Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-grxwn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-09T05:24:43.619Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

High-Performance Polymer Fibers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2013

W. Wade Adams  and
R. K. Eby
Get access

Extract

Since the pioneering work of Carothers which led to the introduction of strong nylon fibers by DuPont in the 1930s, polymer scientists have pursued the development of high-performance fibers to replace natural or metallic products, both to improve mechanical properties and to reduce weight. That development was relatively slow and evenly paced until DuPont again revolutionized the field with the release of Kevlar™, an aromatic polyamide with unprecedented mechanical properties. Since then, the field has literally boomed with new developments, and now organic fibers are available with properties that compete with the best inorganics and are far superior to metal fibers.

Strong motivation for the invention of new organic fibers comes from the aerospace industry, which seeks fibers to use in reinforced composite structural materials. Composites bring new advances in stiffness (airplane wings can't bend too much!) in weight savings (every kilogram saved in the structure of an airplane saves $120 over its lifetime, and in a spacecraft $10,000), and in radically new ideas, such as radar-invisibility (stealth)5 and mission-adaptive wings (in-flight variable-shape wings). Hence, for a variety of specialty applications, otherwise commercially indefensible materials become viable.

It may be somewhat counter intuitive to materials scientists unfamiliar with polymers to expect polymer mechanical properties to be greater than in the best metals. The origin of high strength and stiffness in a polymer fiber is the covalent bond, especially when aligned in an ordered array of long chain molecules.

Type
Polymers
Information
MRS Bulletin , Volume 12 , Issue 8 , December 1987 , pp. 22 - 26
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Carothers, W.H. and Hill, J.W., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 54, 4 papers (1932) p. 1559–1587.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2.Kwolek, S., Patent, U.S. No. 3 600 356 (1971).Google Scholar
3.Gordon, J.E., Proc. R. Soc. A 282 (1964) p. 16.Google Scholar
4.Saito, S., as quoted in C&E News (June 15, 1987) p. 13.Google Scholar
5.Heppenheimer, T.A., “Stealth,” Popular Science (September 1986) p. 74.Google Scholar
6.Smith, B., “AFTI/F-111 Flight Test Demonstrates Potential of Mission Adaptive Wing,” Aviation Week (November 24, 1986) p. 40.Google Scholar
7.Staudinger, H., Die Hochmolekularen Organischen Verbindungen (Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1932) p. 111.Google Scholar
8.Hallam, M.A., Cansfield, D.L.M., Ward, I.M., and Pollard, G., J. Mat. Sci. 21 (1986) p. 4199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9.Pennings, A.J., Schouteten, C.J.H., and Kiel, A.M., J. Polym. Sci. C 38 (1972) p. 167.Google Scholar
10.Smith, P. and Lemstra, P.J., Colloid Polym. Sci. 258 (1980) p. 7.Google Scholar
11.Barham, P.J. and Keller, A., J. Mater. Sci. 20 (1985) p. 2281.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12.Chang, H.W. & Weedon, G.C., Polymer News 12 (1986) p. 102.Google Scholar
13.Ohta, T. and Okada, F., 2nd Soc. Polym. Sci., Japan Int. Polym. Conf. (1986) p. 8.Google Scholar
14. “High-Strength PE Fiber Goes Commercial,” C&E News (July 20, 1987) p. 34.Google Scholar
15.Kanamoto, T., Tsuruta, A., Tanaka, K., Takeda, M., and Porter, R.S., Polymer J. 15 (1983) p. 327.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16.Zachariades, A.E. and Porter, R.S., in The Strength and Stiffness of Polymers, edited by Zachariades, A.E. and Porter, R.S. (Marcel Dekker, New York, 1983) p. 1.Google Scholar
17.Cotts, S.G., Economy, J., and Wohrer, L.C., U.S. Patent 3 975 487 (1976).Google Scholar
18.Economy, J. and Volksen, W., in The Strength and Stiffness of Polymers, edited by Zachariades, A.E. and Porter, R.S. (Marcel Dekker, New York, 1983) p. 293.Google Scholar
19. Technical Data Sheets for XYDAR™, Dartco Manufacturing Co. (Augusta, GA).Google Scholar
20.Sawyer, L.C. and Jaffe, M., J. Mater. Sci. 21 (1986) p. 1897.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21.Morgan, P.W., U.S. Patent No. 4 048 148 (1977).Google Scholar
22.VanDeusen, R.L., J. Polym. Sci. B 4 (1966) p. 211.Google Scholar
23.Arnold, F.E. and VanDeusen, R.L., J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 15 (1971) p. 2035.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
24.Helminiak, T.E., Arnold, F.E., and Benner, C.L., Polym. Preprints 16 (2), (American Chemical Society, Division of Polymer Chemistry, 1975) p. 659.Google Scholar
25.Reisch, M.S., C&E News (February 2, 1987) p. 9.Google Scholar
26.Schaefgen, J.R., in The Strength and Stiffness of Polymers, edited by Zachariades, A.E. and Porter, R.S. (Marcel Dekker, New York, 1983) p. 327.Google Scholar
27.Northolt, M.G., J. Mater. Sci. Lett. 16 (1981) p. 2025.Google Scholar
28.Allen, S.R., J. Mater. Sci. 22 (1987) p. 853.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
29.Kanamoto, T. (private communication).Google Scholar
30. “Advancing Composites in Aerospace,” E.I. duPont de Nemours & Co. (Wilmington, DE, 1987).Google Scholar
31.Chenevey, E. (private communication).Google Scholar
32.Wang, C.S. (private communication).Google Scholar
33.Bacon, R. (private communication).Google Scholar
34.Tsirlin, A.M., in Strong Fibers, edited by Watt, W. and Perov, B.V. (Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1985) p. 155.Google Scholar
35.Diefendorf, R.J., in Carbon Fibers and Their Composites, edited by Fitzer, E. (Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1985) p. 47.Google Scholar
36.Holliday, L., in Structure and Properties of Oriented Polymers, edited by Ward, I.M. (Wiley, New York, 1975) p. 242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
37.Klei, H.E. and Stewart, J.J.P., Int. J. Quantum Chem (Quantum Chem. Symp. 20, 1986) p. 529.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
38.Wierschke, S.G. (private communication).Google Scholar
39.Tremonia, Y. and Smith, P., Polymer 27 (1986) p. 1845.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
40.Wu, H.F., Phoenix, S.L., and Schwartz, P., J. Mater. Sci., (in press, 1987).Google Scholar
41.Kumar, S. and Adams, W.W. (to be published).Google Scholar
42.DeTeresa, S.J., AFWAL-TR-85-4013 (March 1985).Google Scholar
43.Kumar, S., Adams, W.W., and Helminiak, T.E., J. Reinforced Plast. and Composites, (in press, 1987).Google Scholar
44.Adams, W.W. and Helminiak, T.E., in Science of Ceramic Chemical Processing, edited by Hench, L.L. and Ulrich, D.R. (Wiley, New York, 1986) p. 444.Google Scholar