Kevlar

1 Pages 276 Words

Using Kevlar in a Dangerous World
During the heat of battle, the knight clad with chain-mail armor was hit multiple times with the enemy’s swords, but managed to be unscathed. Throughout history, people have found certain materials that provide protection from weapons, and aid in construction, but none of them compare to the benefits offered by Kevlar.
Stephanie Kwolek, a Dupont Chemist, created Kevlar in 1965 while mixing petrochemicals. The purpose of her experiment was to find a better fiber for radial tires, not to create a fiber for bulletproof vests. She soon realized this new fiber which she created was five times stronger than steel. The man who found Kevlar useful in bulletproof vests was Joe Rivers. He was a fellow colleague of Stephanie Kwolek (“Newsweek,” 1997). Kevlar has been such a success for Dupont that it plans to boost production by fifteen percent and create a new factory in Richmond Virginia. This new factory is scheduled to open in 2002 (Seewald, 2001).
Kevlar has some very unique properties, which allow it to be used in a variety of different areas. Some of these properties are bullet resistance, flame resistance, high cut resistance, high chemical resistance and high-tension strength. Kevlar is five times stronger than steel on an equal weight ratio and it is very lightweight. These physical properties allowed Kevlar to be used in the law enforcement field and the military for many years. Kevlar can be used in many different areas. Some of the areas that use Kevlar are bulletproof vests, ropes, tires, netting, aircrafts, automobiles, gloves, helmets, and space applications (www.dupont.com)....