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Cut Protective Textiles
The Textile Institute Book Series
Incorporated by Royal Charter in 1925, The Textile Institute was established as the
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Circular Economy in Textiles and Apparel, Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu,
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Nanofinishing of Textile Materials, Majid Montazer Tina Harifi, 978-0-08-101214-7
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Inorganic and Composite Fibers, Boris Mahltig Yordan Kyosev, 978-0-08-102228-3
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Handbook of Properties of Textile and Technical Fibres, 2nd Edition, A. R. Bunsell,
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The Textile Institute Book Series

Cut Protective Textiles

Daniel (Xuedong) Li
Woodhead Publishing is an imprint of Elsevier
The Officers’ Mess Business Centre, Royston Road, Duxford, CB22 4QH, United Kingdom
50 Hampshire Street, 5th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, OX5 1GB, United Kingdom
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No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
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This book and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by the
Publisher (other than as may be noted herein).
Notices
Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience
broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical
treatment may become necessary.
Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in
evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In
using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of
others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility.
To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors,
assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products
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instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein.
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
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Publisher: Matthew Deans


Acquisitions Editor: Brain Guerin
Editorial Project Manager: John Leonard
Production Project Manager: Debasish Ghosh
Cover Designer: Christian Bilbow
Typeset by MPS Limited, Chennai, India
Contents

Foreword by Alan E. Learned vii


Foreword by Vlodek Gabara ix
Preface xi

1 Cut and slash hazards 1

2 Evaluate cut resistance 15


2.1 ISO13997 15
2.2 EN388:2016 and ISO23388:2018 21
2.3 ASTM F2992/F2992M-15 34
2.4 ISO13998 40
2.5 ISO13999 44
2.5.1 ISO13999-3 45
2.5.2 ISO13999-2 48
2.5.3 ISO13999-1 49
2.6 Cut resistance for protection against chainsaw 50
2.6.1 ISO and EN standards series for chainsaw protection 50
2.6.2 ASTM standards series for chainsaw protection 53

3 Fundamental of fibers 59
3.1 Basic forms of fibers 59
3.1.1 Staple and staple spun yarn 61
3.1.2 Filament yarn 81
3.1.3 Textured yarn 81
3.1.4 Composite yarn: core-spun yarn and wrapped yarn 87
3.2 Basic properties of fibers 96
3.2.1 Linear density 96
3.2.2 Mechanical properties 101
3.2.3 Hairiness 107
3.2.4 Yarn evenness 107
3.2.5 Twist 109

4 Convert fiber to textile 111


4.1 Knitting 111
4.2 Weaving 121
4.3 Nonwoven 125
vi Contents

5 Choice of materials for cut protective textile 129


5.1 Spinning 129
5.1.1 Melt spinning 129
5.1.2 Solution spinning 129
5.2 Materials 133
5.2.1 para-Aramid 133
5.2.2 High-strength polyethylene (ultrahigh molecular weight
polyethylene) 147
5.2.3 Glass fiber 165
5.2.4 Steel wire 169
5.2.5 Nylon fiber 175
5.2.6 Polyester fiber 176
5.2.7 Wholly aromatic polyester fiber 180
5.2.8 Cotton fiber 185
5.2.9 Poly-p-phenylene benzobisoxazole fiber 186
5.2.10 High strength and high modulus polypropylene fiber 188
5.2.11 Polyvinyl alcohol fiber 190
5.2.12 Basalt fiber 193
5.2.13 Polyimide fiber 194
5.2.14 Tungsten wire 198
5.2.15 Other fibers 200
5.3 Dipping or coating materials for cut protective textile 201
5.3.1 Solvent-borne polyurethane 206
5.3.2 Water-borne polyurethane dispersion/emulsion 212
5.3.3 Natural rubber latex 212
5.3.4 Nitrile rubber latex 214
5.3.5 Chloroprene latex 216
5.3.6 Polyvinyl chloride dipping or dotting 216
5.3.7 Silicone rubber dotting 217
5.3.8 Other coating materials 218

6 Mechanism of cut and cut resistance, factors affecting cut


resistance, and development trend of cut resistant products 219
6.1 Mechanism of cut 219
6.2 Factors affecting cut resistance 224
6.3 Development trend and measures to improve cut resistance 228

Appendix A: Conversions between different units of tenacity and strength 233


Appendix B: Data in patents 235
Appendix C: Statistical analysis for data in patents 237
Appendix D: Physical properties of materials 241
Appendix E: Constructions of knit fabric with different fibers 245
References 247
Index 273
Foreword

Over 1 million workers in North America will be taken to the emergency room this
year for the treatment of hand injuries. Seventy percent of those injuries occurred,
while the workers were not wearing any protective gloves, and the remaining 30%
were wearing the wrong type of gloves for the level of hazard they were
experiencing.
So YES!!!, cut protective gloves is an important topic from both a business cost
perspective, with the average medical treatment cost ranging from $6000 to $10,000
for each injury, and from a personal pain and suffering perspective, where the impact
is not only in the workplace, but also at home among families when a mother/father/
wife/husband/brother/sister/son/daughter returns from work injured. According to
the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA is a federal agency in
the United States responsible for assuring a safe and healthful environment for work-
ers), more than 70% of those injuries could have been avoided with the appropriate
training, design, and personal protective equipment, such as cut protective gloves.
It was over a decade ago at a technology leadership conference that I first met
Dr. Xuedong Li. My career in textiles and technology development has spanned
over 40 years, and in that first meeting, I was impressed by Dr. Li’s passion for
safety and protection. During the following years while Dr. Li worked in my global
technology team, I learned to appreciate even more his strong intellectual curiosity
that drove him to relentlessly pursue the fundamentals of his development projects,
searching for better ways to provide higher performance and better protection.
Dr. Li’s book on Cut Protective Gloves will provide you both a broad and deep
look at this fascinating and complex topic, cut protection. He will introduce the
basic building blocks of the protective materials, polymers, and fibers, how the
fibers and fabrics are measured to understand their ability to protect the workers,
and how the materials are constructed into their final protective form, gloves. Dr.
Li will explore with you the fundamental mechanisms of cut protection and will
even unpack for you several of the current mysteries that still exist in this field.
Whether you are just beginning your journey to understand cut protection, or if
you are an experienced professional in this area, I believe you will find new
insights that will act as a catalyst to ultimately help workers return home safe and
uninjured.
Dr. Alan E. Learned
Retired Global Technology Manager
DuPont de Nemours, Inc.
Foreword

I have enjoyed writing this foreword for two reasons: I have spent most of my pro-
fessional life doing research in the field of advanced fibers and I have known, the
author, Dr. Daniel Li, for most of his professional life.
R&D in advanced fiber field shares many elements with research on other fibers.
In both cases, one needs to develop understanding of polymer chemistry and tech-
nology of polymer formation, in both one needs to develop understanding of engi-
neering of fiber formation and many other technologies. What distinguishes the
advanced fiber field is the necessity to understand how these fibers perform in final
applications. This is as sophisticated and as fundamental science as science of poly-
merization chemistry or spinning solution rheology. This understanding is necessary
to design final objects while maximizing the utilization of the unusual physical
properties of these fibers. The unique anisotropy of properties of these fibers has to
be considered in almost all applications.
Dr. Li monograph covers cut protection, one the important applications of these
fibers. The monograph covers a complete range of topics required to understand the
problem. It includes basic science of fibers, yarns, composite yarn, and finally fab-
rics and their production. A very useful, brief description of fibers used in this
application gives readers the necessary background information. Mechanism of cut
protection and treatment of fabrics used in this application completes the
monograph.
In addition to its completeness, it is well written and I am convinced it will be
useful for scientists and engineers with different levels of familiarity with the field.
I do hope that Dr. Li will consider expanding his work into other applications of
advanced fibers.

