Fabric Tensile Strength Calculator

Strip Tensile is defined as the breaking force of a standard 1-inch-wide strip of the fabric, and Yarn Break Strength is the force needed to break a single yarn -- neither depends on how wide the whole bolt of fabric is. Fabric Width only comes into the calculation afterward, when the strip result is multiplied out to estimate the Full Width Tensile totals in both pounds-force and kilograms-force.

Yarn Count feeds directly into every stage of this calculator's math: it's multiplied by fiber tenacity to get a single yarn's breaking strength, and that result is carried forward, multiplied by Threads per Inch and the weave efficiency factor, into every other output. It's also the single biggest driver of the strength outputs overall -- its declared range spans 1 to 500 tex, a 500-to-1 ratio, so sweeping it end to end swings every strength output roughly two orders of magnitude more than sweeping Fiber Type across all five fiber options does.

Plain weave interlaces each yarn over and under its neighbor at every crossing point, which locks the structure together tightly and lets more of each individual yarn's strength contribute to the fabric's overall breaking force. Satin weave uses long floats that skip over several yarns between interlacings, so the structure is looser and more of the individual yarn strength is lost to slippage rather than shared load-bearing -- this calculator models that as a lower weave-efficiency factor.

No -- they're representative textbook figures for each fiber type (for example, nylon and polyester are modeled as stronger per unit weight than cotton and wool), but real yarn tenacity varies with fiber grade, spinning method, twist level, and any finishing treatments applied. Use this calculator to compare how fiber choice, weave, and construction trade off against each other, and confirm a specific fabric's actual strength with a real instrumented tensile test before relying on it for a safety-relevant application.

Tensile strength measures the force needed to pull a fabric strip apart along its full width, while tear strength measures how easily a small existing cut or puncture propagates outward -- a fabric can have high tensile strength but tear easily once damaged, or vice versa. This calculator's Tear Strength figure is a rough proportional estimate based on Strip Tensile, not an independently modeled tear-propagation calculation, so treat it as a very approximate directional guide only.