TABLES 233-236.— PROPERTIES OF FIBERS * 241 



The values of the properties of natural fibers are influenced by their source, 

 extent of processing or purification, age, temperature and moisture content 

 when tested, and method of test. Those of man-made fibers not only reflect 

 these influences but they can be and commonly are varied to meet the require- 

 ments of use by suitable modifications in composition and manipulation of the 

 fibers during production. These facts and the lack of strictly comparable 

 data for all the principal fibers led to the decision to show in the tables the 

 range in values of the properties reported in recent literature rather than 

 selected values. The azlons, made from different proteins, are lumped together 

 and so are the ordinary, medium, and high-tenacity rayons and the several 

 varieties of resin fibers of each kind. References to literature giving more 

 information and more detailed information are as follows: 



Textile World's synthetic fiber table, 1949 rev., compiled by C. W. Bendigo, editor, 

 Textile World, September 1949. Chemical engineering materials of construction, Ind. 

 and Eng. Chem., 2d ed., vol. 40, p. 1773, 1948; 3d ed., vol. 41, p. 2091, 1949. Fiber prop- 

 erties chart — 1948, Plastics Catalogue Corporation, New York. Smith, H. DeWitt, 

 Textile fibers — an engineering approach to an understanding of their properties and utiliza- 

 tion, Proc. Amer. Soc. Test. Mat., vol. 44, p. 543, 1944. A. S. T. M. standards on textile 

 materials. Amer. Soc. Test. Mat., October 1949. Die Unterscheidung der Textilfasern, 

 2d ed., Verlag Leeman, Zurich, 1949. Morehead, F. F., Some comparative data on the 

 cross-sectional swelling of textile fibers, Textile Res. Journ., vol. 17, p. 96, 1947. 

 Preston, J. M., The temperature of contraction of fibers as an aid to identification, Journ. 

 Textile Inst., vol. 40, p. T767, 1949. Abbott, N. J., and Goodings, A. C, Moisture 

 absorption, density, and swelling properties of nylon filaments, Journ. Textile Inst., vol. 40, 

 p. T232, 1949. Hutton, E. A., and Gartside, Joan, The moisture regain of silk, 

 Journ. Textile Inst., vol. 40, p. T161, 1949. Hutton, E. A., and Gartside, Joan, The 

 adsorption and desorption of water by nylon at 25° C, Journ. Textile Inst., vol. 40, p. T170, 

 1949. MacMiuan, W. G., Mukherjee, R. R., and Sen, M. K., The moisture relation- 

 ships of jute, Journ. Textile Inst., vol. 37, p. T13, 1946. Albright, J. G., "Spider Silk," 

 Science Teacher, October 1944. 



* Prepared by W. D. Appel, of the National Bureau of Standards. 



SMITHSONIAN PHYSICAL TABLES 



