Textiles in defense

Dr. Muhammad Mushtaq Mangat www.mushtaqmangat.org

Textiles in defence

Defence forces on land, sea, or air throughout the world are heavily reliant on technical textiles of all types whether woven, knitted, nonwoven, coated, laminated, or other composite forms Technical textiles offer invaluable properties for military land forces in particular, who are required to move, live, survive and fight in hostile environments. They have to carry or wear all the necessities for comfort and survival and thus need the most lightweight, compact, durable, and high performance personal clothing and equipment [1].

Pre-Twentieth century

Forces were using: bright, shiny and colorful dresses large epaulettes to increase the apparent width of the shoulders. Tall headwear made from animal furs (bearskin caps), feathers (ostrich), to increase the apparent height of troops. The materials used were all of natural origin, based upon wool and goat hairs, cotton, silk, flax [1] Such uniforms do not provide comfort during wearing.

The twentieth century defense clothing

Khaki colored uniforms from cotton twill or drill entered service for tropical use in 1902 It was found to give insufficient protection from the elements in temperate climates, so that wool worsted serge (twill fabric) uniforms were issued in the khaki or brown colors. For non-clothing textile items such as tents, shelters, covers, nets, load-carriage items and sleeping systems were made from natural fibers based upon wool, cotton, flax, jute, hemp, sisal, and kapok. Those used for screens, covers and tents were heavy, cumbersome, and prone to degradation by insects, moisture and biological organisms [1]

Forces dress in WWII

Start of use of the new fiber Nylon for light strong parachute canopies Development of Ventile cotton fabric for aircrew survival clothing for those who had to ditch into the cold North Sea. Ventile was the first waterproof/water vapor-permeable fabric invented by scientists at the Shirley Institute (now the British Textile Technology Group). It was based upon low twist Sea Island cotton yarns in a very tightly woven construction. Water-repellent finish (Velan by ICI) improved the waterproofness of this technical fabric, which is still widely used today by many air forces.[1]

 The well-known worsted serge battledress

uniform was introduced in 1939.

Prototypes of this were made at the

Garment Development Section, Royal Dockyard, Woolwich, London. E/1037 of 28th October 1938, issued by the Chief Inspector of Stores and Clothing (CISC) [1]

The first formal specification was designated

Denison smock
A lightweight windproof cotton gaberdine

fabric, and bearing rudimentary camouflage patterning, was introduced for airborne paratroopers in 1941. camouflage unit commanded by Oliver Messel, an eminent theatrical stage designer.

Captain Denison served with a special

Layered combat clothing

Woolen serge as a material for field uniforms became obsolete when the combat clothing concept in 1943. The introducing their own layered system

United States army introduced the layered British and other Allies followed this lead, as a winter uniform in the Korean War of the

1950s to avoid weather-related casualties.6

Four-color disruptively patterned material (DPM)

In 1970, the olive green (OG) 100% cotton

satin drill fabric appeared.

Followed in 1972 by the first four-color

disruptively patterned material (DPM) for temperate woodland camouflage. introduce such a printed material for combat forces.[1]

The UK was one of the first forces to

Criteria for modern military textile materials

Physical, Environmental, Camouflage, Specific battlefield threats, Flames, Heat and flash, Economic considerations

Physical [1]

Environmental [1]

[1]

[1]

Specific battlefield hazards [1]

[1]

Textiles for environmental protection

Military forces have to be prepared to operate in

all parts of the globe from arctic, through temperate, to jungle and desert areas.

As such they experience the widest range of

climatic conditions possible, encountering rain, snow, fog, wind, lightning, sunlight, and dust. wetness, UV light, wind-chill and other discomforts on land, sea, and in the air. [1]

They have to survive the attendant heat, cold,

Military Undergarments

Textile materials used for next-to-skin clothing are primarily worn for hygiene reasons. less important than the tactile properties and the way the material handles moisture (mainly perspiration) in order to remove it from the skin [1].

The thermal insulation properties tend to be

Textile materials used for next-to-skin clothing are primarily worn for hygiene reasons.The thermal insulation properties tend to be less important than the tactile moisture

properties and the way the material handles It should be made from non-thermoplastic fibers to minimize contact melt/burn injuries [1]

Thermal insulation materials

Military forces of many nations need to survive and fight in the most extreme conditions known on earth. The cold/wet regions tend to cause the most severe problems, as it is necessary to provide and maintain dry thermal insulation materials. The efficiency of the fibrous insulator is the ratio of fiber to air, and the way in which the fibers are arranged in the system. An efficient insulator will be composed of about 10 20% of fiber and 8090% of air, the fiber merely acting as a large surface area medium to trap still air.[1]

 Large numbers of fine fibers trap more still air,

owing to the high specific surface area.

