Glass fiber is divided into common forms, mainly in two categories: yarn and fabric.
Now let’s take a look at yarns that are 5-20 times thinner than a human hair. Yarn is the original form of a glass fiber product. Its production process is as follows: the raw material is melted at high temperature, drawn into a filament with a single filament diameter of a few microns to more than 20 microns, and then hundreds or thousands of filaments are used to form our common yarn, and finally twisted into a yarn ball.
Among them, the yarn is divided into non-alkali continuous glass fiber yarn (spun yarn) and non-alkali glass fiber roving (roving) according to its monofilament diameter and use.
Spun yarn generally refers to yarns with a single filament diameter less than 10 microns. According to its different uses, it is divided into electronic yarn and industrial yarn.
Electronic yarn
Electronic yarn is mainly used for textile electronic cloth and printed circuit board for electronic components. Common monofilament diameters are 5, 7, and 9 microns. With the development of technology, the single filament diameter of 4, 4.5 microns also appeared. Finer monofilaments can be made into finer yarns, and finer yarns can be woven into thinner cloths. Cloths of the same thickness, such as warp and weft yarns with smaller diameters of monofilaments, have better softness, mechanical properties and repairability. Recently, the proportion of electronic fabrics of extreme type, ultra-thin type and ultra-thin type has risen linearly.
industrial yarn
Industrial yarns are used in industrial fabrics, such as fire curtains, molded buildings, timing belts, cords, prefabricated fabrics, etc. Its common monofilament diameter is 5-9 microns.
Roving
Roving generally refers to yarns with a single filament diameter of more than 10 microns. These yarns are untwisted yarns, and the rovings are divided into direct yarns and ply yarns.
Direct yarn
Direct roving refers to a cluster formed by parallel monofilaments without twisting and merging, and the international standard name is direct roving. According to the type of sizing agent, it is also called soft yarn, the most common ones are pultruded yarn, wound yarn, etc.
ply yarn
The plied yarn refers to a bundle of parallel strands (multi-strand strands of roving) that are not twisted and combined. Ply-ply yarn is actually a high-tex product that combines low-tex raw yarns through the process of winding.
The main difference between spun yarn and roving yarn is the diameter of the single filament. Of course, the sizing agent and coupling agent will also vary according to the application. The quality of yarn directly determines the quality of glass fiber products, so the relevant parameters of yarn are very critical. There are relevant standards for monofilament diameter, Tex value, water content, alkali content, strength, etc. Yarns that do not meet the standards should be downgraded.