Dr. Vlodek Gabara


Retired Global Technology Manager,
DuPont de Nemours, Inc.
January 2019
Preface

The awareness of and demand for safety protection have been constantly increasing
along with the ongoing development of our global economies. Worldwide, the
developed countries are leading in the legislation and execution for labor protection
as well as the development and use of personal protective equipment, which set
examples for and can be used by the developing countries.
I used to work in DuPont for many years on the applications of aramid fibers. In
the manufacturing sector, the safety system and practices of DuPont have been well
known across the world and have been viewed by many as setting the highest bar
of safety performance in industry. DuPont has also participated in establishing
many safety standards in the United States. I have experienced and learned tremen-
dously both safety theory and practice during working in the laboratories in
DuPont. In the DuPont manufacturing groups, safety contacts, auditing, and training
were expected on each shift of every day. . .7 days per week. . .365 days per year. In
nonmanufacturing group, safety is also a daily topic. In the R&D labs I worked,
besides all the safety measures and information exchange done on a daily basis, a
formal monthly safety training was mandatory for every employee. The training
covered different contents each month, such as electric safety, hand safety, machin-
ery safety, chemical safety, household safety, sports safety, motorcycle and bicycle
safety, pedestrian safety, children safety, sometimes latest changes in laws and reg-
ulations such as new traffic laws. I always left my cell phones in office and sat in
front of the training class in order for me to focus on the training. More than 10
years, such experience in training also benefits me tremendously.
I had the opportunity to get hands-on and participate in upgrading many types of
equipment and processes to improve the safety. As I handled lots of equipment, in
DuPont’s machinery safety management standard and practice have tremendously
benefited me at my job.
The safety practices of DuPont not only cover on-the-job areas, but also extend
to off-the-job, especially to the employees’ families, for instance, household safety,
appliance safety, children safety. The strict policy of safety belt use and the penalty
for not using also help to save lives of my colleagues who became involved in traf-
fic accidents. I always remember a surprising moment in Shanghai, China that a
taxi driver told me that I must be from DuPont when I got into his taxi and insisted
on getting the seat belt to fasten. Influenced by the safety culture of DuPont, many
employees equip fire extinguishers at home, which is not common in China. This
did save one of my colleagues’ family in a home fire incident.
In addition, aramid fibers are widely used in protective products. As my techni-
cal field was in aramid fibers, I did extensive research and development in cut
xii Preface

protective products. A large portion of workplace injuries are hand injuries, with
mechanical hazards, including cuts, being the most common. However, a search of
the literature reveals that no definitive books have been written on this very impor-
tant topic. Likewise there is also very limited academic research published on this
subject. After having conducted extensive research and development in cut protec-
tive products during my career, I felt compelled to summarize the critical knowl-
edge on this topic. I hope that readers of this book will be able to better understand
the complexities of cut protection and continue to advance the technology in a way
that helps to protect more people in their daily work for the decades to come.
Originally, I intended to write a book on all major applications of aramid fiber, in
which cut protection was supposed to be only one chapter. But during the writing of
this chapter, the contents were gradually expanded and eventually became a stand-
alone book. Some basic knowledge of textile and fiber materials is added, and thus
this book can be used for all practitioners in this industry along the entire value chain.
No confidential information from DuPont was used in writing this book.
As I have a full-time busy job and also demanding family needs, I can only use
part of the weekends and holidays to write this book to make sure this writing work
does not conflict with the full-time job and family needs. It has been a difficult
journey. I got up at 5:30 a.m. on every weekend day and holiday during the 2 years
of writing, including in the coldest winter, and write until 8:30 or 9 a.m. when my
daughters started to be active. Though this book is not long, it still took me more
than 2 years to complete. I hereby would like to appreciate my family for their tol-
erance, especially my two daughters Esther and Joy. Though they really wanted to
play with me, they knew I was rushing to complete this book and therefore behaved
very well not to disturb my writing. Thank you Esther and Joy, you are my sun-
shine. And to my lovely wife, none of this would be possible without your love and
support. You are my rock and my inspiration.
I would like to extend my appreciation to Dr. Alan E. Learned and Dr. Vlodek
Gabara. Dr. Learned used to lead the DuPont global personal protection technology
team in aramid business and now has already retired. Dr. Learned helped me review
the entire book and gave invaluable suggestions and also helped me on the language in
this book. Dr. Gabara used to be a DuPont Fellow and had spent most of his career on
aramid technology. He is a worldwide recognized high performance fiber expert and
has played a critical role in commercial success of Kevlar and Nomx aramid fibers. He
therefore earned a name of “Godfather of Kevlar Fiber.” He has retired from DuPont.
Dr. Gabara has been a role model for me in my technical career and encouraged me to
write something from application aspect. He helped me review the book.
I would also like to extend my appreciation to Larry J. Prickett, a productive
researcher in DuPont. Larry has worked on Kevlar aramid fiber for more than 40
years and developed many cut protective products containing Kevalr aramid fiber. He
is a very kind coach and taught me a lot in cut protection and cut protective products.

Daniel (Xuedong) Li
Shanghai, China
July 2019
Cut and slash hazards
1
According to the data released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were
approximately 2.8 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses reported by pri-
vate industry in 2017, among which 882,730 occupational injuries and illnesses
resulted in days away from work.1 Besides, there was a total of 89,180 injuries
caused by cut, laceration or punctures (not only on hands), accounting for some
10% of the total injuries. While the top two categories are sprains, strains, tears,
and soreness and pain, which are usually caused by overexertion of body, over-
stretch, and awkward body position, not by tools, as a contrast, the cut, lacerations,
and punctures are usually caused by tools. Among these 882,730 injuries and ill-
nesses, 201,910 (22.9%) occurred to hands, arms, and wrists. Hence, cut protection,
especially for hand protection, is critically important to workplace safety. Table 1.1
shows the incident rate of different categories of injuries in the private industry of
the United States in 2017.
Cut hazards are everywhere. Cuts and lacerations occur at a rate of 8.1 incidents
for every 10,000 workers. Some common workplaces with high cut hazards include
the following:
1. Sheet metal handling such as metal forging and stamping, and sheet metal manual carry-
ing. For instance, in stamping workshops of car manufacturing facilities, the workers
need to transport thin steel sheets. It is often unavoidable to do manual handling of sheet
metal on many occasions. Very thin sheet metal poses significant cut injury threats to

Table 1.1 Incident rate in the private industry of the United States in 2017.

Nature of injury or illness Percentage of different categories


Sprains, strains, and tears 35.3
Soreness and pain 16.2
Cuts, lacerations, and punctures 10.1
Fractures 9.5
Bruise and contusions 9.0
Multiple traumatic injuries 2.0
Heat (thermal) burns 1.6
Carpal tunnel syndrome 0.6
Amputations 0.5
Chemical burns and corrosions 0.3
Tendonitis 0.3
All others 14.6
Source: From Bureau of Labor Statistics, USA. ,bls.gov/iif/oshsum.htm#17Summary_News_Release..
Cut Protective Textiles. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-820039-1.00001-8
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
2 Cut Protective Textiles

the workers. The sharp edge can easily cut through flesh and even bones especially when
the sheet metal slips from hands if the workers do not grip it well. The author witnessed
an injury when a worker in a stamping workshop of an automotive manufacturing factory
carried a stainless steel sheet and it slipped from his hand and caused a thumb cut, even
though he wore a pair of cut-resistant gloves. Handling sheet metal is shown in Fig. 1.1.
2. Metal-processing factories where workers need to handle processed parts and offcuts.
The workplaces are different from those in the metal forging and stamping process but
the hazards are similar (Fig. 1.2).
3. Glass manufacturing factories where workers need to handle glass sheets (see Fig. 1.3). The
edges of finished glass-sheet products are usually not a problem as they are usually ground
and, therefore, are smooth. The threat is posed by those semifinished sheets and broken
sheets. Many workers suffer cut on hands and arms when they carry and move glass sheets.
The author also witnessed many injuries caused by glass in glass-sheet factories. Some of
those injuries are very serious and some workers lose some functions permanently.
4. Slaughtering. Butchery is a very old occupation. The cutting hazard is very obvious to
everyone. Slaughtering usually requires a high force for cutting; therefore the threat level
is high (see Fig. 1.4). Steel chainmail gloves are commonly used in slaughtering houses
to respond to this kind of high level of risk.
5. Forestry (Fig. 1.5). In the forestry industry, logging usually requires full-body protection
due to the use of chainsaw, and hand protection is the minimum requirement.
6. Recycling and waste handling (Fig. 1.6). According to a study, garbage collection is
ranked as one of the most dangerous jobs in the United States.2 There are many kinds of
stuff that may cut the workers, such as broken glasses, knives, cans, porcelain, and so on
and so forth. Fig. 1.5 shows the hazards of handling waste.
7. Electronics assembling and handling exhibit cutting hazards too. For instance, the sharp
edge of printed circuit board and the soldering point can easily cut hands when the hands

Figure 1.1 Sheet metal handling.


