Assessing the Feasibility of Producing Ultra-light Weight Kevlar Composites through Epoxy HPRTM Technology

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DuPontTM Kevlar® is a para-aramid fiber invented by DuPont to provide high strength, lightweight and heatstability properties in textile and composite applications. For many years, Kevlar® was solely used in militaryapplications, primarily due to its superior mechanical properties as well as its limited availability. However, therecent increased production of Kevlar® has made it widely available for civil applications. From a materialstandpoint, Kevlar® is characterized by superior mechanical properties, good fire resistance and very lowdensity. These characteristics make Kevlar® extremely attractive to numerous industries such as automotive,rail transportation or aerospace. However, in order to use Kevlar® in civil industry, an adequate technology forhigh-volume fabrication of Kevlar® reinforced composites is yet to be identified. Once this manufacturing pathhas been found, the mechanical properties of the resulting composite will have to be evaluated in order to bettertarget the needs of the future civil customers. To address this, DuPont has expressed - through the currentproposal - interest in partnering up with researchers from Western University and Fraunhofer Project Center inan attempt to test the feasibility of the new HPRTM technology for Kevlar-reinforced composite fabrication. Ifsuccessful, this fabrication avenue could open up a new spectrum of collaboration activities between theinvolved organizations to be then followed by beneficial downstream effects for the entire Canadianmanufacturing sector.