A CHEAP, fluffy fabric could allow bulletproof vests to stop high-velocity
rifle rounds and could protect embassies from bomb blasts. The new fabric is a
blend of Kevlar and Spectra鈥攖he two fibres used in today鈥檚 bulletproof
vests鈥攂ut it has been awarded patents because it has a fundamentally
different, unwoven structure.
鈥淭his fabric is similar to felt, and is soft and flexible,鈥� says its creator,
Howard Thomas of Auburn University in Alabama. 鈥淲ith special deflecting inserts
inside its layers, it stops bullets as well as or better than fabrics now in
惫别蝉迟蝉.鈥�
The production process involves creating a mat of Kevlar and Spectra fibres,
then piercing it with needles to crimp and cross-link the fibres. Because this
is faster and cheaper than weaving, Thomas says, it should cost much less than
present bulletproof fabrics. This should make it possible to incorporate it
within the walls of high-risk buildings.
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鈥淎 single layer of the material will easily stop the glass shards that
typically kill and injure people inside bombed structures,鈥� Thomas says. 鈥淎nd
adding small spheres and/or pyramids of metal or ceramics鈥攔anging from 1
millimetre to a few millimetres in diameter鈥攖o the felt will enable the
fabric to defeat even high-velocity bullets.鈥