Source: Courtesy MCR Safety.
Cut and slash hazards 3

Figure 1.2 Metal processing.


Source: From Chevanon Photography on Pexels.com.

Figure 1.3 Glass-sheet handling.


Source: Courtesy Kezzled Pakistan.

slide on top of them. Fig. 1.7 shows such working environment. Certainly, the sharp sol-
dering points also pose puncturing hazard which is different from cut hazard. The punc-
turing is not a subject of this book.
8. Food processing (Fig. 1.8). In food-processing factories and even in busy kitchens the
workers do very frequent cutting with sharp tools; therefore the cutting hazard is very
high.
9. Construction (Fig. 1.9). In construction work the workers need to handle construction
materials with rough surfaces, such as cement blocks and bricks, and sharp-edged mate-
rials and tools, such as cut pipe ends and structure metal.
10. Pressurized glass bottle handling such as in beer brewery (Fig. 1.10). The pressurized
glass bottles sometimes break or explode under pressure due to defects in the glass. The
workers need to wear cut-resistant gloves when handling these bottles.
4 Cut Protective Textiles

Figure 1.4 Slaughtering house.


Source: Courtesy Birk Staal Denmark.

Figure 1.5 Use chainsaw.


Source: Courtesy Irish Farmers Journal.
Cut and slash hazards 5

Figure 1.6 Waste handling.


Source: From ,https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2017-10/recycling_from_above_0.jpg..

Figure 1.7 Handling electronics.


Source: From ,denvergov.org..

11. Pulp and paper industry. Pulp and paper manufacturing poses heavy hazards to the work-
ers due to the massive weights and rolling and sliding pulpwood loads and fast-moving
sharp paper. Many people have experience of being cut by copy paper in the office when
a piece of paper slides on top of a finger. The moving speed of paper is much faster than
that in the office and, therefore, is much more hazardous in terms of cut injury potential.
Fig. 1.11 shows the personal protection from cutting by paper.
12. Leather and textile mills. Leather and textile industries exercise numerous cutting in their
manufacturing, including cutting leather to desired shape, cutting yarn threads and
6 Cut Protective Textiles

Figure 1.8 Food processing.


Source: From chuttersnap on Unsplash.

Figure 1.9 Construction work.


Source: Courtesy MCR Safety.
Cut and slash hazards 7

Figure 1.10 Handling pressurized glass bottles.


Source: Courtesy Myanmar Times.

Figure 1.11 Handling paper.


8 Cut Protective Textiles

fabrics to metered length or desired dimension, and so on. In textile mills the moving
threads in spinning are also a type of cutting hazard to the operators. Fig. 1.12 shows the
cutting hazard in fabric mill.
13. Sports. In hockey sports (Fig. 1.13) the skate blades are fairy sharp. Many players have
full protection over the body but some skip the throat protection due to discomfort.
However, throat cut accident did happen from time to time.3,4

Figure 1.12 Cut fabrics.


Source: Courtesy Ordnur Textile and Finance.

Figure 1.13 Risk of skate blade slash injury.


Source: Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash.
Cut and slash hazards 9

Last but not least, many office and household works are also hazardous, such as
cutting with knives and scissors, cleaning glass fragments, scrap metals, and doing
plumbing work.
The top 30 nature of work which has the highest incident rates of cut and lacera-
tion in the United States are listed in Table 1.2.1
The entire personal protection equipment (PPE) market was valued at some US
$48 billion in 2018, and expected to grow to some 70 billion by 2025 at an esti-
mated compounded annual growth rate of 6.6%.5 There is no market size informa-
tion available for the cut protection alone. Usually the protective products’ market

Table 1.2 Incident rates of cut and laceration by the nature of work in 2017.

Nature of work Total injury Injury rate of cut


rate and laceration
Marinas 224.5 92.9
Framing contractors 319.8 90.4
Flooring contractors 136.2 56.9
Blind and shade manufacturing 197.1 56.3
Electroplating anodizing and coloring metal 131.1 54.7
Siding contractors 274.1 54.3
Sign manufacturing 92.3 49.5
Food product machinery manufacturing 96 47.6
Bottled water manufacturing 163.3 47
Roofing contractors 221.3 45.4
Metal and mineral merchant wholesalers 169.2 44.1
Meat markets 130 41
Noncurrent-carrying wiring device 109.4 40.5
manufacturing
Concrete block and brick manufacturing 150.6 37.7
Hog and pig farming5 205.1 36.9
Steel and precast concrete contractors 184.6 35.6
Cut stock resawing lumber and planing 180.7 35.5
Truss manufacturing 157.4 35.2
Wood container and pallet manufacturing 225.1 34.9
Other building equipment contractors 104.7 34.4
Showcases partitions shelving and lockers 151 34.2
Fabricated pipe and pipe fitting mfg 110.5 33.1
Fabric coating mills 156.6 32.9
Coating engraving and heat treating metals 138.1 31.1
Commercial machinery repair and maintenance 108.6 30.9
Support activities for printing 78.7 30.8
Polystyrene foam product manufacturing 110.8 30.8
Boat building 133.7 30.8
Seafood product preparation and packaging 301.7 30.6
Custom architectural woodwork and millwork 167.9 29.9
Source: From Bureau of Labor Statistics, USA. ,bls.gov/iif/oshsum.htm#17Summary_News_Release..
10 Cut Protective Textiles

Figure 1.14 Textile gloves.


Source: Courtesy MCR Safety.

Figure 1.15 Protective apron.


Source: Courtesy MCR Safety.
Cut and slash hazards 11

Figure 1.16 Protective sleeve.


Source: Courtesy MCR Safety.

Figure 1.17 Protective gaiters.


Source: From ,https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tourist_Gaiters.jpg..
12 Cut Protective Textiles

is categorized as hand protection, fall protection, head protection, respiratory pro-


tection, etc. However, most cut injuries occur to hands. Though hand protection
also includes the chemical and other protections the majority is for cut protection or
multifunction mechanical protection including cut protection. It is reasonable to use
a discounted hand protection figure to estimate the cut protection market. The larg-
est demand in PPE market is hand protection with a share of around 25% of the
total. If the cut protection is estimated at 20% of the total PPE market, then the
value is approximately US$10 billion. This is a huge market and it continues to
grow; especially for that, the safety and protection for workers in the emerging mar-
kets around the world is rising.
Cut injuries happen more to hands and forearms, hence cut-protective products
are mainly gloves, arm guards, and sleeves. The substrates of cut-protective textiles

Figure 1.18 Neck guard for ice hockey sport: (A) neck guard and (B) an ice hockey player
wears neck guard.
Source: Courtesy Aegis Impact.
Cut and slash hazards 13

Figure 1.19 Chainmail glove.

are usually knitted, or cut and sewn with woven fabrics. Knitting is a highly pro-
ductive process, good for mass production, but not suitable for products with com-
plex structures. Cut and sewn manufacturing is suitable for products with complex
structures but is very labor intensive; therefore the cost is high, as a result, it is not
economical for very large-scale production. Regardless of the manufacturing pro-
cess, usually cut-protective textiles are made of fibers as substrates.
The examples of cut-protective equipment include textile gloves, sleeves and arm
guards, aprons, gaiters, pants, neck guard, and chainmail glove. Figs. 1.14 1.19 show
the photos of some of these equipment.
The most critical factors influencing the cut protection performance of the textile
are fiber materials and the weight per unit area. Commonly used fibers materials in
cut protection include, in the order of cut resistance from low to high, leather, cot-
ton, nylon and polyester fibers, high strength or high-performance polyethylene
fiber (also called as ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene), para-aramid, glass
fiber, and steel wire. Generally, when the material is fixed, cut resistance of a knit
or woven fabric is determined by the basis weight (or weight per unit area) of the
fabric. More materials result in higher cut resistance when everything else is equal.
However, it is necessary to start with how to evaluate cut resistance as a first step.
Evaluate cut resistance
2
In order to evaluate cut resistance of the protective products, one has to start by
understanding how to test cut resistance, that is, testing standards first. The cutting
and failure in cutting are very complex phenomenon, which lead to great difficulties
in developing reliable methods to evaluate the cut resistance of materials. The earli-
est literature the author is able to retrieve is a description on defining a minimum
requirement for cut resistance of firefighters’ glove.6 A static cut and a dynamic cut
were specified in this old literature. The static cut described using a blade with an
edge having a 60 degrees included angle and a 0.025 mm radius to swipe cut a
glove surface under a load of 7.2 kg at a speed not higher than 2.5 cm/s. The glove
material should resist such a single-swipe surface cut. The dynamic cut described a
free-fall impaction of a blade onto the surface of the glove materials by a 0.20 kg
penetrometer from a height of 7.6 cm. The blade specification is the same as that
for the static cut. The impact velocity corresponding to this height is 1.2 m/s. Cut
from drops at or less than this height would constitute insufficient resistance.
The static and dynamic cut testings have evolved as of today to different testing
standards. The static cut testing has evolved as of today to mainly three interna-
tional testing standards for testing cut resistance of textile products, namely,
ISO13997,7 EN388,8 and ASTM F2992,9 originating from different researches.
ASTM F2992 is mainly recognized in North America. ISO13997 is mainly recog-
nized in Japan and in some industries in Europe. EN388 is recognized in the rest of
the world. They are discussed in details in the following sections. A few other stan-
dards, ISO13998, ASTM F1414, and ASTM F1790, which are used for smaller
market or less used today, are also briefly covered. The dynamic cut testing has
evolved to ISO13998 and ISO13999 series.

