Development of flexible particle-laden elastomeric textiles with improved penetration resistance to hypodermic needles

Development of Oxygen-Plasma-Surface-Treated UHMWPE Fabric Coated with a Mixture of SiC/Polyurethane for Protection against Puncture and Needle Threats

“…It can be seen that the 3-layer neat fabric sample was easily penetrated, and fibers were pushed aside at the impact area. This is a typical "windowing mechanism" in textiles under the impact of a spike or similar sharp pointed objects [2,3]. On the contrary, the 2-layer stack of coated fabric sample was not penetrated and only a small dent was visible on the surface.…”

“…Flexibility tests were performed similar to our previous work [3], based on the principles of ASTM D1388. The objective of this test was to compare the rigidity of samples before and after coating.…”

“…Target samples were then categorized into different levels based on their maximum resistance against spike puncture (Table S1 in Supplementary Information). Hypodermic needle penetration tests were performed similarly to a previous study [3] and in accordance with the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM F2878-10 standards). Briefly, the fabric sample was held firmly between the supporting fixture and another plate with the same open internal diameter of 20 mm.…”

“…In one study, it was shown that high density polyethylene (HDPE) fabric impregnated with a mixture of heavily-loaded silica and SiC nano-sized particles (65 wt.% and 80 wt.%) in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) mixture provides up to 190% increase in normalized penetration resistance force to 21G hypodermic needles when it was compared to the neat fabric. The improvement in penetration resistance of treated fabrics was related to the elastic-jamming phenomenon at a very high concentration of particles [3]. Despite their promise, such nano-particle elastomer composites are difficult to incorporate into UHMWPE fabrics and to the best of authors' knowledge, studies on spike puncture resistance of particle-elastomer impregnated UHMWPE fabrics have not been reported elsewhere.…”

“…Resistant materials capable of providing protection against sharp objects are also of interest in a number of different occupations, such as waste processing. There is an ever-present threat of stab and knife attacks for law enforcement and military personnel [3], as well as incidences of accidental injuries due to sharp debris, broken glass, or razor wire [4] to health care and waste management workers. The main parameters which affect the penetration resistance of textiles are the areal density of fabrics, yarn linear density and mechanical properties of fibers, number of filaments per yarn, fabric weave architecture, and the number of fabric plies.…”