There's
plenty of life left in
Honeywell's high- performing
Spectra Shield II body armor. A
fourth-generation fiber is
lighter, stronger and suitable
for a number of new military
applications.
by
James A. Bacon
On
July 2, 2005, PFC Stephen
Tschiderer and his unit with the
101st Cav were patrolling the
streets of Baghdad. Someone shot
at the convoy, so the soldiers
initiated a search of the
surrounding homes. Tschiderer was
providing security around his
Humvee when a two-man sniper
team -- the men they were
looking for -- caught him in
their crosshairs. The sniper,
armed with a Draganov rifle,
pulled the trigger and hit
Tshiderer in the chest with an
armor-piercing round.
Tschiderer
crumpled to the ground and the
insurgents began chanting,
"Allahu Akhbar" (God
is Great). But seconds later,
the private scrambled back to
his feet, his gun at the ready.
Crouching and glancing around
for the sniper, he retreated to
cover behind the Humvee.
Captured
video image of
Tschiderer
seconds before he was shot
by an insurgent sniper. View
the film clip by clicking on
the image.
Tschiderer
later participated in a chase
through the neighborhood and
helped net one of the two
insurgents. Among the spoils of
war: the sniper rifle and the
camera that one of the Iraqis
had used to record the episode. What
the Iraqis hadn't known was that
Tschiderer had been wearing a
breastplate made with Spectra
Shield. The armor-piercing
round, which had struck at an
angle, didn't penetrate the
plate. Tschiderer walked away
from the battle with no more
than a bruise on his torso.
The
episode was big news to
Honeywell's Advanced Fibers and
Composites operation in the
Richmond region, which
manufactures the light,
high-strength fiber used in
Spectra Shield. In fact, so
excited was Honeywell about the
vivid, real-world demonstration
of its product that it invited
Tschiderer and his parents to
Virginia to see the plant.
Meeting the people whose lives
they save spurs the Spectra team
to continue refining their
product and making it better,
says Lori Wagner, Honeywell's
industry technology leader for
armor. More.
The
Art of Armor Development
Composites
are playing a bigger role in antiballistic
systems designed to defuse a host of
weapons, including improvised explosive
devices.
One
thing the war in Iraq has taught
the military and its suppliers
is that the threat — and the
enemy that poses it — is no
longer clearly defined. Armor
manufacturers are being called
upon to design protective
systems for vehicles and
personnel that can meet not only
increasing levels of threat, but
also withstand damage delivered
by a variety of weapons wielded
by unlikely combatants. Pressure
is on, as well, to reduce armor
system weight for security
forces, military and civil, that
require high mobility and
maneuverability in environments
as varied as open desert and
congested urbanscapes. As a
result, fiber-reinforced
composites are earning a larger
role in protective systems,
supplanting or supplementing
legacy systems that rely on
metals and ceramics.
Today,
says Karl Chang, a research
associate at DuPont Advanced
Fiber Systems (Wilmington,
Del.), armor design must meet
multiple functional
requirements: in addition
to
ballistic
performance, the system must
meet weight limits and, when
incorporated into vehicles, also
fulfill structural requirements.
Further, armor systems must
account for what the industry
calls “over-matching
threat.”
“Over-matching
threat means if I design an
armor system, I have to design
for a specific threat, but
can’t guarantee that the enemy
will only shoot at me at the
specification I am designing to,
so I must be prepared to deal
with that,” Chang says.
“That” can be armor-piercing
bullets (called rounds by
insiders) or terrorist bombs and
incendiary devices. The latter,
which armor designers categorize
as improvised explosive devices
(IEDs), not only deliver a blast
load and projectile fragments
but often include a fireball as
well, says Chang, who notes that
flammability has become a
significant issue in armor
design. “We can look at
reports from Iraq in terms of
soldier injuries, and there is a
large number of burn
injuries,” he says. (Reprinted
from High-Performance
Composites, Dec. 10, 2007)More.
Fast
and Flexible, Performance Fibers Moves
Ahead
Global
Company Uses Speed and Size to Grow with
Customers
In
today’s business environment, it is no
longer true that “the big fish eat the
little fish.” With the rapid fire speed
of change, it’s more apt to say, “the
fast fish eat the slow fish.” And
Performance Fibers certainly is
demonstrating that a nimble,
customer-responsive and technology-driven
company that delivers quickly and seizes
opportunities can win in the fiercely
competitive global industry. Since its
divestiture from Honeywell in December
2004, the Richmond-based company has been
moving full speed ahead with acquisitions,
strategic investments and partnerships,
and global expansion.