2.1 ISO13997
ISO13997’s full name is “ISO13997:1999 protective clothing  mechanical proper-
ties  determination of resistance to cutting by sharp objects.”7 It was issued in
1999. This standard was not widely used before 2016 when EN388 was revised.
Though it was quoted in EN388:2003 which is an earlier version than EN388:2016,
it was only used as an optional method. However, the industry has gradually recog-
nized that it is a more reliable testing method, and as a result it is quoted in
EN388:2016 as a mandatory method if the testing meets certain criteria, which will
be explained later. Since the implementation of EN388:2016, the importance of
ISO13997 has been widely recognized.
Cut Protective Textiles. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-820039-1.00002-X
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
16 Cut Protective Textiles

The instrument for cut testing in ISO13997 is called the TDM-100, which is a
product name from a Canadian company called RGI Industrial Products.10 TDM
stands for Tomodynamometer. Tomo is from Ancient Greek language, meaning
“cut, slice, section.” Dynamometer is a device for measuring force, torque, or
power. Combination of Tomo and Dynamometer means a device for measuring cut-
ting force. For many years, RGI Industrial was the only manufacturing source for a
TDM-100 instrument. But now, Mesdan in Italy has also launched its cut tester for
ISO13997, named the Linear Cut Resistance Tester 3394B cut resistance evalua-
tor.11 Fig. 2.1 shows the photos of the TDM-100 and the 3394B. Satra Technology
has also developed its own version of linear cut testing for ISO13997, but unfortu-
nately the author did not get response from Satra to the permission request to use
the picture in this book.
The testing mechanism is schematically shown in Fig. 2.2. A sample swatch of
7 cm 3 7 cm is fixed onto the curve-surfaced sample holder with a radius of
38 mm. A straight (or linear) cutting blade (see the photo in Fig. 2.3) is applied on
top of the sample. The blade is usually sold in boxes with 100 pieces/box. Each
box of blades needs to be calibrated with a chloroprene rubber standard sample by
sampling five pieces of blades in the box. During testing a normal (vertical) load is
applied onto the blade which travels horizontally at a constant speed of 2.5 mm/s to
cut the sample on the sample holder. The motion of the blade is automatically
stopped when the sample is cut through after the blade travels to a certain distance,
and this distance in the units of millimeters is recorded. In calibration runs on stan-
dard chloroprene samples, the vertical load applied on the blade is 500 g. The
blades are supposed to cut through the chloroprene standard samples at a cut dis-
tance of 20 mm under 500 g load.
During the cut runs for samples the vertical load can be changed each time. A
different cut distance is obtained when a different normal load is applied. A higher
load leads to a shorter distance to cut through the sample, and vice versa.
Eventually, a set of loaddistance data is obtained. As required by ISO13997, at
least 15 pairs of such loaddistance data are needed to be generated for each

Figure 2.1 Photos of cut testing instruments for ISO13997: (A) TDM-100; (B) Linear Cut
Resistance Tester 3394B. TDM, Tomodynamometer.
Source: Courtesy (A) Les Produits Industriels RGI Inc. and (B) Mesdan s.p.A.
Evaluate cut resistance 17

Figure 2.2 Schematic diagram of cut testing on TDM-100 instrument. TDM,


Tomodynamometer.

Figure 2.3 Straight cut blade used for ISO13997 on TDM-100. TDM, Tomodynamometer.

sample, among which 5 pairs must be within a cut distance of 515 mm, 5 pairs
within 1530 mm, and 5 pairs within 3050 mm. Each cut must be with a new
unused blade or an unused section of a blade to ensure that the sample is cut with
the same blade sharpness each time.
An exemplary set of 15 pairs of raw data together with the blade calibration data
are used in Table 2.1 to illustrate the calculation and regression process.
After all raw data, that is, the cut-through distances versus different vertical
load, are collected, the corrected cut-through distances need to be calculated first
by using the following equation:

20
dc 5 3d (2.1)
d0

where dc is the corrected cut-through distance; d0 is the calibration cut-through dis-


tance, which is the average cut-through distance of five blades on a chloroprene
standard sample; and d is the cut distance of test sample.
18 Cut Protective Textiles

Table 2.1 An exemplary set of TDM-100 cut testing data.

Calibration Range Run Load Cut- Corrected ln


cut distance of cut (g) through cut-through (corrected
d0 (mm) distance distance distance dc cut-
(mm) d (mm) (mm) through
distance dc)
23.5 3050 1 1600 39.5 33.6 3.5
2 1600 38.6 32.9 3.5
3 1600 34.1 29.1 3.4
4 1600 38.1 32.4 3.5
5 1600 33.2 28.3 3.3
1530 6 1800 25.0 21.3 3.1
7 1800 21.5 18.3 2.9
8 1800 25.1 21.4 3.1
9 1800 25.6 21.8 3.1
10 1800 24.5 20.8 3.0
515 11 2000 10.9 9.3 2.2
12 2000 11.7 10.0 2.3
13 2000 13.6 11.6 2.4
14 2000 9.1 7.8 2.0
15 2000 9.3 7.9 2.1

For example, the cut-through distance d of Run 1 is 39.5 mm, and d0 is


23.5 mm, therefore,

20
dc 5 3 39:5 5 33:6 mm
23:5

These 15 pairs of data are plotted by using corrected cut-through distance as the
Y-axis and the load as the X-axis, then a regression line is fitted for this plot
(Fig. 2.4). It can be seen from Fig. 2.4 that the regression is nonlinear. The observa-
tion by Lara et al. in their research showed that the regression follows exponential
behavior.12 Fig. 2.5 shows Lara’s work. The regression line shows that the blade
displacement (cut-through distance) quickly decreased with increasing applied load
when the load is low. With further increasing load the cut-through distance
decreased more slowly. The results shown in Fig. 2.5 were obtained by cutting a
Kevlar para-aramid fabric. Similar patterns were also observed in cotton fabric and
neoprene rubber in this report. The load needed to cut through the sample at the
20 mm distance can be located on the plot or calculated from the fitting equation.
This load is reported as the cutting force, which can be interpreted as the force
needed to cut through a sample at a 20 mm travel distance. The higher this value,
the higher the force that is needed to cut through a sample, therefore the sample is
more cut resistant, and vice versa.
Evaluate cut resistance 19

Figure 2.4 Corrected cut-through distance versus load data and regression line.

