BMW_Alpina_B3_Biturbo_E92-Leder-Vordersitze_in_Dakota-braun

An Automotive textile is a technical textile used in the transportation and automotive industries. The choice of type of automotive textile focuses on aspects of safety, comfort, and aesthetics. These textiles have variety of applications in the

automotive industry The automotive industry comprises a wide range of company, companies and organizations involved in the design, Business development, development, manufacturing, marketing, selling, Maintenance, repairing, and Custom car, modification of motor ve ...

, such as interior fittings, safety features, sound insulation, and

tire A tire (North American English) or tyre (Commonwealth English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a Rim (wheel), wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide Traction (engineeri ...

reinforcement.

Material and performance parameters

Certain performance parameters are required for automotive textiles. Different needs are filled by different types of fiber and structures. High tensile materials are used for airbags. Truck covers are made with PVC or coated polyester material. Textiles are also used for trunk coverings (often needle felts) and cargo tie downs. Many coated and reinforced textiles are used in materials for engines such as air ducts, timing belts, and

air filter A particulate air filter is a device composed of fibrous, or porous materials which removes particulates such as smoke, dust, pollen, mold, viruses and bacteria from the air. Filters containing an adsorbent or catalyst such as charcoal (carbo ...

Non-woven textiles Nonwoven fabric or non-woven fabric is a fabric-like material made from staple fibre (short) and long fibres (continuous long), bonded together by chemical, mechanical, heat or solvent treatment. The term is used in the textile manufacturing ind ...

are used for cabin air filtration and engine sound isolation. * Abrasion resistance * Colorfastness to light and rubbing * UV protection * Tear and tensile strength and seam strength * Flame resistance * Anti-static *Stretch and recovery *Soil and stain release. Textiles are also used in the interior of cars, the most obvious uses being for seat covers, safety belts and airbags. Automotive textiles share similarities with home textiles but with stringent quality parameters. Automotive textiles use high-performance fibers,

polyester Polyester is a category of polymers that contain one or two ester linkages in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include some natura ...

nylon Nylon is a family of synthetic polymers characterised by amide linkages, typically connecting aliphatic or Polyamide#Classification, semi-aromatic groups. Nylons are generally brownish in color and can possess a soft texture, with some varieti ...

produced by knitting, warp knitting, weaving or nonwovens.

Synthetic fibers

Nylon

Nylon fibers, which are strong, tough, resilient, and elastic, are the most commonly used fiber type in automotive textiles.

Polyester

Polyester is appropriate for upholstery and seat cushions because it is a strong material with satisfactory colorfastness properties.

High performance fibers

Aramid

Hoses require strong, chemical-resistant materials such as polyester, rayon, or

aramid Aramid fibers, short for aromatic polyamide, are a class of heat-resistant and strong synthetic fibers. They are used in aerospace and military applications, for ballistic-rated bulletproof vest, body armor cloth, fabric and ballistic composites ...

Carbon

Woven fabrics and composites of

carbon fiber Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers ( Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon comp ...

are used in car parts.

Composite materials

Composite material A composite or composite material (also composition material) is a material which is produced from two or more constituent materials. These constituent materials have notably dissimilar chemical or physical properties and are merged to create a ...

s are formed by combining materials to create an overall structure with properties that differ from individual components. Composite materials are used in headliners of the vehicles.

Others

Leather and other alternatives

For seat covers, pure leather and imitated leather, and suede finished fabric is used.

Ultrasuede Ultrasuede is the trade name for a synthetic ultra-microfiber fabric which mimics suede leather. In Japan, it is sold under the brand name Ecsaine. The fabric is used in fashion, interior decorating, automobile and other vehicle upholstery, an ...

is a type of suede material that is used in automobile and aircraft seats.

Polyurethane Polyurethane (; often abbreviated PUR and PU) is a class of polymers composed of organic chemistry, organic units joined by carbamate (urethane) links. In contrast to other common polymers such as polyethylene and polystyrene, polyurethane term ...

is used for foam.

Blends or hybrid materials

To achieve certain functional characteristics, blended (mix of two types of fibers) covering materials are also used in automotive textiles.

= Laminated and coated materials

= Laminated and coated materials are also used in Automotive sector. Examples are Truck covers (PVC coated PES fabrics) and seat covers made of

Alcantara (material) Alcantara is the brand name of a synthetic textile with a soft, suede-like microfibre pile, noted for its durability. Alcantara was developed in the 1970s by Miyoshi Okamoto and initially manufactured by the Italian company Alcantara. The term h ...

Use

Cars A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

, and

buses A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

have a large use of automotive textiles. A car can consume up to 25 kg of fabric, primarily used for roof coverings and

upholstery Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. The word also refers to the materials used to upholster something. ''Upholstery'' comes from the Middle English wor ...

. Automotive textiles also used in interior trimmings,

seats A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

, side panels, carpets, and car trunk coverings, linings, tires, filters, belts, hoses, airbags, etc. Due to specific performance requirements, different types of fibres are chosen for various sections.

References

{{Reflist Textiles