
desizing processes are determined according to ISO
7211-2: 1984, ISO 7211-3: 1984, ISO 3801: 1977,
and ISO 5084: 1996 [28-31] and the results are given
in Table II.
FIGURE 1. Weft direction breaking strength of plain samples.
A consistent trend of having higher fabric breaking
strength values for finer filaments is obvious from
Figure 1 for all weft sett values. It is a known fact that
yarn strength is the foremost parameter on fabric
breaking strength. If the yarn strength values are
observed from Table I, it is seen that 0.33 dtex and 0.57
dtex filament yarns have higher yarn strength values
than that of other yarns. Therefore, the higher fabric
breaking strength values are estimated for these yarns.
On the other hand, 0.76 dtex, 1.14 dtex, and 3.05 dtex
yarns have the same yarn strength value whereas
higher fabric breaking strength values are obtained
with finer filaments. 0.76 dtex samples exhibit nearly
10% higher fabric breaking strength than 3.05 dtex
samples. As the filament fineness decreases, the
number of filaments in the yarn cross section
increases. Thus, the total specific surface area of
filaments in the yarn cross section increases as the
filaments get finer. In other words, the 0.76 dtex
sample has a higher total specific surface area than that
of the 1.14 dtex sample and the 1.14 dtex sample has
higher specific surface area than that of the 3.05 dtex
samples. This situation causes a higher cohesion force
for finer filaments in the fabric structure during
tensioning. Consequently, this provides a probable
56 http://www.jeffjournal.org
reason for higher breaking strength values of finer
filaments for different weft sett values. Besides, an
increase is observed by increased weft sett values for
all filament fineness types. This is a probable result of
a higher number of yarns and interlacings in a unit cell.
The phenomenon was observed in a former study done
on polyester filament woven fabrics [22].

FIGURE 3. Weft direction breaking strength of satin

samples.

It is seen from Figure 3 that, the higher breaking

FIGURE 2. Weft direction breaking strength of twill samples.
Figure 2 exhibits the breaking strength of twill weave
samples. Higher breaking strength values are seen for
finer filaments. Similarly as with plain weave samples,
a part of this increase is a result of a higher yarn
strength value of the 0.33 and 0.57 dtex filament yarns.
Nevertheless, for 0.76 dtex, 1.14 dtex, and 3.05 dtex
samples which have the same yarn strength value, the
higher fabric breaking strength values are seen for
finer filaments. There is nearly a 6% fabric breaking
strength difference between the 0.76 dtex and 3.05
dtex samples. Similarly as with plain samples, due to
increased total specific surface area of filaments in the
yarn cross section, a higher cohesion force for finer
filaments occurs in the fabric structure during
tensioning. Consequently, this provides a probable
reason for higher fabric breaking strength caused by
finer filaments in the yarn cross-section. On the other
hand, a regular increase is seen in weft direction
strength values are observed for samples with finer
filaments for all weft sett values. As seen for plain and
twill samples, the higher fabric breaking strength
values are observed for 0.33 dtex and 0.57 dtex
samples due to higher yarn strength. On the other hand,
for 0.76 dtex, 1.14 dtex, and 3.05 dtex filament
fineness values, the higher fabric breaking strength
values are observed for finer filaments which have
similar yarn breaking strength. 0.76 dtex samples
exhibit nearly 5% higher fabric breaking strength than
3.05 dtex samples. This is believed to be caused by a
higher total specific surface area and a higher cohesion
force for finer filaments in the fabric structure during
tensioning. Also, a considerable increase of fabric
breaking strength is determined with higher weft sett
due to a higher number of yarns and interlacings in the
unit cell.
TABLE III. Warp direction breaking strength (N).
Weft sett Filament fineness, dtex
(wefts/cm)
0,33 0,57 0,76 1,14 3,05
30 1171,8 1201,3 1231,1 1223,5 1165,9

breaking strength with higher weft sett values due to a 32 1211,9 1219,5 1217,1 1214,0 1192,0
higher number of yarns and interlacings in the unit cell
34 1220,7 1191,4 1203,2 1178,9 1171,8
as observed in a similar manner with plain samples.
36 1150,0 1199,1 1177,4 1186,3 1193,1

Weft sett Filament fineness, dtex

(wefts/cm)

0,33 0,57 0,76 1,14 3,05

41 1372,6 1363,2 1380,6 1357,6 1374,2

43 1362,5 1372,4 1370,4 1377,5 1368,4

45 1359,8 1363,1 1368,2 1360,2 1361,0

47 1321,5 1375,8 1341,6 1376,7 1365,6

Journal of Engineered Fibers and Fabrics 57 http://www.jeffjournal.org

Volume 10, Issue 4 2015
 Weft sett Filament fineness, dtex
(wefts/cm)

