useful information on zylon/pbo? 1

[hetz02]

Hello everyone,

I'm doing some research on Phenylene benzobisoxazole (PBO). I'm still in the early stages of my research and was wondering if anyone had any helpful information (i.e. specs or a possible brief history) of this material. I would appreciate any help from any of you gurus out there as I continue my search to find out more about this relatively rare fiber.

Regards,
Ryan Hetzer

 

[TVP]

Have you been to the Toyobo website yet? If not, start there:

http://www.toyobo.co.jp/e/seihin/kc/pbo/menu/fra_menu_en.htm

 

[hetz02]

I came across their website about a minute before I received your post. Thank you very much for your quick response.

Regards,
Ryan

 

[RichLeimbach]

I've done a little work with it. It's got a really good max loading, but seems to be more susceptible to breakdown due to environmental factors (particularly UV) and and is not as resistant to cyclic fatigue in bending applications as some of the other high strength stuff we tested, particularly LCP (Vectran).
FYI - Zylon is used as the tensile member inside Zevo's "compressor" golf clubs. Not sure where else it has been used commercially.

 

[mloew]

It is used as the wheel-end tether on Formula 1 racing cars. I did a Google search on Zylon tethers (

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Zylon+tether)

and come up with some good hits.

Here a one page of interest:

http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node=Zylon.

Best regards,

Matthew Ian Loew
"Luck is the residue of design."
Branch Rickey

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

 

[hetz02]

Rich,

Thank you very much for your input. My research has been going pretty well so far. per toyobo's website zylon is being implemented in bicycle spokes, tennis racket strings, and...apparently...even in a clothing line to name a few. It ranks among the top in tensile strength and flame resistance. From what I've gathered, it's still a little too pricy to use in many commercial apps.