PROTECTIVE TEXTILES

INTRODUCTION

Protection from extreme environmental conditions

has always been a critical requirement of textile
products.

The main target of the technical protective fabrics is

to improve people safety in their workplaces. A
technical protective fabric can save a worker's life,
that's why, most of them are mainly used to
manufacture PPE (personal protective equipment).
 Why do Need Protective Textile ?
Used to protect human beings/atmosphere from
various natural/industrial hazards.
Possible environmental hazards are heat, cold, rain,
snow, wind, ultraviolet radiations, abrasion, dust,
micro organisms, radioactive radiations, static
electricity etc.
Corona Viruses
Some industrial hazards are fire, flash, industrial
chemicals, biohazards, high velocity projectiles,
cutting by sharp objects etc.
We need to safe guard us from the above hazards in
case we come in the vicinity of those.
 Properties Required for Protech
Light Weight And Low Bulk
High Durability And Dimensional Stability
Good Handle And Drape
Low Noise Emission
Water Repellant
Wind Proof
Thermal Insulating
UV Resistant
Air Permeable
Flame Retardant
Heat And Melt Resistance
Low Smoke Emission
Safety From Radar Spectrum
Safety from corona virus
 Materials Used
Fiber Uses
Filter bags for hot gas, Industrial protective clothing,
Meta
aramid Racing driver’s suit, Cargo covers, Boat covers, Fire
hose reinforcement.
Body armour, Tyre cords, Radiator hose and brake
Para
aramid shoes of racing cars, Reinforced composites for
aircraft, High speed boat components
Carbon
Aircraft and Space shuttle, Automotive, Medical
Implants, Marine
Aircraft and Space shuttle, Consumer goods,
Glass Roofing Tiles, Corrosion resistant products used in
highway overlay
Fiber Uses
Sail cloth, Protective clothing, Marine ropes
Polypropylene
and cables, Boat hulls
Sports and leisure garments, Foundation
Spandex
garments, Support hose
Racing driver’s suit, Hot gas filtration,
PBI
Thermal protective clothing
Filtration media for oil industry, Medical
Tencel
Textile, Industrial fabric
Military Application. Aircraft, Automobile,
Inorganic Fibre
Sport, Electrical Application
Fluorine Filtration media for corrosive material,
Containing Fibre Packing Material, Refrigeration
 Classification of Protective Textiles
Ballistic Protective Textiles
Space Suits
Radiation Protective Textiles
Ultra Violet Protection Finish
Breathable Fabrics
Electrical Protective Textiles
Protective Health Care Garments
Biological Protective Textiles
High Temperature Protective Textiles
Flame Resistant Protective Textiles
Chemical Protective Textiles
Mechanical Protective Textiles
Clean Room Technology
High Visibility Textiles
 High Temperature Protective Textiles
A high temperature textile material is defined as a
material, which can be used above 200o C without
decomposition and without losing its major physical
properties.
Although some fibres can be used for insulation and
retain some strength even above 2000o F, they lose
their textile characteristics at that temperature range.
The thermal insulation provided by fibrous material is
mainly due to the low thermal conductivity of the air
entrapped in the fiber web.
High Temperature Protective Textiles

High
Temperature
Protective
Blankets

Nomex-Kevlar Heat Oven Gloves

Resistant Gloves
Fibres Used for High Temperature Protective Textile
• Aramid (meta & para)
• PAN/ carbon
• Glass
• Melamine
• PBI
• Phenolic
• Polyacrylate
• PTFE
• Polyamide
 Flame Retardant Clothing
Flame resistant fabrics are designed to resist ignition
and self-put off when ignited. It should also put off as
soon as the ignition source is removed.
Naturally thermo stable or fire retardant agent treated
fibers are used for obtaining fire protective function in
textiles. Flame resistance in fabrics can be developed
by two ways:
1. By using inherent flame resistant materials and
fibers
2. By giving FR treatments to fibers and fabrics
 Flame Retardant Clothing

Proximity Suit & Approach Suit

Fire Entry Suit, Kiln Suit,
 Fibres Used for FR Textiles
• Meta aramid
• Para aramid
• Modacrylic
• Polybenzimidazole (PBI)
• Carbon
• Polyimide
• FR viscose
• FR cotton
• FR polyester
 Chemical Protective Textiles
Used to slope or isolate individuals from the
chemical, physical, and biological hazards that
may be encountered during hazardous
materials operations.

