PROPERTIES FOR PROTECTIVE APPAREL AND TEXTILES

SELECTION OF PROTECTIVE CLOTHS

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Selecting protective clothing is to determine the hazard, evaluate the potential for exposure and select the degree of protection required. The consequences of direct skin contact can range from minor diseases like dermatitis to systemic poisoning and cancer.

SELECTION FACTORS FOR DESIGN OF PROTECTIVE CLOTHING

Clothing configuration Sizes Clothing Construction Accommodation of other selected ensemble equipment Comfort and restriction of mobility Further, we have to consider the environment in/from which we want protection.

TYPES OF PROTECTIVE CLOTHING

Clothing against heat and flame Clothing against mechanical inputs Fireman's protective clothing Clothing against foul weather (moisture, wind) Clothing against chemical substances (gases, liquids, particles) Clothing against radioactive contamination Protective clothing against electro static charges High visible warning clothing Projectile protection clothing Protective gloves against mechanical and thermal hazards

REQUIREMENTS

Physical requirements Light weight and low bulk High durability and dimensional stability Good handle and drape Low noise emission

Environmental Requirements : Water Repellant Water Proof Wind Proof and snow shedding Thermal Insulating Water vapour permeable UV Resistant Air permeable

Requirements for flame, heat and flash protection: Flame retardance Heat and melt resistance/Low smoke emission

THERMAL PROTECTIVE CLOTHING

The thermal insulation provided by fibrous material is mainly due to the low thermal conductivity of the air entrapped in the fibre web. Thus fine and dimensionally stable fibres at work temperatures are used for the insulation of the building or a garment. Their construction design allows the air stability in order to limit the convection exchanges.

For isothermal garments a polyester microfiber nonwoven filling, combined or not with an aluminized layer to reduce the radiation exchanges, is an efficient thermal protection material thus associated with comfort function

APPLICATION
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b)

Industrial oven Aeronautics or aerospace In the above applications ceramic fibres based on silica, alumina, and zirconium oxide are used. This fibre can withstand a temperature ranging from 1000C to 1400C.

FIRE PROTECTIVE CLOTHING

Good fire protection will be obtained through the use of thermo stable, fire resistant materials maintaining as long as possible the textile integrity and ensuring certain degrees of freedom of comfort as in the case of fireman's suit.

This protective function may be obtained by using naturally thermo stable fibre or by treating this fibre with fire proofing or fire retardant agent before or after spinning on their own or in combination with the fibre ensuring a dimensional stability and mechanical resistance.

The hybrid material is the answer to the functions demanded by the fireman, fire fighter and fighter plane pilot.

Commercially developed products for fire protection:

Carbon X@ R is a yarn from Chapman Innovations, created by spinning PAN (oxidized polyacrylonitile) fibre with an Aramid strengthening fibre.

Glen Guard FR -- a revolutionary flame resistant fabric engineered to protect and serve workers who face the harsh environments of gas/oil refinery and electric utility industries. The strength of our new fabric comes from the flame resistant, durable, comfortable and colorfast properties inherent in advanced, light weight Kermel aramid fibres.

MECHANICAL PROTECTIVE CLOTHING

The mechanical performance have a personal protective function against different risk such as ballistic, blade cuts, puncture, projection of fragments, knives, slashing. Combined use of high performance material such as glass fibre, HT Polyethylene or Steel. Eg, anti-cut gloves.

Current combat clothing systems are based upon the layer principle, where each layer performs a specific function This is a basic fighting system to which can be added other protective layers.

CHEMICAL PROTECTIVE CLOTHING

Many industrial sectors often use hazardous chemicals or gases products against which it is essential to be protected. This is more especially in case of chemical, photography, automotive, aeronautics and agricultural industry. It is also in case of military field and multiple examples have shown importance of having a most performing garments and gloves.

The necessary performance level varied according to risk under gone. The equipment elements are therefore conceived with various shapes and material, efficiency level of which against chemical must be controlled, eg, fabric coated with Neoprene, PVC and Latex.

UV PROTECTIVE CLOTHING

Flexible textile structures, which can block the harmful UVR are UV protection clothing. The structure itself should have good service life and it should prevent the UVR from getting transmitted through the structure. Hindered Amine Light Stabilizers (HALS) provides very good resistance against UVR while UV Absorbers provide good protection from UVR by absorbing it.

The monofilaments have been tested for weatherablity to predict the service life and also evaluated for Sun Protection Factor (SPF) in film form. The results from these tests would be used to find the combination giving best UV stability and protection.

WATER PROOF/BREATHABLE FABRICS

Moisture accumulation in the breathable protective garments and in whole clothing systems is much smaller than in the non-breathable one

METHODS OF MAKING THE FABRIC BREATHABLE

There are six basic ways of creating a waterproof/ breathable fabric. This mainly involves spraying a free fabric with layers of coating to form a waterproof coat. The more layers, the more waterproof (and often less "breathable"). Likewise a plate can be sprayed and the dried coating removed to create a film that can be laminated to a fabric.

The following are the brand names associated with specific water-proof methods: Microporous coatings - Triple Point Hydrophilic Coating - Miai Scantsx Microporous laminates Aquatex Hydrophilic laminates Sympate Bicomponent Coating - Entrant G Bicomponent laminate - Gore Tex

UV RESIST, WATER REPELLANT BREATHABLE FABRIC:

UV-resist, breathable fabrics are produce for use in the cold regions of India as high-altitude fabrics. For UV-resist property, a dispersion of benzotrizol-type derivative and a silicone-based product are taken and perfluoro-alkyl-type fluorocarbon-based compound and fluorocarbon resin-type compound are used as water-repellent finishes.

It is found that the benzotriozol derivative for UV-resist and the fluorocarbon resin-type compound for waterrepellent finish give best results. Both chemicals are applied sequentially and show good wash fastness.

Antistatic Protection This is an example of a typical two-layer fabric construction constituting outer fabric, and liner of textiles to protect against electrostatic charges.

High visibility and weather protection This is an example of a typical three layer fabric construction constituting outer fabric, membrane and liner of textiles to protect against extreme weather conditions.

CONCLUSION

There is need for functional and cost effective materials. Development and lead times are often long and expensive. Currently available protective textiles (aramids such as Kevlar) are often heavy, bulky, and uncomfortable with limited protective performance. These characteristics limit their use; this is where nanoenabled textiles may provide a solution.

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