Why doesn't anyone make tightly woven Kevlar cloth for clothing? 2

[geneiusxie]

I want to buy some Kevlar, Technora, Vectran, Zylon, etc. cloth (not for resin impregnation) since it could make some really strong and lightweight clothing or kites.

Why doesn't anyone make them? Is it too brittle? UV resistance? Cost? Low volume?

 

[Compositepro]

Because there are cheaper and more readily available alternatives that completely satisfy the requirements for the applications that you mention.

 

[berkshire]

Such weaves are made for bullet proof vests.
B.E.

You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.

 

[Compositepro]

All of the weaves that I have seen used for vests are pretty coarse weaves with a yarn count of 10 per inch or less. Slippage of the yarn within the fabric is an important factor for spreading the impact forces of the projectile.

 

[berkshire]

Composite Pro ,
Check out Kevlar® K-159 on the attached website.
B.E.

You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.

 

[berkshire]

It should be noted that Kevlar does not do well with exposure to sunlight , it does not degrade that much, but it does change color ( Ref Du Pont )
B.E.

You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.

 

[Compositepro]

Good point Berkshire. The K-159 Kevlar fiber is a thin yarn style used for fine weave fabrics, which were were developed for resistance to knife penetration.

 

[MikeHalloran]

I bought some Kevlar cable in a small size for an application where nylon 'dial cord' would also work.
The recommended crimp sleeves, installed with the recommended crimp tool, did not reliably hold; the fiber itself was rather hard, and actually felt a little 'greasy'.
Worse, for your purposes, was that when bent over a relatively small (but not tiny) pulley or eyelet, some of the fibers fractured, and the resulting splinters were sharp enough and stiff enough to produce nasty puncture wounds.

Because of the splinter problem, I would not want to wear clothing made of Kevlar, unless it came with a tightly woven nylon liner, as I think bullet resistant vests do. If you need a ballistic nylon liner to protect you from the Kevlar, and you don't need actual ballistic protection, then the Kevlar just adds weight for no good reason.

If you will never fold or machine wash the garment, so that it won't splinter, you still face the problem of stitching it. ... which may require using thread with some sort of sticky resin on it, so the stitches won't just slip off the fiber's greasy surface. I'm not at all sure how to do that with a machine, or even by hand, and who know what will stick to the resin.

Just go to Bass Pro Shops and buy a nice fishing shirt.






Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[Demon3]

Ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene is strong like Kevlar and used for some of the same applications like bullet proof vests and cut proof fabric. It is not brittle like Kevlar and more resistant to UV and abrasion. Try that. Dyneema and Spectra are tradenames for it. I believe you can buy socks make out of it.

When it comes to clothing Kevlar is too brittle and not used. Instead they use the very similar product called Nomex for super resistance firemans clothes.

Chris DeArmitt PhD FRSC
President

Plastic materials consultant to the Fortune 100

http://www.phantomplastics.com