Figure 2.5 Effect of applied load on blade displacement required to cut a Kevlar aramid
material.
Source: From Lara J, Turcot D, Daigle R, Payot F. Comparison of two methods to evaluate
the resistance of protective gloves to cutting by sharp blades. In: Johnson JS, Mansdorf SZ,
eds. Performance of Protective Clothing: Fifth Volume, ASTM STP 1237. American Society
for Testing and Materials; 1996:3242.
Another random document with
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three years, and that he was a native of Basle, in Switzerland. In the
course of his examination it was discovered that he had arrived the
same day from Hamburg, and that he was full of some very
suspicious projects. His story caused him to be suspected, and a
report was promptly drawn up for transmission to Paris. Cassel was
destined before very long to become the capital of the new kingdom
of Westphalia, created for Jerome Bonaparte, and the police
supervision of émigrés was exercised as strictly there as in every
other part of France. While waiting for orders a search was made in
the lodging-house whence the prisoner had come. Nothing much
was found in his scanty luggage; some papers, one of which was “a
plan and a description of the battle of Austerlitz,” and besides this
two or three apparently mysterious notes. One of them contained the
words: “Must see Louis—without Louis nothing can be done.”
Everything was minutely collected together, and some days later
Bourcard was sent off for a compulsory visit to Paris.
He was put in the Temple, and, although it was easy to see from
his talk and his strange behaviour that he was a madman, subject to
fits of violence, Fouché could not make up his mind to let him go.
The examination of his record and the papers which were found in
his possession had suddenly given the Minister an ingenious idea.
Who could this Louis be who was obviously connected with
Bourcard? Certainly a Royalist spy, since the man of Basle had just
come from Hamburg, the headquarters of these people. And the
Record Office of the Ministry contained many notes referring to a
“well-known agent of England and of Austria,” Baron Louis
d’Auerweck of Steilengels, who was known to be living on the banks
of the Rhine. There was no room for doubt: this person “had
assumed the name of Louis in the various missions which he had
undertaken.” Was not this the man who was denoted by Bourcard’s
note?
Fouché was fascinated by this solution, and, anxious to have it
verified, he seized upon the unhoped-for opportunity which had
presented itself. And that was why an order was sent from Paris on
July 17, 1807, to immediately effect the arrest of the “little Baron.” It
would, however, have been impolitic and almost impossible to make
use of the same violent measures which had been employed in the
Duc d’ Enghien’s case. Besides, Massias, the French Chargé
d’Affaires at the Grand Duke of Baden’s court at Carlsruhe, when he
received Fouché’s letter, considered it necessary, in order to carry
out his chiefs commands, to obtain the Grand Duke’s permission and
assistance before moving in the matter.
“But,” he wrote to Fouché, “my seven years’ experience
had firmly convinced me that, if I ask for this person’s arrest
by the ordinary process of an official letter, he will be warned
and will manage to make his escape, so I think I should set off
the same day for Baden, where the Baron de Gemmingen,
the Cabinet Minister, is now staying with his Royal Highness,
for I have on several occasions received proofs of his kindly
disposition towards me.”
Massias was not mistaken; his application to the Sovereign of
Baden met with immediate and complete success. For the latter, who
knew none of the details of the case—not even that d’Auerweck was
his own subject—and did not want to offend the Emperor, listened to
his representatives petition, and the same day issued orders, from
his palace of La Favorite in the outskirts of Baden, to M. Molitor, the
Grand Ducal Commissary, to act in concert with Massias, and with
the help of the police of Baden to arrest Baron d’Auerweck. For
Massias had pointed out that if the order were sent in the first place
to the bailiff of Offenburg, “where d’Auerweck must have formed
many friendships,” there were a thousand reasons for fearing that
the latter would receive warning, “for he is a vigilant man and is on
his guard.” At Elgersweier no one had the slightest inkling of the
impending danger. The “little Baron” had just returned from one of
those expeditions which the police were watching so carefully, and
had gone in to see his wife, who had lately given birth to her fourth
child. For d’Auerweck had settled down a short time before in his
new home, and was perfectly content to enjoy the peaceful
existence, which allowed him to move about and finish his Historical
Notes on Hugues Capet, and his Dissertation upon the
Secularization of Germany under French Methods.
So it can be imagined what a crushing blow was dealt him when
Commissary Molitor and his assistants appeared at Elgersweier
unexpectedly on the evening of July 23, 1807. We can picture the
“little Baron’s” agitation, his distorted face, as he went himself to
admit the police officers; his wife’s despair; the house rummaged
from cellar to garret; the cries of the children woken up by the
hubbub; Madame de Gelb’s indignation; and then the setting forth, in
the midst of the police, of the unhappy head of the family, in spite of
his useless protestations, and the broken-hearted family,
overwhelmed by stupefaction, in their ravished home.
The prisoner soon recovered his presence of mind, and at
Offenburg, where he was taken, he set to work to prepare his
defence to the best of his ability, and he soon drew up a justificatory
document, which was designed to confound his accusers. At the
same time—luckily for d’Auerweck—the Grand Duke found out that it
was one of his subjects who was concerned, and he withdrew the
authority for arrest which he had given, and issued orders to keep
the Baron and his papers for his disposal. The preliminary
examination of these documents plainly demonstrated the flimsy
nature of the charge, and that there was no justification for the
outrage which had been committed.
The day after the fateful event, Madame de Gelb went to La
Favorite, and, throwing herself at her Sovereign’s feet, implored him
to protect her son-in-law. She described the falsity of the charges
brought against him, the distress of the mother and of the four
children. The Grand Duke could not but be touched by this petition,
although he was anxious not to displease M. Fouché.
“I am transported with delight,” Massias said to Councillor
Gemmingen, “at having so successfully executed the
commands of the Minister of Police, for they were not easy of
accomplishment;” and he added, in order to appease the
Grand Duke’s fears and regrets, “This affair seems to have
taken a turn, which is very fortunate for the prisoner; and I
have already advised his Excellency the Minister about it. You
can assure his Royal Highness that I will do my very best to
finish off the case in a way that shall be agreeable to both
Governments.”
But such a result seemed very unlikely, for it would have required
very strong compulsion to make Fouché renounce his plan, more
especially now that the arrest was an accomplished fact. It seemed
absolutely necessary to him to extradite d’Auerweck and to fetch him
to Paris; and he had already, by August 5, warned the Prefect of the
department of Mont Tonnerre and Moncey, the Inspector-General of
Police, to be in readiness “to take charge of and to escort Lord
d’Auerweck.”
It was just at this time that Commissary Popp, whose assistance
had not been utilized as much as he hoped it would be, began to be
worried by the silence which was observed as far as he was
concerned, and he entreated his Minister not to allow the Baron to
slip out of his hands.
“It was very distasteful to have to make this arrest,” he said,
“and it was only effected because it was necessary; and you
can guess how carefully, under these circumstances, we have
examined his papers, which it was of supreme importance to
lay our hands upon.”
However, these papers, which Popp so confidently reckoned
would expose the Baron’s intrigues, were found to consist only of
purely private correspondence, altogether wanting in political
interest; besides the historical works undertaken by d’Auerweck, the
search of his house had only brought to light some insignificant
letters, amongst which were “a bundle of love letters which
d’Auerweck had exchanged with a young émigrée now settled in
London. It appears that this entanglement did not meet with the
approval of the young lady’s uncle, the girl having lost her parents
when she was fifteen years of age.”
The Grand Duke, having heard these particulars, was all the more
unwilling to hand over his unfortunate subject to Fouché and his
myrmidons. He was convinced “of his perfect innocence.” Therefore
the Baron de Dalberg, his Ambassador in Paris, was charged “to
urge His Excellency, Minister Fouché, most forcibly to cease from
troubling these persons, who were very sincerely to be pitied.” But
he only encountered the most obstinate resistance. Fouché had
received the plea of exculpation, which d’Auerweck had drawn up
two days after his arrest, but he decided it was insufficient, “because
it only touched lightly on many of the principal details of his intrigues,
and it did not refer at all to his doings before 1800,” and in the
margin of the sheet he recorded his sentiments in a kind of cross-
examination.
“With whom had he had dealings since his second journey
to Paris? Where did he lodge? To whom in London had he
written? Did he not hide himself in a house in the Rue Basse-
du-Rempart?
“What commission had he been charged with at Rastadt?
Had he not made this extraordinary remark to some one
before he left Hamburg: ‘I am going to Rastadt; you will soon
hear of a great event, in which I shall have had a hand’”?
And Fouché went on to allude to the Baron’s hurried flight at the
time when the French troops were drawing near.
“Why did you fly at the time of the commencement of
hostilities? You are not a Frenchman? If you had not intrigued
against France, or even if you had ceased to intrigue, why did
you leave your wife because our troops were about to arrive,
since you were a German and settled in Germany on the
territory of a Prince, who is on good terms with this same
France? But we have reason to believe that you were still
carrying on your intrigues. We have reason to think that you
came secretly to Paris five or six months ago. You were seen
in the Rue de Richelieu. Further, we have reason to think that,
stationed as you were on our frontier, you were perilously
inclined by your long experience as a spy to continue to spy
on us, and that you did not confine yourself to a
correspondence with our enemies, but actually controlled men
of the class of those whom you directed at Rastadt according
to your own acknowledgment.”
Such were the complaints formulated by the Minister, and they
were sufficient, it must be admitted, to convince him of the
importance of his capture. Even if the Baron’s past life since 1800
could be voluntarily ignored—although this past life could not fail to
arouse a host of just suspicions—there still remained his complicity
in the drama of Rastadt, and also the coincidence—though not a
very convincing one—of Bourcard’s arrest with the Baron’s presence