With
the November signing of an agreement
to acquire the North America tire
cord and polyester industrial
filament businesses of INVISTA,
Performance
Fibers
capped off another year of strong growth.
Expected to close in early 2008, the sale
would include three INVISTA manufacturing
sites in the Carolinas, as well as other
polyester and nylon assets from its Querétaro,
Mexico site. (As of press time, the deal
was not yet finalized.) (Reprinted from
International
Fiber Journal, February 2008)More.
News
Business
Richmond
Businesses Expanding. Despite reports of
a nationwide economic downturn, 40 percent
of Richmond-
area firms have plans to expand, according
to the Business First initiative. In
interviews with 600
firms in the past 18 months, including
almost 300 in the past six months, Business
First found that responding firms anticipate
creating more than 2,200 new jobs in the
region.
States
Greg Wingfield, President and CEO of the
Greater Richmond Partnership, Inc.: “These
conversations with area business leaders and
CEOs demonstrate the resiliency of the Richmond-area economy.”
(Feb. 29, 2008)More.
DuPont
Upgrades Protection for Correctional
Officers.
DuPont has introduced 300-denier Kevlar
Correctional technology that provides
multiple threat protection from both
bullets and hand-made weapons such as
shanks, awls, spikes and homemade knives.
Said DuPont executive Thomas G. Powell:
“We have developed a solution that not
only offers excellent puncture resistance,
but also can be blended with other Kevlar
materials to help ensure corrections
officers receive protection from a broad
range of threats.” (Oct. 10, 2007)More.
Spectra
Fiber Used in Hurricane Curtains.
Honeywell has found a new market for its
high-strength Spectra fiber, commonly used
in bullet-resistant body armor: in
roll-down curtains used to resist
hurricane winds and debris. The
light-weight curtains, sold by North
Carolina-based John Boyle & Co. under
the Storm-A-Rest brand, meets Florida
building code requirements for winds in
excess of 155 mph. (Feb. 13, 2007)
Performance
Fibers to Distribute Chinese Fibers.
Performance Fibers has entered into a
multi-year agreement with Zhejiang
GuXianDao Industrial Fibre Co., Ltd., to
distribute the Chinese company's low-
shrinkage and high-tenacity polyester
fiber yarn in the Americas. Said
Performance CEO Gregory S. Rogowski: “This
agreement, like our recent plant
expansions in Asia and Europe, aligns with
our strategy to seize growth opportunities
that ensure our long-term business
success.” (Oct. 25, 2007)More.
Albemarle
Introduces New Flame Retardant.
Albemarle Corporation’s Baton Rouge,
La., operations have developed an
environmentally friendly flame retardant
foam for use in furniture and automobile
seats. ANTIBLAZE 117HF achieves the same
protection as existing flame retardants
with up to 30 percent less product. (Jan.
24, 2008)More.
Albemarle
Opens China Plant.
Albemarle Corporation is starting a new
production unit in Nanjing, China, to meet
global demand for its phosphorus-based
NcendX P-30 flame retardant. The new plant
will improve the company’s ability to
supply its Asian-based customers. (Dec.
4, 2007)More.
Albemarle
Announces $15 Million Expansion.
Responding to increased demand for
packaged goods, plastic films and building
materials, Albemarle Corporation is
investing $15 million to double
manufacturing capacity for specialty
polymer catalysts and components at its
Baton Rouge complex. (Nov. 15, 2007)More.
Research
UVa
Researchers Discover Fuel Cell Technology.
University of Virginia researchers may
have discovered a new class of hydrogen
storage materials that could be used in
more efficient and affordable fuel cells.
The technology has potential applications
in hydrogen-powered automobiles, solar
power systems, hydrogen-fueled laptop
computers and more. Said Physicist
Adam B. Phillips: “It’s kind of
mind-blowing. It’s like, ‘Wait a
minute, I was just screwing around in the
lab.’ I never imagined we’d discover
something so useful.” (Nov. 13, 2007)
More.
People
Kwolek
Profiled in Film.
Stephanie Kwolek, a retired DuPont scientist
and an inventor of its Kevlar fiber, is
featured in a video produced by the Museum
of Science in Boston, Mass., for an
exhibit on innovative scientists. The
four-minute video highlights her childhood,
schooling and DuPont career. (Nov. 19, 2007)
More.
