ppe3bdf535.png
pp3df4401b.gif
ppc9d7617b.png
pp3df4401b.gif
pp3df4401b.gif
pp3df4401b.gif
pp3df4401b.gif
pp3df4401b.gif
pp3df4401b.gif
ppd5c8143c.png
pp92674d0c.png
pp3df4401b.gif
pp69028351.png
pp3df4401b.gif
pp3df4401b.gif
pp3df4401b.gif
pp3df4401b.gif
pp3df4401b.gif
pp3df4401b.gif
pp3df4401b.gif
pp3df4401b.gif
pp3df4401b.gif
pp3df4401b.gif
pp3df4401b.gif
pp3df4401b.gif
pp3df4401b.gif
pp3df4401b.gif
pp3df4401b.gif
pp3df4401b.gif
pp3df4401b.gif
pp3df4401b.gif
pp3df4401b.gif
pp3df4401b.gif
ppdeb8bb4e.png
pp3df4401b.gif
pp3df4401b.gif
pp92189fe0.png
pp3df4401b.gif
26th July 2008
pp1f011c4f.png
pp09c84c43.png
pp696813cf.png
Stephanie Kwolek     ~    Kevlar

Stephanie Kwolek created for DuPont a revolutionary material that is used in bullet-proof vests  - a material that it is over 5 times  as strong as the same thickness of steel. This exciting product was created in the late 1960’s,first marketed in 1971 and originated from a little experimentation and original thinking by Kwolek.  The result ; a new material had emerged capable of stopping a bullet travelling at over 1000 ft per second if it is stack into only 20 or so layers.
                       
DuPont aren’t the only company to encourage their experts to experiment and bend the rules of research a little – and those that do sometimes come up with world-beating products.  The end uses to which the fibre has been put include heat proof, fragment resisting and reinforcing fabrics as well as fibre optic cables, sports goods and composites like automobile tyres.  The general specifications for the material embrace enormous strength and a density much less than that of fibreglass – an astonishing combination of properties.
pp98902f74.png
pp3df4401b.gif
pp3df4401b.gif
ppb7937e05.png
pp3df4401b.gif
img72.gif
img126.gif
img132.gif
pp3df4401b.gif
pp3df4401b.gif
pp3df4401b.gif
img72.gif
img126.gif
img132.gif
pp3df4401b.gif
pp3df4401b.gif
pp3df4401b.gif
ppaa5a787f.png
pp3df4401b.gif
ppec62ee3c.png
Inventors & Inventions
IF IN DOUBT ASK !!!!
pp3df4401b.gif
pp0f5ae6de.png
Kevlar is a polymer ( a polyamide -  actually poly(p-phenylene terephtalamide)  but no-one is going to expect you to write that down in your GCSE exam papers ! )  and is therefore made up of long-chain molecules. Its chemistry dictates that the chains are very long and straight - an ideal combination for a material that might be used in the textiles industry. Equally important with a material like this is that
designers look for ways to use  properties of the materials and so new uses are constantly appearing.  Whilst speeding bullets are perhaps not that common on earth one thing common in space are speeding particles.  Especially if a spacecraft is re-entering the atmosphere or of  spacecraft (e.g.‘Giotto’) exploring (photographing) bodies like comets that are collections of dust and ice .... travelling at over 100,000 kph.  Even tiny particles such as those in these environ-ments can penetrate steel with ease.  With the expanding use of technology in exploring space new uses are bound to be continually created.
pp69bfadc8.png
ppff878756.png
Kevlar tyres
ppb079c6e5.png
Carbon-fibre + Kevlar
car bodies and helmets
ppf7206cde.png
Boat hulls
ppe5726972.png