MEASUREMENT OF STATIC ELECTRICITY IN FABRICS TEST METHODOLOGY AND APPARATUS

THIS IS A PROJECT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF TEST METHODS TO DETERMINE THE ELECTROSTATIC PROPERTIES OF TEXTILES WHICH CONTAIN A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF CONDUCTIVE FIBERS. THESE FABRICS ARE INTENDED FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF GARMENTS TO BE WORN IN EXPLOSIVE ENVIRONMENTS AND IN OTHER AREAS WHERE THE ACCUMULATION OF STATIC CHARGES MUST BE MINIMIZED. EXISTING COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE TEST EQUIPMENT WILL BE MODIFIED TO FACILITATE THE MEASURMENT OF PERCENTAGES OF E-FIELD SUPPRESSION PROVIDED BY THE CONDUCTIVE FIBERS AS WELL AS THE CHARGE DECAY RATES OF THE RELATIVELY NON-CONDUCTIVE CONTENT OF THE TEXTILES. A NEW TEST FIXTURE WILL BE DEVELOPED TO OPERATE WITH THE ABOVE TEST EQUIPMENT TO CHARACTERIZE THE TRIBOELECTRIC CHARGE GENERATING PROPENSITIES OF THESE SAME TEXTILES. APPROPRIATE TEST METHODS CAN THEN BE GENERATED UTILIZING THE COMPLETE TEST SYSTEM AS A BASIS.