Dyneema®, the world’s

strongest fiber™ Visit Eurocord

7-1-2010
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Dyneema®, the world s strongest fiber™

The strongest fiber in the world

ü  15 times stronger than steel
ü  Lighter than water
ü  Extremely durable

So it can:
ü  Stop bullets
ü  Pull oil tankers
ü  Help to sail around the world in 50 days

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Applications with Dyneema®

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Applications with Dyneema®

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The basics

Dyneema is a fiber made from Ultra High

Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE)

Normal Polyethylene, low orientation, low

molecular weight, crystalinity < 60%

Dyneema®, very high molecular orientation

and weigth, crystalinity approximately 95%

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Dyneema® Gel Spinning process

suspension
UHMW-PE

continuous extrusion

metering pump

spinneret oven

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Some yarn basics
How is Dyneema yarn build up?
•  Yarn consists our of multiple filaments.
•  The amount and diameter of the filaments determine the diameter of the yarn.
•  The diameter of filaments of Dyneema® grades is between 9 and 30 µm.
What does dtex mean?
•  Dtex is a measure for fiber weight (thickness) and is defined as dtex = gram / 10.000m
•  The dtex of Dyneema® fibers range between
–  55 dtex (=25x monofilaments of 2,2 dtex each)
–  2640 dtex (=780x monofilaments of 2.2dtex each)

What is a yarn construction?

•  Multiple yarns can be combined into a construction - linear (like a rope) or 3D (like a
shape).
•  Variables: grade, dtex, textile process (braiding, weaving, knitting, …), stitch density, …
•  Various pre- and post treatment options have been developed by DSM Dyneema
•  Every specific construction has specific mechanical characteristics => opportunity to tailor!
•  EuroFibers helps to translate your mechanical needs into specific constructions.

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Microscopic view of a braid made of 16 yarns,
each yarn consisting of about 100 filaments

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 Typical properties of Dyneema®
High pliability Hydrophobic
Soft as silk

Extremely Low melting

strong point (~150°C)

High fatigue
Cut and tear
resistance
resistance

High chemical
Creeps under resistance
constant load

High abrasion
Low coefficient resistance
of friction
Low density
Electrical
insulator
Low
elongation

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Conventional Fibers Vs. Performance Fibers

PES
•  Dacron® HMPE
LCP •  Dyneema®
•  Diolen® •  Vectran® •  Spectra®
•  Trevira®
•  No brand name

PA Aramid
•  Nylon® •  Kevlar® PBO
•  Enkalon® •  Twaron® •  Zylon®
•  Perlon® •  Technora®
•  No brand name •  Nomex®

Conventional High performance fibers

fibers
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There is a big difference in tenacity of fibers…

Free breaking length

Dyneema® 349 Km
Zylon® 346 Km

Vectran® 247 Km
Technora® 227 Km
Twaron® 200 Km

* Tested according to
ISO 2062
Diolen® 77 Km ** Literature value

Steel* 25 Km

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…as well as in the elongation of materials
Diolen® Technora® Zylon® Steel**
Twaron® Vectran® Dyneema®

2,8% 3,0%
3,1% 3,3%
4,0% 3,5%
5X
Elongation at break
* Synthetic fibers tested according to ISO 2062
** Literature value

12%
* Literature value

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Dyneema® is the only floating fiber

Floats
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2
Sinks
3
Steel
Specific gravity*

4 Diolen® (PES)
g/cm3

Twaron® (Aramid)
5 Technora® (Aramid)
Vectran® (LCP)
6 Zylon® (PBO)
Dyneema® (HMPE)
7

* Literaturevalues

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Aging of pure fibers differs quite a bit
% original strength retained after aging 336 hrs*

Dyneema® (HMPE)
Diolen® (PES)
Twaron® (Aramid)
Technora® (Aramid)
Zylon® (PBO)
Vectran® (LCP)

*Aged according to ASTM G–155

*Tested according to ISO 2062

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

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Cut resistance
Dyneema® filament stretched over the edge of a razorblade (SEM)

Polyethylene cables flatten when placed under tension.

This property makes the fiber highly cut resistant.
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 Abrasion resistance
80000

Test on emery paper @ 25

° C*
70000

60000
nr. of cycles to break

50000

40000 Diolen® (PES)

Twaron® (Aramid)
30000 Technora® (Aramid)
Vectran® (LCP)
20000
Zylon® (PBO)
Dyneema® (HMPE)
10000
*Tested at Staatliches Pruefamt fuer
das Textilgewerbe Mü nchberg
0

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Bending of an LCP filament

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Bending of an aramid filament

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Bending of a PBO filament

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Bending of a Dyneema® filament

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Comparison of fiber properties
Diolen® Twaron ® Technora ® Vectran ® Zylon® Dyneema®
Properties (PES) (Aramid) (Aramid) (LCP) (PBO) (HMPE)

Tenacity 7,6 19,6 22,3 24,2 33,9 34,2

(cN/dTex)

Elongation 12,3 3,1 4,0 3,3 2,8 3,4

(%)

Specific gravity
(Kg/dm3) 1,38 1,39 1,39 1,41 1,56 0,97

Aging
Good Poor Poor Very poor Very poor Very good

Abrasion Very good Very poor Very poor Poor Poor Very good

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Overview of titers and grades

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 Contact

EuroFibers BV
P.O.Box 599
6200 AN Maastricht
The Netherlands

info@eurofibers.com
www.eurofibers.com
+31 43 30 40 014

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