Index Of Refraction

Ratio of the velocity of light in one medium to its velocity in a second medium as the light passes from medium to medium. If a medium is crystalline the velocity may depend on the direction of the light with respect to the crystalline axes and the substance may have several indexes of refraction i.e. it may be birefringent. (Also see BIREFRINGENCE.)

India tape

A cotton tape typically R42/2tex x 17tex: 27.5 ends x 12 double picks per cm.

Indigo

Originally a natural blue vat dye extracted from plants especially the Indigofera tinctoria plant. Most indigo dyes today are synthetic. They are frequently used on dungarees and denims.

Indirect warping

The transference of yam from a package creel on to a swift from which it is subsequently wound on to a beam (see section warping).

Industrial Fabric

A broad term for fabrics used for nonapparel and nondecorative uses. They fall into several classes (1) a broad group including fabrics employed in industrial processes (e.g. filtering polishing and absorption) (2) fabrics combined with other materials to produce a different type of product (e.g. rubberized fabric for hose belting and tires; fabric combined with synthetic resins to be used for timing gears and electrical machinery parts; coated or enameled fabrics for automobile tops and book bindings; and fabrics impregnated with adhesive and dielectric compounds for application in the electrical industry) and (3) fabrics incorporated directly in a finished product (e.g. sails tarpaulins tents awnings and specialty belts for agricultural machinery airplanes and conveyors). Fabrics developed for industrial uses cover a wide variety of widths weights and constructions and are attained in many cases only after painstaking research and experiment. Cotton and manufactured fibers are important fibers in this group but virtually all textile fibers have industrial uses. The names mechanical fabrics or technical fabrics sometimes have been applied to certain industrial fabrics.

Industrial textiles

1. Textile materials and products intended for end-uses other than non-protective clothing, household, furnishing and floorcovering, where the fabric or fibrous component is selected principally (but not exclusively) for its performance and properties as opposed to its aesthetic or decorative characteristics.
2. A category of technical textiles used either as part of an industrial process, or incorporated into final products.

Inflatable Stuctures

Structures opened or enlarged by input of air and once enlarged able to retain the air to maintain the distended position. © 2001 Celanese Acetate LLC

Inflow Quench

Cooling air for extruded polymer filaments that is directed radially inward across the path of the filaments. The threadline is completely enclosed in a quench cabinet in inflow quenching.

Ingrain

A yarn made from fibres of two or more colours blended together.(sub category of worsted yarns, colour terms)

Ingrain (filament yarn)

Descriptive of a yarn composed of filaments of different colours, the ingrain effect being produced by the random exposure of the differently coloured filaments at the yarn surface.

Ingrain (yarn)

Yarn spun from a mixture of fibres of different colours, where the mixing of coloured fibres is carried out at an early stage. (See also worsted yarns, colour terms.)

Ingrain carpet

A reversible coarse carpeting woven on a jacquard loom accommodating up to six coloured weft threads. It may be two-ply (Kidderminster carpet) or three-ply (Scotch carpet).

Inherent Flame Resistance

As applied to textiles flame resistance that derives from an essential characteristic of the fiber from which the textile is made.

Inherent Viscosity

See INTRINSIC VISCOSITY.

Inhibitor

A substance that retards or prevents a chemical or physical change. In textiles a chemical agent that is added to prevent fading degradation or other undesirable effects.