www.fibre2fashion.

com 1

Protective Textiles

By
V.Yogeshwar Chakrapani
1
www.fibre2fashion.com 2

Protective Textiles
By: V.Yogeshwar Chakrapani

ABSTRACT

The traditional outlook that the field of textiles is one which pertains to dresses
has become obsolete with textile engineering combining with various other technologies
to produce state of the art products whose applications are innumerable. A classic
example is the advancements in the field of protective textiles.

Safety and protective textiles refer to textile products {garments and other fabric-
related items} designed to protect the wearer from adverse environmental effects
[including combat zones/ battle fields] that may result in injury or death. Current trends
in protective textiles and smart fabrics try to find a symbiosis of protection and clothing.
Protective textiles is the brain child of a diverse body of talents, drawing together
scientific and technical expertise from around the world, to produce an important source
of current knowledge on textile materials & clothing, and their use in the protection of
humans in hostile environments.

Significant technological advances are occurring in the protective clothing

industry in search for improved means for the protection of human beings. Ongoing
concern for worker safety, protection from life threatening injuries and illness, and
protection for personnel from fire, chemical agents, UV radiations etc, has resulted in the
continued improvement in the protective clothing industry. The advances/innovations in
technology, such as usage of new materials and manufacturing processes for advanced
products, have created greatly improved protective fabrics.

Nowadays, most of the advances are taking place in the field of defence, sports,
fire protection, radiation protection etc. This paper deals with some of the recent
advances in the protective textiles and their field of applications.

2
www.fibre2fashion.com 3

Introduction
Textiles for protective clothing are an important growth area which has attracted
attention and interest somewhat out of proportion to the size and value of the existing
market. The variety of protective functions that needs to be provided by different textile
products is considerable and diverse. It includes protection against cuts, abrasion, ballistic
and other types of severe impact including stab wounds and explosions, fire and extreme
heat, hazardous dust and particles, nuclear, biological, chemical hazards, high voltages,
static electricity, foul weather, extreme cold and poor visibility. As well as people,
sensitive instruments and processes also need to be protected.

In Europe and other advanced industrial regions strict regulations have been
placed upon employers through the introduction of legislation such as the Personal
Protective Equipment (PPE) at work regulations (European Union). Under such
legislations it is not only necessary to ensure that the equipment and clothing provided is
adequate to meet the anticipated hazards but also that it is also used effectively i.e. these
garments are well designed and comfortable to wear. This has opened up a need for
continuing research not only into improved fibres and materials but also into increasingly
realistic testing and assessment of how garments perform in practice, including the
physiology of protective clothing the protective textile industry is highly fragmented with
much of the innovation and market development being provided by major fibre and other
material producers.

Protective textiles find application in many sectors for specific applications. Based on
the area of application they may be broadly classified into the following types,

Protective textiles for domestic purpose.

Protective textiles for work environment.

Protective textiles for defence purpose.

Protective textiles for ecological applications.

3
www.fibre2fashion.com 4

Domestic Purpose
Domestic protective textiles include those used for household purposes. These include
gloves used while cooking and operating ovens, tarpaulins and covers used as protection
from sunlight and rain in terraces, car covers, covers for electronic appliances, tent
materials, mosquito nets, blankets,

Fig 1- some domestic protective textiles.

The materials used in the manufacture of these products include PVC Polyester,
Canvas, Polyethylene, and performance fabrics such as Top Gun, Acrylic Canvas and
Nylon. Accessories such as foam, webbing, buckles, eyelets, velcro etc are used for
functional purposes. The machinery includes a variety of single needle, double needle
and computerized pattern sewing machines as well as a number of PVC welding
machines, including a state of the art Computerized Track Welder.

Work and Environment

These are textiles used in the hazardous work places which need to provide protection to
the wearer against heat , radiations, smokes, toxic emissions, fumes etc.
Some examples are, fireproof garments, clothing in nuclear reactor plants, clothing used
by miners, clothing of construction site workers, etc.