During chemical operations, it is not always

apparent when exposure occurs. Chemical
Protective Clothing is used mainly to prevent
exposure during hazardous activities.
 Chemical Protective Textiles

Chemical Spray Protection Chemical Splash Protection

 Levels of Chemical Protection
A C

B D

Vapour Support Function

Protective Suit Protective Garment

Liquid Splash Coveralls,

Protective Suit Safety boots/shoes,
etc.
 Mechanical Protective Textiles
MPT’s have a personal protective function
against different risk such as ballistic,
blade cuts, fabric puncture, projection of
fragments, knives, slashing etc besides
combined use of high performance
material such as glass fiber, HT
Polyethylene or steel.
 Mechanical Protective Textiles

Chain Saw
Clothing

Cut Resistant Puncture Resistant

Gloves Gloves
Ballistic Protection
 Ballistic Protection

* Protection from the bullets and steel fragments from

hand-held weapons and exploding ammunitions.

• Ballistic protection process is a complex

phenomenon involving the transverse velocity
propagation, tensile properties and the fine structure.

* Use of ultra-high modulus polyethylene (UHMPE)

fibres produced by gel spinning has been started in
manufacturing of ballistic protective fabrics.
Bullet Proof Vest Components
Radiation Protection

Radiation Detection
 Radiation Protection
• Those working in nuclear plants.
• Those working at & near the source of
radioactive raw materials are prone to
frequent exposure to alpha, beta and gama
radiations.
• Protection is also necessary for X-ray
professionals.
• Workers in cancer treatment centers and other
places subject to ionizing radiation.
 UV- Protective Textiles

UV Protective Garments Sunburn

UV- Protective Textiles

UV Protective Garments
 UV- Protective Textiles
Ultra violet protective finish reduces a person's UVR
exposure.
Electromagnetic radiations of wavelength between 150 and
400 nm are termed as Ultraviolet rays.
Approximately 10% of sun’s energy is in the form of ultraviolet
radiations.
Atmosphere absorbs most of the noxious radiations emitted
by the sun, only 5% of the harmful radiations reach to the
surface of the earth.
The UV blocking capacity of a fibre can be improved by
incorporating TiO2 into its structure.
 Clean Room Textile

Anticontaminant Mask & Dress

Clean Room Garments

 Clean Room Textile
Clean room is a work area with controlled
temperature and humidity to protect sensitive
equipment from contamination.
Clean room operators are required to wear special non-
linting body suits, overshoes, gloves, head coverings
and masks.
In some clean rooms, workers even pass through an air
blast upon entering to remove particles and ensure
minimal contamination of the environment. Clean
room textiles should be lint free, antistatic and
resistant to human contamination such as from hair or
dead skin
High Visibility Textiles

High Visibility Jackets

High visibility materials have changed the appearance of
clothes worn for both work and leisure pursuits. Today, there
are more technologies on offer than in the past, which are
able to make people and objects more visible. Also, a wider
availability of fabrics, materials, designs and colours has led
to greater choice.

With advances in technology, designers and manufacturers of

this type of apparel have been able to make safety features
fashionable. Modern manufacturing techniques allow the use
of colour to disguise reflective material so that it can not be
seen during normal daylight.
 Metallized Fabrics
Applications:-
Conductive Textiles
Cut Resistant Fabrics
Nonwoven Textiles
 Metallized Fabrics
Metallized products are used in various industrial, speciality and
protective clothing applications. Some applications of metallized fabrics
in textiles are mentioned below
1. Coating /laminating fabric with metal surfaces for better heat
reflection.
2. Blending metal sliver with natural/synthetic fibres to produce
conductive textiles.
3. Composite yarns made of metal fibres yarns and textile yarns are
suitable for cut resistant fabrics
4. Chopped metal fibres can be air or wet layered with textile fibres to
form nonwoven textiles
 Innovations in Protective Textiles
Aluminized Fabrics
Advanced Protection system
High Performance Fibres
Electro-conductive Fibres
Novel Yarn Spinning Technology

Challenges in Protective Textiles

 Optimization of important properties.
 Establish fibre properties according to end use.
 Market Trends
The technical textile consumption under protech is growing
very rapidly

The key Protech products are high altitude clothing, bullet-

proof jackets and fire retardant fabrics.

In the medium term (next 5 years), the protective textiles

industry is expected to achieve growth at the rate of 11-12%
year on year.

The demand for the protech products is dependent on the

improvements in worker safety practices, fire protective
standards for construction and the defense sector.
 Conclusion
 Continuous innovations & better understanding of the consumer
requirements is the need of the hour.

 The technological trends and challenges ahead will be determined by

market pull demands, increasing environmental awareness, personal
safety and comfort, and performance requirements.

 Due to the increasing health and safety issues at work, protective

textiles are the most essential and attractive segment of textile market
and will continue to do so.