on the banks of the Rhine. So Fouché, in his reply to Baron de
Dalberg, who had begged him to comply with his requests, wished to
show that he had made up his mind.
“You understand, monsieur, from what has passed,” he
wrote on August 29, “that Baron d’Auerweck cannot be set
free, and that it is necessary to convey him to Paris in order to
give his explanation of the fresh and singular information
which has been received about him. Your Excellency may rest
assured that his examination will be conducted with perfect
impartiality, such as he may desire, and that he will obtain the
fullest justice, if he can clear himself.”
The unfortunate Baron had now been kicking his heels for more
than a month in the jail at Offenburg, where he was kept under
observation day and night by a sentinel. The heat was intense, and
d’Auerweck, suffering as he was from an internal complaint, which
made his detention all the harder to bear, cursed his bad luck. He
reproached his Sovereign in picturesque language with having
allowed him to be imprisoned without any proof of crime upon
“knavish accusations,” him—
“a citizen, a man of valour, whose honour no man doubts;
whose fair dealing every one confides in; who is not ashamed
to show his love of religion, and whose life is by no means a
useless one; who has sufficient brains to have principles, and
sufficient heart to sacrifice himself for his principles when they
demand it; whose head and heart are in harmony; who has
taken no part in political events except according to his oath
and his duty; who, in short, has for the past five years lived as
a peasant in a little house, which he had built himself, there
tending his garden and rearing his children.”
The Grand Duke, touched by the truth of these reproaches, did his
best to avoid granting Fouché’s demand. He believed he had hit
upon an expedient when he proposed to the Minister to send the
prisoner only as far as Strasburg, where the French Justiciary could
examine him comfortably. But Fouché showed himself
unmanageable, so fifteen days later the Grand Duke, tired of the
struggle, and with the excuse of “the ties of friendship and the
peculiar harmony which existed with the French Court,” at last
consented to the extradition of Baron D’Auerweck, although—
“His Highness considered that he had the right to expect to
be spared the unpleasantness of having to hand over to a
foreign jurisdiction one of his subjects, against whom there
did not exist any properly established suspicions, and whose
papers furnished no proof against him.”
Once again the wrathful spectre of Napoleon, ready to crush the
man who opposed his will, had succeeded in triumphing over
everything which could be hoped for from justice and good laws.
On September 22 Commissary Molitor took d’Auerweck out of the
prison of Offenburg and brought him to Strasburg to hand him over
to the French police. In order to preserve precedent and to save his
face, the Grand Duke had ordered his councillor to announce that—
“although His Royal Highness, in his particular
condescension, had allowed his subject Auerweck to be
extradited so as to facilitate the information and accusations
which were brought against him this was done in full
confidence that he would be treated as considerately as
possible, and that he would not be subjected to any
unpleasant or harsh treatment in consideration of the peculiar
circumstances of his case.”
But what M. Fouché’s instructions were was well known, and no
one had any misconception on the subject, least of all the Grand
Duke. The pitiful letter which Madame d’Auerweck sent to him next
day, and in which she appealed to his kind heart and his pity, must
certainly have aroused some feeling of remorse.
After a stay of forty-eight hours in Strasburg, d’Auerweck started
on his journey on September 25. In the post-chaise which carried
him were a junior officer and a policeman, charged with his care.
After crossing the Vosges, they travelled by way of Nancy and
Chalons, and reached Epernay on the 28th; in a few hours they
would arrive in Paris. Taking advantage of a short halt in the inn, the
Baron hurriedly scribbled the following note, which was intended to
reassure his family:—
“I have arrived here, my good and tender friend, as well in
health as I could hope to be, and much less tired than I
feared. I write these few words to you to calm your mind, and
to beg you again to take care of yourself. To-morrow, by eight
o’clock in the morning, we shall be in Paris, whence, as I
hope, I shall be able to write to you. I embrace you, and beg
you to kiss Charles, Louis, Armand, and your mother for me.
“May God guard you.
“Epernai, 28th September.”
The post-chaise entered Paris in the morning of the 29th, and
passed along the quays till it stopped in front of the general office of
the Minister of Police, where the prisoner had to be delivered. Where
would they take him? For certain to the Temple tower, where at this
time political prisoners were kept. And there it was that d’Auerweck
was conducted and locked up. The order in the gaol-book directed
that he should be placed in solitary confinement until further notice. It
was now the Baron’s turn to enter the gloomy dungeon, which he
had so often, twelve years before, gazed at curiously from afar. It
was his fate, like his “big friend” Cormier, to closely inspect this
building, the name of which evoked such reminiscences of mystery.
Six days were allowed him in which to prepare, without
disturbance, his reply to the questions which were to be put to him.
On October 5, 1807, a commissary, sent by the Minister of Police,
came to see him and to hear what he had to say. A curious thing was
that the same proceeding which was employed with Cormier at the
time of his imprisonment was renewed for d’Auerweck’s benefit; no
reference whatever was made to the whole period antecedent to
1800. Whatever might have been d’Auerweck’s conduct during the
Revolution and under the Directoire, what his actions were, in what
direction he went and came, who were his friends, all these points
were held of no importance by his Excellency M. Fouché, and by
Desmarets, who was on special duty in connection with the case.
What they were most concerned with was to find out the object of
d’Auerweck’s frequent absences during the last few years, and to
extort a confession from him of his participation in the murder of the
plenipotentiaries of Rastadt. They came to the point without any
concealment, but d’Auerweck was on his guard. He flatly denied that
he had paid a visit to Paris in the months of April and May, as was
alleged.
“I did not travel at all in France, and I have not been in Paris
since the year when the Directoire was installed. I can furnish
the clearest proofs of this fact. I was warned two years ago
that the French police were watching me, and that they
accused me of a number of intrigues, the greater part of
which I had nothing whatever to do with, for I declare most
solemnly that since the July or September of 1799 I have
taken no part in any matter against France. I challenge the
world to allege a single proceeding of mine, or a single line,
against the interests of the French Government. The person
who warned me that the French were watching me was the
late Abbe Desmares, who lived in Offenburg; the warning was
conveyed in an anonymous letter, to which he never owned
up, but which I am convinced came from him.”
As regards his sudden flight from Baden at the time of the
approach of the French armies, the Baron explained that it was due
to his desire to appease the fears of his mother-in-law, Madame de
Gelb. Besides, they had only to question the authorities of
Rothenburg, of Ulm, and of Nuremberg, and to obtain from them the
counterfoils of his passports, in order to find an absolute confirmation
of his statements. Then there was the question of his connection
with Bourcard. What could the accused reply to that? Was it not at
Ulm itself that he had met “Monsieur Bourcard, the father, who was
an official from the Canton of Basle?” D’Auerweck’s answer was
ready:—
“I have not spent more than twenty-four hours in Ulm. I had
my dinner and supper there. The Austrian army had not at
that time been forced back upon the town, which was being
fortified. I only saw three officers at the table d’hôte, two of
them Croatians and one German captain. I had no kind of
business with any one. The man called Bourcard, a Swiss
official, is quite unknown to me.”
All his denials were very precise—and they were easily to be
verified by the means he had suggested—so that there was now
very little left of the terrible evidence which weighed so heavily upon
the “little Baron,” or of “the crime of conspiracy against the security of
the State,” with which he was charged. The slight clue, indicated by
Bourcard’s arrest, but damaged by the papers seized at Elgersweier,
was completely destroyed when the latter was declared to be
mentally afflicted. In short, the tragic adventure which had overtaken
d’Auerweck seemed to have been the result of the most vexatious
misunderstanding; at least, that is what his cross-examiner
expressed to him when he left him.
“You can now consider your case to be finished, and you
can see how it is possible to find one’s self compromised by
unfortunate coincidences, without any one being to blame.”
Encouraged by this assurance, the Baron suffered patiently in
spite of the passing of much time. He knew that he was not forgotten
at the Grand Duke’s Court. Dalberg, the Ambassador, had already
managed to convey to him some money, with which to defray the
first expense of his visit to the Temple, and yonder, at Elgersweier,
Madame d’Auerweck was in receipt of assistance from Carlsruhe;
for, as a matter of fact, the mother, grandmother, and children,
robbed as they were of the head of the family, had been suddenly
plunged into the most terrible state of want.
The poor woman, in spite of her condition, desired only one thing:
to obtain a passport so as to be able to get to Paris. With this object
she overwhelmed the Ambassador of Baden with letters, in which
she also implored him to help to set her husband free.
“I know that he is innocent, your Excellency,” she
continually wrote to him, “and if your Excellency wants any
more proofs of my husband’s peaceful habits, I will rout out all
the available evidence to prove it. My husband can only
benefit by the search ... and I am sure that your Excellency
has pity for my terrible plight and that of my poor little
children.”
Dalberg ended by getting annoyed with these letters.
“I receive frequent epistles from Madame d’Auerweck,” he
wrote to Carlsruhe; “but this wifely impatience is waste of
time, because I can do nothing as long as the presence of the
prisoner is necessary for the conduct of the case.”
In the mean time, the Baron, by way of killing time, drew up a
second justificatory memorandum, which must doubtless have
staggered Desmarets. In it he exposed all the hiatus in his cross-
examination, and the absence of any proof against him. Why was it
that he was not set at liberty, now that the falsity of the accusations
brought against him had been so completely demonstrated? For he
had just heard that the Minister of Police had received a very
detailed report, which proved his residence, in succession, in the
Grand Duchy of Baden from 1798 to 1800, in Offenburg from 1802 to
1803, and in Schutterwald up to September, 1806; it mentioned his
journey to Rothenburg and to Nuremberg in 1805, and declared that

