Abrasion-Resistant Aluminized-Coated Aramid Fabrics for Manufacture of Firefighters' Protective Clothing

摘要

The required yardage of two experimental approaches to developing an abrasion resistant fabric for firefighters protective clothing has been delivered to NCTRF, Natick, MA, for fabrication into uniforms. The first is an electron-beam (EB) cured coating on the two-side aluminized mylar used in the existing laminated fabric. The second is a one-side aluminized Kapton (K) film laminated metal side to Kevlar fabric. The Kapton product illustrates the principle that a high temperature melting point film, aluminized on one side and laminated metal side down to Kevlar fabric, can provide abrasion and chemical resistance as well as reflectivity. However, its water absorption and adhesive characteristics severely limit use in the water-prone firefighters environment. We believe other high-temperature melting resins, such as polysulfone or polyether-imide, would probably have more suitable adhesive properties than Kapton because they are more water resistant. Both the esperimental EB and Kapton products absorb more heat than the existing product because they reflect less infra-red energy than the pure aluminum on the existing product. It is a fundamental fact that only gold metal can be coated on aluminum without reducing its reflectivity of the aluminum.