However, fine fibers give a dense felt-like batting. There is a compromise between fineness and

flexural rigidity which gives the fiber the ability to maintain a degree of loft, resilience and recovery from compression which is essential for clothing and sleeping bags. footwear and hand wear, where low thickness is an important factor.[1]

Finer fiber battings are more suitable for insulated

Effect of moisture on insulation

Any fibrous, porous insulation material is adversely affected by the presence of moisture, whether this is perspiration or rain. Replacing air of low thermal conductivity by water of high conductivity is the primary cause. Moreover, fibrous materials, particularly pile fabrics or quilted battings, have a high affinity for wicking and entrapping large amounts of moisture. The presence of 1020% by weight of moisture is sufficient to cause up to 50% loss in the dry insulation value.[1]

 All military personnel are trained to look after

their arctic clothing according to the following

Keep it C lean

Do not O verheat

Wear it in L ayers Keep it D ry [1]

Water vapor permeable/ waterproof materials

One of the basic incompatibilities in technical textiles is that associated with providing waterproof materials which allow free passage of water vapour (perspiration). Without this facility, physiological problems can occur when impermeable clothing is worn by highly active soldiers, marines, and special forces.21 Table 16.8 shows the consequences of such situations. In the most extreme war operations individuals

combat clothing systems

Current combat clothing systems are based upon the layer principle, where each layer performs a specific function in the Combat Soldier

The Combat Soldier 95 layered system has been evaluated using a sweating guarded hotplate apparatus (Hohenstein Skin Model) conforming with ISO 11092:1993.12 Both the thermal resistance (Rct) and the water vapour resistance (Ret) have been measured and are reported here in Table The water vapors permeability index (imt) is defined as;

The imt has values between 0 and 1. [1]

[1]

Camouflage concealment and deception

The word camouflage comes from the French word camoufler (to disguise) and was first introduced by the French during World War I to define the concealment of objects and people by the imitation of their physical surroundings, in order to survive. There are earlier examples of the use of camouflage by skirmishing infantry from the 1750s to 1800s, followed by the use of khaki coloring after 1850 in India. In essence, effective camouflage must break up the objects contours, and minimize contrasts between the object and the environment.[1]

Ultraviolet waveband

Only in the snow covered environment is UV observation of military importance. The threat is mainly from photographic systems which use quartz optics and blue/UV sensitive film emulsions. Developments have seen the use of CCD video camera systems which can now operate in this short wavelength region. Snow has a uniform high reflectance at all visible wavelengths, that is, it appears white, but it also continues to have a high reflectance in the UV region.

The detection problem occurs with white textiles or coatings, as the titanium dioxide pigment which is commonly used as a lowcost widely available treatment for artificial fibres is visually white, but has low reflectance in the UV. sulphate are suitable and can be incorporated into textile coatings.

Luckily, other pigments such as barium

It is interesting to note that the reflectance of

snow is between 80 and 98% in the UV and visible bands. [1]

Visible waveband
In this range we are trying to mimic natural or

even artificial backgrounds, not just in terms of color, but also patterns, gloss and texture. stimulus coordinates using a spectrophotometer in the laboratory.

Colour can be measured in terms of tri-

Camouflage is one of the unique areas

where textile coloration is used for a functional purpose, rather than for aesthetic purpose.[1]

Snow camouflage net in use [1].

Visual decoys

Textile materials are widely used to fabricate and simulate the outline of high value military targets such as aircraft, tanks, missile launchers, and other vehicles. These decoys vary in their complexity depending on the source of the potential attack. Inflatable decoys made from neoprene or hypaloncoated nylon fabrics have been used to mimic armoured fighting vehicles (AFV), missile launcher/tracker modules, artillery, and other vulnerable equipment. These are cheap and easy to transport and deploy

Textile decoy of a tornado aircraft [1].

Near infrared camouflage

The NIR region of the spectrum covers the wavelength range from 0.72.0 m, although current camouflage requirements concentrate on the 0.71.2m range. In this region objects are still seen by reflection. The military camouflage threat is posed by imaging devices which amplify low levels of light, including moonlight and starlight, which go under the generic name of image intensifiers. These can be in the form of monoculars, binoculars, or low-light television systems. The earliest image intensifiers were developed during Word War II. Modern image intensifiers use microchannel plates (MCP) technology, and gallium arsenide photocathodes. They are now smaller, lighter and more capable than earlier systems, and hence more readily usable.[1]

Woodland camo infrared

Dyes for near infrared camouflage

Cellulosic fibres and blends thereof have been successfully dyed with a selected range of vat dyes which have large conjugated systems of aromatic rings. These have met NATO requirements for many years. Other fibres such as wool, and synthetic fibres such as nylon, polyester, aramids (Nomex, Conex or Kermel ), and polyolefins have proved more difficult, since these fibres are dyed with small molecules which have either little or no absorption, and thus high reflectance, in the NIR region

Thermal infrared camouflage waveband

The thermal or far infrared (FIR) wavebands are, militarily, defined as being from 35 m, and 814 m. atmosphere is sufficiently transparent to allow long range surveillance and target acquisition. they emit or reflect.

In these two bands or windows the

Objects are detected by the heat energy

Flame-retardant, heat protective textiles

There is a unique difference between civilian

and military fire events.

The majority of civilian fires are accidental

events, whereas the majority of military fires are deliberate, planned events specifically intended to destroy equipment and installations, or to maim and kill human life

flame retardant viscose fiber featuring flame resistance heat http://underwearinchina.com/3-1flame-retardant-underwear.html

Ballistic protective materials

Most military casualties which are due to

high speed ballistic projectiles are not caused by bullets. The main threat is from fragmenting devices. grenades, mortars, artillery shells, mines, and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) used by terrorists. [1]

In combat, this means, in particular,

Soldier wearing combat body armour. [1]

Explosive ordnance disposal clothing [1].

Ballistic pack showing arrested bullet [1].

Refrences
[1] Scott, R.A., Textiles in defence, in

Handbook of Technical Textiles A.R. Horrocks, Anand, S. C., Editor 2000, Woodhead Publishing Ltd Cambridge.