Industrial Fabrics

Industrial fabrics is a collective term for fabrics used in industrial processes — as opposed to apparel or decorative textiles. This includes metal and synthetic fabrics that serve as screens, filters, conveyor media, or reinforcement. For example, GKD organizes its business areas into industrial fabrics, process belts, and architectural fabrics. Industrial fabrics primarily refer to technical filter and screening fabrics as well as reinforcement fabrics for various applications.

Characteristics of Industrial Fabrics:

They are optimized for a specific function (e.g., filtration, screening, transport).
They are made from special materials that withstand process conditions (e.g., stainless steel for heat/corrosion resistance, PET for chemicals/moisture, PPS for high continuous temperatures).
They are often produced in special widths and lengths to fit into machinery (e.g., wide rolls for paper machines, endless belts for dryers).
Quality requirements are high because a defective fabric can disrupt the process (reproducibility, homogeneity, strength verification).

Examples:

Screening fabrics in vibrating screens for classifying bulk materials (gravel plants, food, pharmaceuticals).
Filter fabrics in extruders (plastic melt filters), hydraulic systems (oil filters), or water treatment plants (sand filters as screen inserts).
Dryer and process belts, used in textile machines, nonwoven production, food manufacturing, etc., enabling processes by transporting and dewatering simultaneously.
Safety fabrics, e.g., spark arrestor fabrics in chimney flues that must withstand mechanical and thermal stresses.
Fabric laminates (multi-layer sintered media) for hydraulic filters that withstand high differential pressures.

The industries using industrial fabrics are numerous: chemical, mining, food, pharmaceutical, automotive (airbag fabrics, vehicle filters), energy (power plant filters, fuel cell fabrics), and many more.

As a manufacturer, GKD emphasizes its expertise in developing customized fabrics for customers — “solution-oriented and close to the process.” This means working closely with users to tailor the fabric precisely to the machinery and process workflow, for example by using special weaves when standard fabrics don’t perform optimally.

A special feature of industrial fabrics is that they are often standardized (e.g., DIN mesh counts for screening fabrics) and communicated in international units (mesh counts in the USA, metric units in Europe), which requires know-how in both systems.

In summary:

Industrial fabrics include all those technical fabric solutions that ensure efficiency, quality, and safety in industrial operations. They are the invisible helpers in countless products — from clear filtered juice to clean exhaust gas to smooth paper sheets — fabrics are involved everywhere. As a global market leader in this sector, GKD supplies industrial fabrics to a wide variety of markets worldwide, often custom-tailored to the specific process.