Light and strong textile for protective products

Important results from the project

The goal of the project "Light and strong textile for protective products" is to develop textile that is ligther and stronger than textiles tradionally used for saw protection and camouflage. The purpose is to improve the working environment, comfort and protection, for the users of the final products, and at the same time decrease the environmental load during transport due to the lower weigth.

Expected long term effects

Two textiles have been manufactured in the project consisting of a mix of yarns with extreme material properties. These textiles are 30-40 % ligther and 10-15 % stronger than textil manufactured in traditional material, i.e. polyester. For a lumberjack, working with a chainsaw, this means a much safer working enviroment when protective clothing can be made ligther and thus increase the security for the worker. In a similar manner, the work for the soldier on the battlefield becomes easier due to the lower weigth of for example camouflage nets.

Approach and implementation

This one year project included a pre-study phase, a production phase and an analysis phase. During the pre-study a survey of yarns with intresting material properties was made to identify yarns with extreme material proteries, such as weigth, density and strength. Several design concepts where made based on the survey and two textile constructions where chosen. An adoption of the knitting machines was made after the per-study phase. Prototype manufacturing started and samples where made. The samples where analysed and material properties where measured.