0,33 0,57 0,76 1,14 3,05

43 1357,4 1358,4 1376,2 1353,1 1325,9

45 1369,6 1355,0 1351,7 1359,6 1360,7

47 1366,0 1349,0 1369,5 1368,7 1374,5

49 1330,4 1377,5 1372,9 1333,0 1352,6

Warp direction breaking strength results are seen in

Table III. A consistent trend is not observed for warp
direction breaking strength due to the fact that filament
FIGURE 4. Weft direction breaking elongation of plain samples.
fineness and weft sett are differentiated for only weft
direction.
Figure 4 shows the weft direction breaking elongation
ANOVA results for breaking strength of samples are of plain weave samples. There is no regular effect of
given in Table IV. According to ANOVA results, filament fineness on fabric breaking elongation. In
factors which have a P value below 0.05 are addition, 0.33 dtex and 0.57 dtex filament yarns have
statistically significant on breaking strength with 95% higher yarn breaking elongation values whereas an
confidence. Otherwise, P values above 0.05 indicates increase in fabric breaking elongation has not been
an insignificant factor. determined for these samples. Besides, the warp
direction breaking elongation values are considerably
TABLE IV. P Values of ANOVA for breaking strength. higher than those of the weft direction. This is a
probable result of extremely high crimp values of warp
Weave Factors Weft Warp direction in plain weave samples. In general, as the
Type direction direction amount of original crimp increases, the extent of the
Plain Filament fineness < 0.0001 0.1582 crimp interchange region increases, thus increasing
Weft sett < 0.0001 0.0255
fabric elongation to failure [34]. On the other hand, a
Twill Filament fineness < 0.0001 0.2471
Weft sett < 0.0001 0.1721 minor decrease of breaking elongation is observed for
Satin Filament fineness < 0.0001 0.1899 increasing weft sett values.
Weft sett < 0.0001 0.4532

It is seen from Table IV that, in the weft direction, the

filament fineness and weft sett have a statistically
significant effect on breaking strength contrary to the
warp direction.

Breaking Elongation
Weft direction breaking elongation of plain, twill, and
satin weave samples are seen in Figures 4, 5, and 6,
respectively. Similarly as with breaking strength
results, breaking elongation values are illustrated only
for weft direction. Warp direction breaking elongation
values are also given in Table V. FIGURE 5. Weft direction breaking elongation of twill samples.
Breaking elongation of twill weave samples are seen
in Figure 5. A regular tendency of neither increase nor
decrease is observed due to filament fineness for twill
weave samples. On the other hand 0.33 dtex and 0.57
dtex samples which have higher yarn breaking
elongation values, do not exhibit higher fabric
breaking elongation values. In other words, the effect

Journal of Engineered Fibers and Fabrics 58 http://www.jeffjournal.org

Volume 10, Issue 4 2015
of yarn breaking elongation on fabric breaking
elongation is not observed for twill weave samples. Weave Factors Weft Warp
Besides, the weft sett has no effect on breaking Type Direction Direction
Plain Filament fineness 0.0688 0.0376
elongation, contrary to plain samples.
Weft sett 0.0468 0.5430
Twill Filament fineness 0.0012 0.0035
Weft sett 0.6803 0.3346
Satin Filament fineness 0.0006 0.4039
Weft sett 0.6528 0.1592

It is seen from Table VI that the effects of weft sett and

filament fineness on fabric breaking elongation is
generally found to be statistically insignificant.

