Table 1: Synthetic Fiber Yarn Properties
| Material |
Specific Gravity |
Specific Modulus, N/tex* |
Specific Strength, N/tex* |
Other Characteristics |
| Nylon (polyamide) |
1.14 |
4 |
0.84 |
10-15% wet strength loss. Poor wet internal abrasion resistance. Moderate creep. |
| Polyester |
1.38 |
10 |
0.84 |
Good wet internal abrasion resistance. |
| Polypropylene monofilament |
0.91 |
8 |
0.73 |
Lighter than water, moderate creep, low strength. |
| Polypropylene multifilament |
0.91 |
3.5 |
0.66 |
" |
| Aramid (Kevlar 29, Twaron, Technora) |
1.44 |
49 |
2.03 |
Axial compression fatigue problem. |
| Aramid (Kevlar 49) |
1.44 |
78 |
2.08 |
Extra high modulus. |
| HMPE (Spectra 900, Dyneema) High-Modulus Polyethylene. |
0.94-0.97 |
124 |
2.65 |
Low melt point, high creep. |
| HMPE (Spectra 1000) High-Modulus Polyethylene. |
0.94-0.97 |
175 |
3.10 |
Extra high modulus. High creep but less than S900. |
| LCAP (Vectran) Liquid Crystal Aromatic Polester. |
1.41 |
46 |
2.01 |
New fiber. Very little creep. |
| PBO (... Dow) Polybenzoxazole. |
1.56 |
177 |
2.54 |
New fiber. Very high modulus. Expensive. |
| Steel (wire) | 7.85 | 26 | 0.18 | Typical properties. Corrodes. |
* NOTES: Approximate values, actual properties may vary.The unit tex is the weight in grams of 1000 meters of material.Newton/tex = 1 MN/(kg/m) where kg/m is rope linear density.Multiply Newtons/tex by 145,400 x SG to obtain lb/in2.
