Improved System and Methods for Evaluating Protective Material Performance to Chemical Agents

"Sensor Research and Development Corporation (SRD) proposes to develop an Automated Measurement of Breakthrough in Real-time (AMBR) prototype to test chemical protective materials. AMBR will increase the safety, efficiency, and sample throughput for fabrictests while improving data quality and expanding test capabilities. SRD will develop AMBR by integrating proven solid-state chemical agent sensor technology with commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) robotic sample delivery and environmental control systems.AMBR will improve current test operating procedures and allow direct comparison of solid-state sensors to legacy permeation detectors.Existing fabric test methods are labor intensive, require too many steps, are not reproducible, and provide limited data without real-time capability. AMBR will measure a time-resolved permeation profile of chemical breakthrough over a wide dynamic rangeon multiple fabric swatches simultaneously. Improved data quality will offer a better understanding of the chemical/physical properties of current chemical agent suits and influence the design of future protective fabrics. This understanding is criticallyneeded to ensure the safety of soldiers and "first responders" (firemen, policemen) under chemical attack.SRD will resolve environmental chamber and gas delivery issues under Phase I and deliver an automated field-tested prototype with detailed operating procedures and performance data at the end of th