CONCLUSION
For all weave types, filament fineness and weft sett
have a considerable effect on weft direction breaking
strength. Higher fabric breaking strength results are
observed for higher weft sett and finer filaments in
FIGURE 6. Weft direction breaking elongation of satin samples.
fabric structure. With respect to filament fineness, a
part of this effect originates from higher yarn strength
Breaking elongation of satin weave samples are seen values of 0.33 dtex and 0.57 dtex filament yarns.
in Figure 6. There is no obvious effect of weft sett and Nevertheless, the effect of filament fineness on weft
filament fineness on fabric breaking elongation. In direction breaking strength is observed for other levels
addition, the effect of yarn breaking elongation on of filament fineness (0.76 dtex, 1.14 dtex and 3.05
fabric breaking elongation is not observed, similar to dtex) which have the same yarn strength values. 0.76
plain and twill samples. dtex samples have 5-10% higher fabric breaking
strength values than those of 3.05 dtex samples for all
TABLE V. Warp direction breaking elongation (%).
samples. This is a probable result of a higher cohesion
force between filaments due to higher total specific
Weft sett Filament fineness, dtex
surface area of finer filaments in the yarn cross section.
(wefts/cm)
It is an important result to manage this increase in
0.33 0.57 0.76 1.14 3.05
fabric breaking strength with only changes in filament
30 40.0 36.6 36.6 37.0 40.5
fineness, keeping other parameters constant [35]. With
32 38.4 37.6 37.2 37.0 40.4
respect to statistical analysis, weft sett and filament
34 39.5 37.4 38.3 37.7 38.5
fineness have a significant effect on weft direction
36 38.8 39.9 37.9 39.0 39.4
breaking strength for all weave types. Besides, the
Weft sett Filament fineness, dtex
(wefts/cm) contribution of weft sett on breaking strength is higher
0.33 0.57 0.76 1.14 3.05 than that of filament fineness according to statistical
41 33.5 31.2 30.0 29.6 31.8 analyses.
43 33.1 32.0 29.7 30.2 31.6
45 34.0 30.1 29.2 29.4 32.6 The filament fineness and weft sett have no
47 36.9 32.7 29.7 30.7 31.9 considerable effect on fabric breaking elongation.
Weft sett Filament fineness, dtex Also, yarn breaking elongation does not have a
(wefts/cm) significant effect on fabric breaking elongation. There
0.33 0.57 0.76 1.14 3.05 is a considerable difference between weft and warp
43 28.9 28.7 30.4 28.3 30.2 direction breaking elongation values of plain weave
45 29.8 28.3 28.4 29.1 30.3 types due to extremely higher crimp values of warp
47 31.4 29.3 30.5 28.7 30.7 direction than weft direction in plain weave samples.
49 30.3 30.0 30.6 28.5 30.3
REFERENCES
ANOVA results for breaking elongation are given in [1] Leadbetter, P.; Dervan, S.; The microfiber step
Table VI. change, Journal of the Society of Dyers and
TABLE VI. P Values of ANOVA results for breaking elongation. Colourists, Vol.108, 1992, p.369371.

