Yarn-on-Yarn Abrasion Resistance

One measure of fatigue resistance used in the rope and cordage industry is the yarn-on-yarn abrasion test (e.g. Cordage Institute Test Method CI-1503). This test simulates abrasion of adjacent yarns inside a rope or rope splice during flexure. The typical test configuration is shown in Figure 13.

Figure 13: Yarn-On-Yarn Abrasion Test Set-Up

Using this test, samples of Vectran^® HT 1500/300 fiber with various finishes were evaluated versus a wide range of aramid yarns and HMPE. Results are shown in Table 9. Vectran^® clearly outperforms aramids and is equivalent to or superior to HMPE's in dry testing. The performance of Vectran^® and HMPE were improved by wet conditions; in contrast, aramid abrasion resistance was lower when tested in water.

Table 9: Comparative Testing of Yarn-on-Yarn Abrasion Resistance
	Average Cycles-to-Failure
Yarn	Dry	Wet
Test Method CI-1503: 1.5 wraps, 500g load, 66 cycles/min, no twist (KAI)
Vectran^® T97, 1500D	16672	21924
Aramid 1, 1500D	1178	705
Aramid 2, 1500D	1773	759
Aramid 3, 1500D	974	486
PBO, 1500D	2153	–
HMPE, 1600D	8518	23619

Using a third party’s proprietary marine finish, an independent rope and cordage industry test facility confirmed Vectran’s exceptional abrasion resistance in comparison to aramids. Vectran’s CTF was consistently an order of magnitude higher than that of the aramid at each set of test conditions (see Table 10).

Table 10: Yarn-on-Yarn Abrasion of Vectran^® HT
	Cycles-to-Failure^*
	Dry Test	Wet Test	Dry Test	Wet Test
^*1500 denier yarns, no twist, 1 wrap. (KAI)
Test Load	500 g	500 g	800 g	800 g
Vectran^® HT	12987	30519	3581	16524
Aramid	939	3029	422	1719