“wherever the said d’Auerweck had lived, he had always
conducted himself peacefully and with decency, and had
never meddled in politics; that, on the contrary, he had always
been occupied with building, agriculture, botany, and rural
economy, which had been partly proved by many of the
papers found upon him at the time of his arrest.”
So M. Desmarets and his master were in possession of an
unquestionable justification of the Baron’s protests. It was, indeed,
inconceivable that they would continue to keep him in confinement,
and, what is worse, without putting any fresh questions to him.
However, early in the month of March, 1808—and d’Auerweck had
now been nearly seven months in the Temple—Baron de Dalberg
was informed that Fouché’s intervention was not enough by itself,
and that a pardon for the prisoner had been submitted to the
Emperor, who was about to leave Paris for a campaign in Spain, but
he had refused to sign it. The situation became serious. Dalberg fully
recognized the difficulty which he would experience in delivering the
unfortunate Baron from prison; for he was looked upon as “an
English Agent,” and, as such, infinitely more an object of suspicion
than if he had been an emissary of any other Power. The hatred of
England was then at its height, and Napoleon’s sentiment was that
an English spy deserved to be taken care of, and, indeed, well taken
care of. D’Auerweck could not deny that he had at one time been in
the service of the hated nation; for all that, he laid claim to being a
subject of Baden.
The weeks rolled by, and d’Auerweck began to despair. He had,
perhaps, a momentary glimmer of hope that his deliverance was at
hand, when he became aware of an unexpected confusion and
tumult in the Temple. What had happened? Was Paris once more
agitated by a change of Government? Had the Emperor met with
defeat? Alas! It was nothing of the kind. But Napoleon had ordered
the Temple tower to be demolished, and the seventeen prisoners
who were kept there had to be carted off to another lodging. They
were taken to Vincennes, and d’Auerweck’s faint hope was blighted.
He was more miserable than ever, and, as soon as he had settled
down in his new quarters, despatched a vehement protest to
Desmarets.
“What is the reason, in the name of God, that I find myself
dragged from one place to another six months after the arrival
of written statements which ought to have proved my
innocence? If my character had again been blackened by
spite, at least give me the opportunity of fixing the lie. I cannot
think that any one in this world has ever been placed in a
more unhappy case than I. My eyesight is impaired, my health
ruined, and my wits are worn out. I can only think of my
unfortunate children, ruined and deprived of every necessity,
and this in the case of a man who is absolutely innocent of all
wrong-doing.”
It never once occurred to him that his rigorous imprisonment might
be due to some indiscretion connected with his past and with his
conduct in 1795, or with the part which he had taken in the “Temple
affair.” Why should these old times, which were wrapped in a mist of
obscurity, be remembered? And, besides, there was no reason for
suspecting anything of the kind.
Neither the Grand Duke nor his Ambassador in Paris relaxed in
any degree their efforts to help the Baron, and a voluminous
correspondence was carried on between Paris and the Court at
Baden about him during the following years; but, to all Dalberg’s
demands, Fouché replied that no one denied Baron d’Auerweck’s
“perfect loyalty;” the matter depended on the Emperor’s will, and he
refused to pass any final order. In order to soften Madame
d’Auerweck’s affliction—for she never left them alone—supplies
were regularly sent to the prisoner at Vincennes, and he was
assured that his family were not being neglected or in want.
“My detention is the outcome of a lengthy series of
slanderous informations,” the Baron declared over and over
again, “which has been woven and pieced together, more or
less cleverly, but the falseness of which has already been
demonstrated to those who have been bribed to utter it.”
He was then informed that yet another accusation had been added
to the former charges against him: an accusation of having published
in the Moniteur, in 1799, certain letters dated from Naples, which
were insulting to the First Consul: Now, the Journal Politique de
l’Europe had at once, in the name of d’Auerweck, given the lie direct
to these statements. But what had he to say for himself?
“You know perfectly well, monsieur, that for the last two
years, less ten or twelve days, I have only heard the voice of
the Government through the medium of the bolts which have
been shot in my face.”
In this way three years slipped by, in the course of which Madame
d’Auerweck (who, by the way, does not appear to have led a very
virtuous life in her husband’s absence) never stopped pestering the
Ambassador of Baden in Paris with her entreaties; de Ferrette, who,
on his arrival in France, had succeeded Baron de Dalberg, took up
the unfortunate Baron’s case, and determined to bring it to a
conclusion. So as to increase the authority of his demands, he
managed to interest the Minister of the King of Bavaria on
d’Auerweck’s behalf, and the two combined to present a very urgent
memorandum, in the summer of 1810, to the Minister of Police. This
was not Fouché, for he had been degraded for the second time, and
his post was occupied by Savary, the Duc de Rovigo. The two
Ministers made their application to the latter.
“Yesterday, at this unpleasant ball,” Ferrette wrote on July
2, “I importuned the Duke of Rovigo to let Lord Auerweck out
from Vincennes; this was just before the Emperor arrived. He
said to me: ‘His case is not unpardonable, but you may rest
assured that we are not keeping him locked up like this
without very good reasons. You must wait.’”
At last, on October 16, Savary presented to Napoleon the
anxiously-looked-for report, which advised the prisoner’s discharge.
To every one’s astonishment, the Emperor only made the following
observation: Better keep him until universal peace is declared. There
was nothing to be done but to submit to this merciless imprisonment,
and to accept the explanation which was given, viz. that d’Auerweck
was “a bold intriguer, who was to be found everywhere: sometimes
in the interests of Austria, sometimes in England’s.”
Afterwards, as though to find an excuse for this prolonged
detention, the Baron was brought in contact with one of those
persons who are known as Moutons; his line of action was to get on
friendly terms with the prisoner, and to try to get him to talk, the
result of these conversations being handed on to the police. A man
called Rivoire was chosen for this purpose. He was formerly a naval
officer, but had been arrested and imprisoned for conspiracy; he
escaped, but was caught and put in prison for the fourth or fifth time.
The “Chevalier de Rivoire” was at the end of his resources, and
hoped to obtain a remission of his sentence by spying on his
companions in misfortune. It was impressed on him that he must
specially pump Baron d’Auerweck on the subject of the Rastadt
assassination. The two reports, which he sent to Desmarets during
the year 1811, give a rather amusing account of the success of his
enterprise: a success, of course, skilfully exaggerated.
“D’Auerweck is very suspicious when one begins to put
questions to him, so I adopted the ruse of contradicting him
and of only grudgingly giving in to him. Then, after having
started him in the right direction, if I resign myself to listening
patiently, he obligingly begins to overwhelm me with
confidences, both false and true, and with all the rubbish
which his conceit and his insatiate garrulity inspire in him....
He boasted of having rendered the most important services to
the English, both on the Continent and in their own country,
where he had exposed and baffled many plots, and had been
the cause of the arrest and punishment of many French
agents.... When we began to talk about the Rastadt affair, he
at first repeated the story which had been manufactured in
order to divert suspicion from the real culprits.
“Rivoire: ‘Only children will believe such a fairy tale.’
“D’Auerweck (laughing): ‘That’s true; but we must always
tell it, and by dint of many repetitions they will begin to believe
it. The matter concerns other people’s interests. I only left
Austria when I saw that its Government was fatally weak; so
much so that it has to be treated like a spoilt child that does
not want to take its medicine. Besides myself, there are not
more than two people who are acquainted with the correct
details of this affair.’
“Seeing that he had said too much, he then, like a fool,
began to retract, saying, ‘Besides, I was attached to a certain
Prince’s Minister, who was not there with reason, and I was
perfectly neutral in all that happened.’”
Rivoire concluded by saying, “D’Auerweck was the leader, or one
of the leaders, in this crime, which was committed at the instigation
of the English Government; and he forthwith went off to give his
report; and he was at this time in London, travelling viâ France.”
These fresh accusations, however flimsy their foundation, were
not neglected, and succeeded in so increasing the gravity of the
Baron’s case that his durance was prolonged indefinitely. At the
same time they served to maintain the harshness of his
imprisonment. Using the Ambassador of Baden in Paris as the go-
between, d’Auerweck, who declared himself to be seriously ill, had
begged that he might for the time being be sent to a private hospital,
where he could be attended to. But they questioned whether his
illness was only a pretext, and that he was plotting some plan of
escape. Accordingly the Minister of Police refused his request.
“The reasons for the detention of this prisoner,” the Duke of
Rovigo declared to his colleague of Foreign Affairs, “do not
admit of his being transferred to a private hospital. But I have
just given the adequate order that the doctor, whose business
it is to attend the invalids in the prison of Vincennes, should
visit this prisoner as often as his state of health may require
it.”
On May 31, 1812, d’Auerweck was told that no instructions as to
his fate had been given, so, bearing his troubles patiently, he sent a
fresh request, couched in the following humorous style, to
Desmarets:—
“The regular annual announcement that I am still to be kept
in the dungeon of Vincennes was made to me yesterday; will
you at least have the condescension to pass an order that it
may not be in this celler, in which I have lived for three and a
half months.”
Two more years passed before the tribulations of d’Auerweck were
completed. But in 1814, when the now victorious Allied Armies drew
close to Paris, it was decided to send the inmates of the prison of
Vincennes to Saumur. How d’Auerweck must have prayed for his
countrymen’s speedy arrival, and that this second change of
residence might be the prelude to his deliverance!
He had not been two months at Saumur when he heard a rumour
that the Allies had entered Paris on March 31. He was not forgotten
in his dungeon, for three days later the Grand Duke urgently
demanded that his subject might be given back to him, “one of the
many victims of the reign which has just come to an end;” and the
next day the Minister replied that the order to set the Baron at liberty
had been issued three days ago. April 16 was a day never to be
forgotten by d’Auerweck and his companions. They were overcome
with emotion, as can be guessed from the following lines, written by
Baron de Kolli, the most extraordinary adventurer of the Imperial
epoch. This person had been confined for four years at Vincennes
on account of an attempt to deliver King Ferdinand VII. from
Valençay, and at Vincennes he no doubt met our Hungarian. The two
of them could exchange their impressions as captives by the good
pleasure of the Emperor, both imprisoned without trial, and
condemned to an endless captivity, thanks to regular lettres-de-
cachet dug up for this occasion only.
“I will try, though in vain, to describe this scene, which will
be for ever engraven upon my heart,” Kolli relates. “In the
intoxication of happiness and in tears, each one throws
himself upon any one he meets, and clasps him in his arms;
there are forty persons, all strangers to each other, and in a
second they are united by the bonds of the most tender
friendship. As we emerge from our tombs, the townsmen
press around us, and, undismayed by the sight of our
miserable state, drag us to the bosoms of their families. In a
single day we pass from want to opulence.”
Those who witnessed d’Auerweck’s return to Elgersweier,
prematurely aged as he was by these seven years of misfortune,
could hardly recognize in him the talkative and active man of former
days. They all had a vivid recollection of that night in the month of
July, 1807, when trouble hurled itself upon this family.
However, in spite of confinement and the want of fresh air, the
Barons health was not as severely injured as one might have
imagined. He lived on in his village for fourteen years, and
delightedly took up again the old tasks of an agriculturist, a botanist,
and a husbandman.... In his leisure hours he related episodes of his
strange past to his family and his neighbours, and, when bragging
got the upper hand of him, he recalled the happy time when he had
been raised by Fortune to the post of “Ambassador to his Majesty
the King of Great Britain!”
He left Elgersweier in 1828 to return to Offenburg, where he had
formerly resided, and there he died two years later, on June 8, 1830.
Three of his children survived him. Charles, the eldest, had a
distinguished military career; as general in the army of Baden, he
was governor of the fortified town of Germersheim. Adelaide
d’Auerweck lived to be a very old woman, as she only died in 1881,
at Munich. Finally, Armand d’Auerweck left four children, one of
whom, Ferdinand, emigrated to America, where he is still living.
The descendants of the “little Baron” cherish the memory of this
life, so rich in incidents, so extravagant, and so surprising; but the
part which he played in the Temple adventure at the time of the great
Revolution would have been for ever hidden had not an unforeseen
chance served to connect him with one of the threads of this
astonishing intrigue, which attracted so much curious attention.
CHAPTER VIII
AFTER THE STORM

