PROTECTIVE TEXTILES

By :- Ojas Jain Payal Juneja

Protection from extreme environmental conditions has always

been a critical requirement of textile products.

Protective textiles are a part of technical textiles that are used

principally for their performance or functional characteristics

rather than their aesthetic or decorative characteristics.

• As the name suggests, protective clothing and other textile materials are used to protect human beings/atmosphere from various natural/industrial hazards. Some the possible environmental hazards are heat, cold, rain, snow, wind, ultraviolet radiations, abrasion, dust, micro organisms, radioactive radiations, static electricity etc. Some prominent human/industrial hazards are fire, flash, industrial chemicals, biohazards, high velocity projectiles, cutting/slashing by sharp objects etc. We need optimum safety from all these hazards when we are in the vicinity of one or more of them. Thus the need of protective textiles is there to safe guard us.

Light Weight And Low BulkHigh Durability And Dimensional StabilityGood Handle And DrapeLow Noise EmissionWater RepellantWind Proof And Snow SheddingThermal InsulatingUV ResistantAir PermeableFlame RetardantHeat And Melt Resistance/Low Smoke Emission Safety From Radar Spectrum

Fibre Uses

Meta aramidFilter bags for hot gas, Industrial protective clothing, Racing driver’s suit, Cargo covers, Boat covers, Fire hose reinforcement.

Para aramidBody armour, Tyre cords, Radiator hose and brake shoes of racing cars, Reinforced composites for aircraft, High speed boat components

CarbonAircraft and Space shuttle, Automotive, Medical Implants, Marine

GlassAircraft and aerospace, Consumer goods, Roofing Tiles, Corrosion resistant products used in highway overlay

Fibre Uses

PolypropyleneSail cloth, Marine ropes and cables, Protective clothing, Boat hulls

SpandexSports and leisure garments, Foundation garments, Support hose

PBIRacing driver’s suit, Hot gas filtration, Thermal protective clothing

TencelFiltration media for oil industry, Medical Textile, Industrial fabric

Inorganic Fibre

Military Application. Aircraft, Automobile, Sport, Electrical Application

Fluorine Containing Fibre

Filtration media for corrosive material, Packing Material, Refrigeration

High Temperature Protective TextilesFlame Resistant Protective TextilesChemical Protective TextilesMechanical Protective TextilesBallistic Protective TextilesSpace SuitsRadiation Protective TextilesClean Room TechnologyHigh Visibility TextilesUltra Violet Protection FinishBreathable FabricsElectrical Protective TextilesMetallized FabricsProtective Health Care GarmentsBiological Protective Textiles

HighTemperature

ProtectiveBlankets

Oven GlovesNomex-Kevlar Heat Resistant Gloves

• A high temperature textile material is defined as a material, which can be used above 200 oC without decomposition and without losing its major physical properties. Although some fibres can be used for insulation and retain some strength even above 2000 oF, they lose their textile characteristics at that temperature range. The thermal insulation provided by fibrous material is mainly due to the low thermal conductivity of the air entrapped in the fibre web. Thus fibres, which are fine and dimensionally stable at working temperatures, are used in thermal protective clothing. Resistance to both flame and associated heat transfer through the garment is defined as thermal protection.

• Aramid (meta & para)

• PAN/ carbon

• Glass

• Melamine

• PBI

• Phenolic

• Polyacrylate

• PTFE

• Polyamide

Fireguard Fire Entry Suit, Kiln Suit, Proximity Suit & Approach Suit

Flame resistant fabrics are designed to resist ignition and self-extinguish when ignited. It should also extinguish as soon as the ignition source is removed.

Naturally thermo stable or fire retardant agent treated fibres are used for obtaining fire protective function in textiles. Flame resistance in fabrics can be developed by two ways:

1.By using inherent flame resistant materials and fibers

2.By giving FR treatments to fibers and fabrics

• Meta aramid

• Para aramid

• Modacrylic

• Polybenzimidazole (PBI)

• Carbon

• Polyimide

• FR viscose

• FR cotton

• FR polyester

Chemical Spray Protection Chemical Splash Protection

• The purpose of chemical protective clothing and equipment is to shield or isolate individuals from the chemical, physical, and biological hazards that may be encountered during hazardous materials operations. During chemical operations, it is not always apparent when exposure occurs. Chemical Protective Clothing is used mainly to prevent exposure during hazardous activities. These hazards can be grouped into categories such as chemical, thermal, nuclear, radiation (X-rays, UV) and biological hazards.

A

VapourProtective Suit

Liquid SplashProtective Suit

Support FunctionProtective Garment

Coveralls,Safety boots/shoes,

etc.

