Fiber Definitions — textile fibers, yarn fibers and fiber properties from Apparel Search
Nomex is the brand name of a flame retardant meta-aramid material marketed and first discovered by DuPont in the 1970s. It is sold in both fiber and sheet forms and is used as a fabric wherever resistance from heat and flame is required. Both the firefighting and vehicle racing industries use Nomex to create clothing and equipment that can stand up to intense heat. It is the meta variant of the para-aramid Kevlar.
A Nomex hood is a common piece of firefighting equipment. It is placed on the head on top of a firefighter's face mask. The hood protects the portions of the head not covered by the helmet and face mask from the intense heat of the fire. Race car drivers commonly use a similar hood to protect them in the event that a fire engulfs their car. Military pilots wear one-piece coveralls (flight suits) made of over 92% Nomex, to protect them from the possibility of cockpit fires and other mishaps.
The DuPont scientist responsible for discoveries leading to the creation of Nomex, Dr. Wilfred Sweeny, earned a Lavoisier medal partly for this work in 2002.
| The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/nomex). 1/18/06 |
The hood shows how Nomex is actually used: not as a complete suit of armour but as the layer that closes the gaps in one. A firefighter's helmet and face mask cover most of the head; the hood covers the portions they leave exposed, the ears, neck and edges of the face, which are exactly the areas intense heat reaches first. Racing uses the same logic in a different cockpit: the driver's hood protects the head in the event a fire engulfs the car, buying the seconds in which escape is possible. The flight suit extends the principle to the whole body, a one-piece coverall of over 92 percent Nomex worn against the possibility of cockpit fires and other mishaps. In each case the material's job is time: a flame retardant fabric does not make its wearer fireproof, it resists heat and flame long enough for the wearer to get out of the fire's reach, and every garment design in this field is built around that honest purpose.
The meta and para distinction is a distinction of molecular arrangement with practical consequences. Kevlar, the para-aramid, aligns its chains for tensile strength and serves in vests, tires and composites. Nomex, the meta-aramid, is sold in both fiber and sheet forms and is used as a fabric wherever heat and flame resistance is required, serving in clothing and equipment for firefighting and vehicle racing. The two materials are relatives, not rivals: a protective ensemble may need strength in one component and flame resistance in another, and the aramid family supplies both. Nomex was marketed and first discovered by DuPont in the 1970s, and the scientific standing of the work is marked by Dr Wilfred Sweeny's Lavoisier medal in 2002, awarded partly for the discoveries leading to Nomex's creation. Few textile fibers carry that kind of scientific recognition, because few are asked to perform at the boundary between clothing and life safety equipment, which is where Nomex works.
Nomex is the meta variant of the para-aramid Kevlar. Both are aramid materials from DuPont, but they serve different primary purposes: Kevlar is the high-strength fiber used where tensile strength is the requirement, while Nomex is the flame retardant material used wherever resistance from heat and flame is required.
A Nomex hood is a common piece of firefighting equipment, placed on the head on top of a firefighter's face mask. The hood protects the portions of the head not covered by the helmet and face mask from the intense heat of the fire. Race car drivers commonly use a similar hood to protect them in the event that a fire engulfs their car.
Military pilots wear one-piece coveralls, flight suits, made of over 92 percent Nomex, to protect them from the possibility of cockpit fires and other mishaps. The DuPont scientist responsible for discoveries leading to the creation of Nomex, Dr Wilfred Sweeny, earned a Lavoisier medal partly for this work in 2002.