Disruptive fibers and textiles for flexible protec

Development of ballistic grade fiber beyond aramid has not sufficiently evolved to achieve the performance requirements necessary for future personnel protection needs. New polymer fibers such as Zylon and M5 have shown promise, but long-term aging and difficulties in manufacturing respectively have hindered their realization. Researchers in this area have long known that incorporation of hydrogen bonding species along the polymer backbone could increase cohesive energy density and hence fiber mechanical properties. TRI/Austin proposes the development of a new organic fiber chemistry that will provide a high level of hydrogen bonding and crystallinity, cohesive energy density, and mechanical properties. The proposed fiber material, having bi-dentate hydrogen bonding, will exhibit properties superior to the aramids, which only have monodentate hydrogen bonds. The manufacturing process is expected to be significantly more cost effective than currently available high performance fibers. Based on the numerous monomers available for this proposed polymer technology, the long-term result is conceivably an entire family of related high strength polymer products. During Phase I TRI/Austin will model the effects of variations in monomer compositions on final polymer properties. These results will be used to downselect one polymer for fabrication of fiber for determination of mechanical properties.