B

C

D

Cut ResistantGloves

Puncture ResistantGloves

Chain SawClothing

• The mechanical performance of fabrics is due to hybrid yarns in their interlacing. Textiles for mechanical protection can be manufactured from high strength textile fibres used alone or along with metallic fibres. MPT’s have a personal protective function against different risk such as ballistic, blade cuts, fabric puncture, projection of fragments, knives, slashing etc besides combined use of high performance material such as glass fibre, HT Polyethylene or steel.

• Ballistic protection is a class of protective clothing, which aims at protecting the individuals from the bullets and steel fragments from hand-held weapons and exploding ammunitions. The basic idea of spreading the load over a large area is still applied. It is better to dissipate the energy of impact by deformation and breaking the protective material. Ballistic protection process is a complex phenomenon involving the transverse velocity propagation, tensile properties and the fine structure. In the recent years, use of ultra-high modulus polyethylene (UHMPE) fibres produced by gel spinning has been started in manufacturing of ballistic protective fabrics.

Bullet Proof Vest Components

Radiation Detection

• Workers and officers working in nuclear plants and those working at & near the source of radioactive raw materials are prone to frequent exposure to alpha, beta and gama radiations. Radiation protection is also necessary for X-ray professionals, workers in cancer treatment centers and other places subject to ionizing radiation.

• An important aspect of most radiation protection programs at nuclear facilities is the protection of workers from radioactive contamination while handling radio-active materials or working in radioactively contaminated environments. In this regard, protective clothing is used extensively to protect workers from contamination.

SunburnUV Protective Garments

• The aim of ultra violet protective finish is to reduce a person's UVR exposure. Electromagnetic radiations of wavelength between 150 and 400 nm are termed as Ultraviolet rays. Approximately 10% of sun’s energy is in the form of ultraviolet radiations. Atmosphere absorbs most of the noxious radiations emitted by the sun, only 5% of the harmful radiations reach to the surface of the earth. UV absorbers such as Benzotriazole and phenyl benzotriazole are able to absorb the damaging UV rays of sunlight. UV absorbers convert UV energy in to harmless heat energy.

• The UV blocking capacity of a fibre can be improved by incorporating TiO2 into its structure.

Clean Room Garments

Anticontaminant Mask & Dress

• Clean room is a work area with controlled temperature and humidity to protect sensitive equipment from contamination.

• Clean room operators are required to wear special non-linting body suits, overshoes, gloves, head coverings and masks. In some clean rooms, workers even pass through an air blast upon entering to remove particles and ensure minimal contamination of the environment. Clean room textiles should be lint free, antistatic and resistant to human contamination such as from hair or dead skin

High Visibility Jackets

• High visibility materials have changed the appearance of clothes worn for both work and leisure pursuits. Today, there are more technologies on offer than in the past, which are able to make people and objects more visible. Also, a wider availability of fabrics, materials, designs and colours has led to greater choice.

• With advances in technology, designers and manufacturers of this type of apparel have been able to make safety features fashionable. Modern manufacturing techniques allow the use of colour to disguise reflective material so that it can not be seen during normal daylight.

Applications:-Conductive TextilesCut Resistant FabricsNonwoven Textiles

Metallized products are used in various industrial, speciality and protective clothing applications. Metallized fabrics provide good abrasion resistance, reflectivity over extended time, wear resistance and molten splash resistance. Some applications of metallized fabrics in textiles are mentioned below

1.Coating /laminating fabric with metal surfaces for better heat reflection.

2.Blending metal sliver with natural/synthetic fibres to produce conductive textiles.

3.Composite yarns made of metal fibres yarns and textile yarns are suitable for cut resistant fabrics

4.Chopped metal fibres can be air or wet layered with textile fibres to form nonwoven textiles

Aluminized FabricsAdvanced Protection systemHigh Performance FibresElectro-conductive FibresNovel Yarn Spinning Technology

Challenges in Protective Textiles Optimization of important properties. Establish fibre properties according to end use.

The technical textile consumption under protech is estimated at around Rs 1,387 crore which is expected to increase to around Rs 2,386 crore by 2012-13.

The key Protech products are high altitude clothing, bullet-proof jackets and fire retardant fabrics.

In the medium term (next 5 years), the protective textiles industry is expected to achieve growth at the rate of 11-12% year on year.

The demand for the protech products is dependent on the improvements in worker safety practices, fire protective standards for construction and the defense sector.

Continuous innovations & better understanding of the consumer requirements is the need of the hour.

The technological trends and challenges ahead will be determined by market pull demands, increasing environmental awareness, personal safety and comfort, and performance requirements.

Due to the increasing health and safety issues at work, protective textiles are the most essential and attractive segment of textile market and will continue to do so.