We have seen that in spite of the announcement of the Dauphin’s


death, and of all that the Chevalier de Frotté had written to her on
the subject, Lady Atkyns still held persistently to her conviction that
the real proof of the matter had yet to be discovered, and remained
still determined to solve the mystery. If, as she continued to believe,
the young King had been spirited away, it might still be possible to
find him.
But there were new difficulties in the way. Money, for one thing,
was lacking now, and she knew only too well how necessary money
was. Now, too, she was alone. To whom was she to apply for
assistance? Of all her old associates, Peltier alone was accessible,
and he was absorbed in his work, as journalist and man of letters.
Why, she asked herself, should she not seek the help of a member
of the Royal Family of France? The Comte d’Artois, who had taken
in his turn the titles of Monsieur and of Comte de Provence, since his
brother’s proclamation as King, was living in England. Why not apply
to him? The ingenuous lady did not think of the very weighty reasons
why such an appeal must be in vain. Convinced that the Dauphin still
lived, she imagined that she could convert the Comte to her way of
thinking, and induce him to join her in her search after the truth.
Encouraged by the attitude taken up by the British Government
towards her project of inquiring minutely into the matter on the
Continent, Lady Atkyns decided before leaving England to approach
the Comte, hoping to secure not merely his approval, but also some
material assistance. Had she not sacrificed a large portion of her
own worldly goods for the benefit of his family? Thus reasoning, she
did not conceive the possibility of a refusal. But Monsieur could not
regard as anything short of fantastic the supposition upon which her
project was based—the supposition that his nephew still survived. To
present this hypothesis either to him or to his brother the King was to
put one’s self out of court at once.
We can imagine how her application was received. She chose as
her intermediary with the Prince the Baron de Suzannet, who had
facilitated the purchase of the ships and equipages which were
procured in readiness for the rescue of the Queen and the Dauphin.
Having the entrée to the Court, and being one of the most notable
of the émigrés in London, he consented to submit his friend’s
request to Monsieur. Did he foresee the issue? Apparently not. Here
is what he writes to her on August 19, 1797:—
“After the decision M[onsieur] has come to, my dear lady,
not to give his countenance to your affair until it has been
taken up by others, and after speaking to him so often on the
subject, I cannot carry the matter any further, and could not
ask him for money. But I see no reason why you should not
yourself write to him more or less what you have told me, viz.
that you were about to return to France with the consent of
the Government, that you ought to be provided with the same
amount for returning as you have been for going, but that fifty
louis is very scant provision for that—especially considering
that you have had to hide yourself away here so long—and
that you are afraid you will not have sufficient to enable you to
remain long enough in Paris to get together all the particulars
required by the Government, and to pay the messenger for
bringing them here; and you might point out that you have
acted throughout entirely in the interests of the Royal Family,
that you do not regret the £1000[76] which your attachment
has cost you, or regret them only because you no longer have
the money to devote to the cause; and that if M[onsieur] for
his part could give you £50, it would free you from anxiety as
to ways and means....
“I shall tell M[onsieur] that I am aware you have written to
him, and that I shall convey his answer to you. He has been
taking medicine to-day and can see no one. To-morrow he is

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