Journal of Engineered Fibers and Fabrics 59 http://www.jeffjournal.org

Volume 10, Issue 4 2015
[2] Bianchi, R.; Maglione, R.; Manufacturing of
fine denier filaments, Polyester: 50 Years of
Achievement, Tomorrow's Ideas and Profits.
England: Dewsbury, 1993.
[3] Purane, S.V.; Panigrahi, N.R.; Microfibers,
microfilaments and their applications,
AUTEX Research Journal, Vol.7, 2007, p.148-
158.
[4] Basu, A.; Microfibers: Properties, processing
and use, Asian Textile Journal, Vol.10, 2001,
p.43-52.
[5] Mukhopadhyay, S.; Microfibers
An Overview, Indian Journal of
Fibre and Textile Research, Vol.27, 2002, p.307-
314.
[6] Falkai, B.V.; Production and properties of
microfibers and microfilaments, The Indian
Textile Journal, Vol.2, 1991, p.62-70.
[7] Rupp, J.; Yonenaga, A.; Microfibers-The new
manmade fiber image, International Textile
Bulletin, Vol.4, 2000, p.12-24.
[8] Kaynak, H.K.; Babaarslan, O.; Polyester
microfilament woven fabrics, Woven
Fabrics, Croatia, 2012, p.155-178.
[9] Kaynak, H.K.; Babaarslan, O.; Effects of
microfilament fineness on woven fabric
properties, Electronic Journal of Textile
Technology,Vol.3, 2011, p.30-39.
[10] Babaarslan, O.; Kaynak, H.K.; A study on air
permeability of windproof
polyester microfilament fabrics, ICONTEX
2011-
International Congress of Innovative Textiles,
Turkey, 2011.
[11] Babaarslan, O.; Kaynak, H.K.; Air permeability
of windproof polyester microfilament fabrics at
different pressure drop values, The Fiber
Society 2012 Spring Conference Fiber Research
for Tomorrows Applications, Switzerland,
2012.
[12] Al-ansary, M.A.R.; The Influence of number of
filaments on physical and mechanical
characteristics of polyester woven fabrics, Life
Science Journal,Vol.9, 2012, p.79-83.
[13] Schacher, L.; Adolphe, D.C.; Drean, J.Y.;
Comparison between thermal insulation and
thermal properties of classical and microfibres
polyester fabrics, International Journal of
Clothing Science and Technology, Vol.12, 2000,
p.84-95.
[14] Islam, M.N.; Lappan, U.; Simon, F.; Voit, B.;
Hydrophobic modification of PET
microfilament fabric by low pressure plasma
Journal of Engineered Fibers and Fabrics
Volume 10, Issue 4 2015
treatment, Melliand International, Vol.10,
2004, p.211-215.
[15] Pociute, M.; Lehmann, B.; Vitkauskas, A.;
Wetting behaviour of surgical polyester woven
fabrics, Materials Science, Vol.9, 2003, p.410-
413.
[16] Laourine, E.; Cherif, C.; Characterisation of
barrier properties of woven fabrics for surgical
protective textiles, AUTEX
Research Journal, Vol.11, 2011, p.31-36.
[17] Aibibu, D.; Lehmann, B.; Offermann, P.;
Barrier effect of woven fabrics used for surgical
gowns, AUTEX Research Journal, Vol.3, 2003,
p.186-193.
[18] Ezaz Shahabi, N.; Asghari Mooneghi, S.;
Saharkhiz, S.; Hosseini Varkiyani, S.M.;
Investigating the effect of weight reduction
treatment on Poissons ratio of microfiber
polyester woven fabric, Journal of Textile
Institute, Vol.103, 2011, p.292-297.
[19] Nassif, G.A.A.; Effect of weave structure and
weft density on the physical and mechanical
properties of micropolyester woven fabrics, Life
Science Journal, Vol.9, 2012, p.13261331.
[20] Tortora, P.G.; Collier, B.J.; Understanding
textiles, 1997, New Jersey.
[21] Petrulis, D.; Construction, investigation, and
application of mathematical models for tensile
properties of industrial polyester woven fabrics,
Tekstil, Vol.56, 2007, p.670674.
[22] Grkan nal, P.; Takn, C.; The effect of
weave and densities on tensile strength of 100%
polyester fabrics, Journal of Textiles and
Apparel, Vol.2, 2007, p.115-118.
[23] Biliik, K.; Demiryrek, O.; Analysis and
offaxis tensile characterization of air-entangled
textured polyester woven fabrics depending on
unit cell interlacing frequency, Fibers and
Polymers, Vol.11, 2010, p.805-811.
[24] Biliik, K.; Demiryrek, O.; Analysis and
tensile characterization of air entangled textured
polyester woven fabrics depending on
interlacement and yarn sett, Fibers and
Polymers, Vol.12, 2011, p.390-398.
[25] Salem, E.H.; Johnson, R.H.; Mohamed, M.H.;
Tensile properties of textured polyester woven
fabrics: Theoretical model for plain weave
fabric, Textile Research Journal, Vol.64, 1995,
p.185-196.
[26] Kumpikaite, E.; Influence of fabric Structure on
the character of fabric breakage, Fibres and
Textiles in Eastern Europe, Vol.68, 2008, p.44-
46.
60 http://www.jeffjournal.org
[27] ISO 2062:2009 - Textiles - Yarns from packages
- Determination of single-end breaking force and
elongation at break using constant rate of
extension (CRE) tester.
[28] ISO 7211-2:1984 - Textiles - Woven fabrics -
Construction - Methods of analysis - Part 2:
Determination of number of threads per unit
length.
[29] ISO 7211-3:1984 - Textiles - Woven fabrics -
Construction - Methods of analysis - Part 3:
Determination of crimp of yarn in fabric.
[30] ISO 3801:1977 - Textiles - Woven fabrics -
Determination of mass per unit length and mass
per unit area.
[31] ISO 5084:1996 - Textiles - Determination of
thickness of textiles and textile products.
[32] ISO 139:2005 - Textiles - Standard atmospheres
for conditioning and testing.
[33] ISO 13934-1: Determination of maximum force
and elongation at maximum force using the strip
method by CRE (Constant rate of extension).
[34] Realff, M.L.; Identifying local deformation
phenomenon during woven fabric uniaxial
tensile loading, Textile Research Journal,
Vol.64, 1994, p.135-141.
[35] Kaynak, H.K.; Investigation of
The Performance Properties of Fabrics
Woven with Microfilament Yarns, 2013,
ukurova University, PhD Thesis.

AUTHORS ADDRESSES
Hatice Kbra Kaynak, PhD
Gaziantep University
Textile Engineering Department
27310 Gaziantep
TURKEY

Osman Babaarslan, PhD ukurova

University
Textile Engineering Department
01330 Adana
TURKEY

Journal of Engineered Fibers and Fabrics 61 http://www.jeffjournal.org

Volume 10, Issue 4 2015