Fig 2. fire fighting suit

4
www.fibre2fashion.com 5

Fig 3. space suit

Fig 4. wet suit

Defence Purposes
Defence forces on land, sea or air throughout world are highly reliant on technical textiles
of all types. the life critical requirements for protecting individuals from both
environmental and battle field threats have ensured that the major nations of the world
expend significant resources in developing and providing the most advanced technical
textiles for military use. The main functional criteria for military textiles are to protect the
wearer against physical, environmental, camouflage, specific battle field threats, fumes,
heat and flash.
Property of protective
S. No. Purpose
textiles
1. Water repellant, water proof Protection from cold/wet weather
2. Thermal insulation Protection from cold climate
3. U.V. light resistance For environments with strong sunlight
4. Melt resistant For textiles in contact with skin
5. Impact resistance Protection from bombs and warheads

Ballistic protection is very important requirement combat zones. It requires use of heavy,
bulky, relatively inflexible materials. Artificial fibres such as nylon and polyester,
aramids mod acrylics and polyolefins are widely used.
Camouflage concealment is an another important aspect to be used in the soldiers’
uniforms. An effective camouflage must break up the object’s contours, and minimize
contrast between the object and the environment.

5
www.fibre2fashion.com 6

Textiles are widely used as camouflage medium in the form of light flexible nets, covers
garnishing and clothing.

Ecological Protective Textiles

The final category of technical textile markets, as defined by techtextil, is technical
textiles for protection of the environment and ecology. This is not a well defined segment
yet , although it overlaps with several other areas, including industrial textiles(filtration
medium), geotextiles (erosion protection and sealing of toxic wastes) and agricultural
textiles (eg. Minimizing water loss from the land and reducing the need for use of
herbicides by providing mulch to plants).
Apart from these direct applications technical textiles can contribute towards the
environment in almost every sphere of their use, for eg. By reducing weight in transport
and construction and thereby saving materials and energy. Improved recyclability is
becoming an important issue not only for packaging but also for products such as cars.
Composites is an area which potentially presents problems for the recyclability of textile
reinforcing materials encased within a thermosetting resin matrix

Advances in Protective Textiles

The protective clothing industry is undergoing significant change as a direct result of
rapid advances in technology and manufacturing processes. These advances in
technology, such as new materials and manufacturing processes for advanced textiles,
have created greatly improved protective fabrics. A number of current research and
development programs are leading to commercialization of new technologies on a
international scale.
Some of the advances in protective fabrics are:

Active protection system

Aluminized fabrics

Protective flex

Thermal sensitivity fabrics

Protection against biological and chemical threats

6
www.fibre2fashion.com 7

Complete armour protection system

Advanced soldier ballistic protection

Active Protection System

APS is an intelligent fabric that consists of three dimensional spacer textile treated with
specially formulated, responsive silicone coating. It remains soft and flexible under
normal conditions, but when stressed under high impact force, the material instantly
becomes rigid, and then immediately returns to a flexible state .The technology behind
APS consists of a soft, malleable and formable dilatant silicone, which is impregnated
into a three dimensional spacer textile support. The silicone composition consists of
polymers that show transient bonding to a cross linking component. Under normal
conditions, the polymers are bonded to the cross linker so that the bonds open when
subjected to a long period deformation force, which allow the material to flow. When this
force is removed, the bonds easily reform again, returning the silicone to its original soft
state

Fig 5. Active protection system Fig 6. Fabric piece

ADVANTAGES
 Fully integrated active safety that can be stitched directly into garments.
 Material customization and versatility that allow many creative design
possibilities.
 Breathable, Flexible and light weight construction for outstanding comfort and
freedom of movement.
 Washable for easy care and maintenance.

7
www.fibre2fashion.com 8

Fig 7. APS fabric can be cut and sewn into any required shape and size

Field Of Applications
 Motorcycle garments
 Military and civil defense
 Medical applications
 High performance protective and apparel
 Life sciences

Aluminized fabrics
Combining materials expertise and innovation, these aluminized fabrics enhance human
performance. Firefighters and industrial workers, when wrestling with a blazing inferno
or standing for hours in front of a 1200-degree furnace, constantly face the threat of
radiant heat the first heat to engulf a person in close proximity to fire. These fabrics help
people withstand extreme temperatures. Aluminized fabrics are specifically designed to
provide the ultimate protection from extreme heat, molten metal or high-pressure steam.

