Ballistic nylon with fire retardant properties

[kjoiner]

We have an application where ballistic nylon would meet our requirements for toughness as far as abrasion and cut resistance. The fabric will be used in a machine and because of that, I'm anticipating that UL will want some type of flame retardant rating. Does anyone know of a manufacturer who can provide ballistic nylon with a flame retardant additive or is there a chemical treatment that can be added later to the fabric. For plastics, we typically are looking for UL-94-VO or at minimum UL-74-HB or UL-94-V1.

The 1050 denier fabric is the weight I'm currently looking at. 850 would be the minimum.

Thanks,

Kyle

 

[Ashereng]

Have you tried googling?

Anyway, maybe talk to Du Pont.

NYLON 6/6 25% GLASSFILLED FLAME RETARDANT
DUPONT 25% GLASS-FIBER REINFORCED FLAME RETARDANT NYLON 6/6 - ZYTEL® FR-50
ZYTEL® FR50 NC010 (Dry)
DuPont Engineering Polymers / Americas - Polymide 66

For better cut resistance, you may want to try Kevlar (also Du Pont).

Other manufactures to try include BASF and 3M.

 

[kjoiner]

Ashereng,

Thanks for the reply.

I've done some Googling and came back with a lot of hits on the material - almost more than I can process. I ordered some samples of ballistic nylon and it does well when poking it with knife. I need fabric because we are making a powered roll up door. Kevlar would be a problem because of its color and that it wont take dyes to improve the appearance. I sent a request to Dupont for some assistance in selecting a material. I'll keep you updated on what I discover.

 

[patprimmer]

Zytel is DuPont's trade name for their nylon injection moulding compounds.

I have never seen fibre made from glass filled nylon.

I thought you were after fibre or fabric.

Kevlar is DuPont's trade name for aramid fibre. There are several other manufacturers, including Akzo Nobel.

Aramid is used in ballistic applications, including bullet proof vests. It is a type of polyamide similar in structure to nylons, but is not normally considered nylon.

It has better tensile strength than steel size for size and 7 times the strength of steel weight for weight.

It has very poor resistance to UV light, and really lousy compressive strength. Because of this lousy compressive strength, it has very poor bending fatigue strength as the outside of the bend is in tension, and the inside is in compression.

Aramid is inherently non flammable and in one form (para aramid I think from memory) it is used in fire proof suits.

Regards

eng-tips, by professional engineers for professional engineers
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

 

[Demon3]

Yes, no need to say it but Pat's encyclopedic knowledge comes into play again. Did you ever think of writing a book Pat? It certainly would be a help to a great many people.

Just one comment, I'm pretty sure that Kevlar is the para substituted aramid whereas Nomex is the meta version and it's that one that's used in fire-proof suits. (Para and meta refer to substitution pattern on the benzene ring of the aramid)

 

[kjoiner]

Aramid is probably too expensive for what I need. The fabric will be wrapped around a take up drum, but the fatigue issues might be a problem for kevlar. I'm waiting to hear from our local UL testing lab to see what flammability requirements are necessary.

Kyle

 

[Demon3]

There is a flame retardant fibre / fabric called Basofil (

http://www.basofil.com).

I am unsure of the other properties though but is is used where flame retardance is needed.

 

[patprimmer]

Would glass fibre do the job for you.

Regards

eng-tips, by professional engineers for professional engineers
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

 

[kjoiner]

I think fiberglass would be somewhat hard to work with and the "itch" factor would also prevent it from being a good candidate. This will be in a hospital environment and aesthetics are also important. Being able to purchase the material in colors is also an important consideration.

Kyle