Protective Flex
The new smart response fiber is proving to enhance passenger safety because of its
unique energy-management properties. Securus is the
first in a new category of polyester copolymer fibers

8
Fig 8. Protective Flex
www.fibre2fashion.com 9

being developed for managed-load applications. It combines polyethylene terephthalate

(PET), which provides restraining properties, and polycaprolactone (PCL), which
provides flexibility and cushioning. During a
collision, Securus fiber seat belts protect the passenger in a three-step process: holding
the passenger securely in place; elongating and cushioning the body as it absorbs the
energy of its forward motion; and restraining and limiting that motion.

Thermal Sensitivity

SmartSkin hydrogel is a new technology involving a

hydrophilic/hydrophobic copolymer, which is embedded
in an open-cell foam layer bonded to the inside of a
closed-cell neoprene layer in a composite wet suit fabric
with nylon or nylon/Lycra outer and inner layers.

SmartSkin absorbs cold water that has flushed into the

suit and expands to close openings at the hands, feet and
Fig 9.Thermal sensitivity fabric neck, preventing more water from entering. Water trapped
inside the suit heats up upon body contact. If the water warms up past a transition
temperature determined by the proportion of hydrophilic to hydrophobic components, the
hydrogel releases water and contracts, allowing more water to flush through the suit. This
passive system constantly regulates the internal temperature no batteries or mechanical
action are needed.

Protecting Against Chemical and Biological Threats:

Chemical and biological weapons, once considered only a
battlefield threat, now intrude into our everyday lives. Weapons of
mass destruction are now, and will continue to be, a threat to all.
These fabrics are helpful in chemical and biological protection.

Fig 10. Protective clothing

9
www.fibre2fashion.com 10

Complete Armor Protection System

CAPS (Complete Armor Protection System) are flexible body armor for law enforcement
and military personnel. CAPS body armor can be configured
to address specific threats, including knife, slash, spike,
fragmentation, ballistic, and stab. It is a multiple threat body
armor system that can be configured with these protective
layers:
Soft round - composite fabric backing with Ballistic fiber >
25g/d
Fig 8. CAPS Knife - flexible Metal Flex Armor (MFA) mosaic solid
element panel
Hard round - (military) component layers
Fragmentation - balanced system

Advantages:

 Maximum protection through the combination of high concealment and low bulk
 System is custom configured to meet specific threat assessments
 Flexibility of MFA panel allows for extremity system designs vs. traditional
system of trauma plates or chain mail
 MFA Interaction with Knives
 MFA tends to grab and hold knife tip after penetration
 MFA damages the knife tip and knife edge
 Reduced threat in multiple strike attacks
 Thin light blades are likely to be broken by MFA
 Most appropriate for defence applications

10
www.fibre2fashion.com 11

Advanced Soldier Ballistic Protection:

The main objective of these fabrics is to develop or insert advances in materials

technology to improve protection and performance of armor systems against conventional
and emerging ballistic threats while minimizing penalties associated with the increased
levels of protection.

Fig 9. Advanced Soldier ballistic protection

Advantages:
 Light weight personnel armor with significant increase in ballistic protection
 Better protection and lighter weight equates to improved survivability and tactical
mobility for the individual
 Enhanced analytical tools for body armor development, test and evaluation and
acquisition/ fielding
 More realistic survivability assessment

Conclusion
The technical textile market is respective to innovative new products. There is
opportunity and need for functional, cost-effective materials. But the market is
fragmented and complex. Development and lead times are often long and expensive. The
market is quite small but exhibits moderately strong growth and produces are generally of
high unit values. Due to increasing health and safety issues at work this may be an

11
www.fibre2fashion.com 12

increasingly attractive segment. Good products are needed and they must work well. It is
a market that offers opportunity, but also one that demands that much development and
testing be done prior to adopting new products. There may be long lead times much
resistance to things new products to market.

References
Wellington sears Handbook of Industrial textiles
A C Horrocks Handbook of technical textiles
www.gentexcorp.com
www.textiles.edu
www.warwickmills.com
www.wikipedia.org

About the Author:

Author is M Tech Textile Technology, Department of Textile Technology, Anna
University, Chennai 600 025

12