Gold Flex is a non-woven
fabric
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not th ...
manufactured by
Honeywell
Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building technologies, performance ma ...
from
Kevlar
Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s a ...
, and is often used in
ballistic vest
A bulletproof vest, also known as a ballistic vest or a bullet-resistant vest, is an item of body armor that helps absorb the impact and reduce or stop penetration to the torso from firearm-fired projectiles and fragmentation from explosions. Th ...
s and
body armor. Gold Flex is lighter than woven Kevlar,
Twaron
Twaron (a brand name of Teijin Aramid) is a para-aramid. It is a heat-resistant and strong synthetic fibre developed in the early 1970s by the Dutch company Akzo Nobel's division Enka BV, later Akzo Industrial Fibers. The research name of the par ...
and other
Ballistic
Ballistics may refer to:
Science
* Ballistics, the science that deals with the motion, behavior, and effects of projectiles
** Forensic ballistics, the science of analyzing firearm usage in crimes
** Internal ballistics, the study of the proc ...
material. Gold Flex is a
laminated
Lamination is the technique/process of manufacturing a material in multiple layers, so that the composite material achieves improved strength, stability, sound insulation, appearance, or other properties from the use of the differing materia ...
material consisting of cross-laid, non-woven
fibers in a resin matrix. The fibers are laid straight and not in a woven fabric configuration. When an object strikes this material, a "web" of its clusters absorb the impact and minimizes penetration.
Protection
GoldFlex gives resistance to
abrasion and resists organic solvents making it non-conductive and non-flammable. Its degradation point starts from 500°C and it has no melting point. It is sensitive to salts, acids, and
ultraviolet radiation
Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 PHz) to 400 nm (750 THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation i ...
. When it comes to the static build-up in the body it is prone to it as well
Protection is also based on the pressure of the
impact
Impact may refer to:
* Impact (mechanics), a high force or shock (mechanics) over a short time period
* Impact, Texas, a town in Taylor County, Texas, US
Science and technology
* Impact crater, a meteor crater caused by an impact event
* Impac ...
. Some of these fabrics are only designed with hand-guns in mind basically making anything with a bigger calibre a threat potential. One cannot wear a GoldFlex and expect a large caliber round (E.G .50 BMG round) to be stopped from penetrating it. Also GoldFlex is not the only material that is responsible for minimizing penetration and absorbing the attack. Along with GoldFlex there are other layers on top of this fabric to ensure that the object does not penetrate through the material.
Armor
When a
bullet strikes the
body armor, it hits ballistic fibers which are strong enough to not penetrate through. This fibre absorbs and disperses the impact that has been made by the bullet to the body armor. This process continues and every layer of this material is effected until the bullet has come to a full stop. All layers combined form a larger area of the impact to disperse and keep the bullet from penetrating the carrier. This helps in reducing the risk of
blunt force trauma
Blunt trauma, also known as blunt force trauma or non-penetrating trauma, is physical traumas, and particularly in the elderly who fall. It is contrasted with penetrating trauma which occurs when an object pierces the skin and enters a tissue ...
.
Production
Comparison with other materials
Kevlar
Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s a ...
is five times stronger than steel of equivalent weight. It was invented by a Polish-American chemist
Stephanie Kwolek and introduced in the 1970s. It is used for
body armor and racing tires but is more expensive than Gold Flex.
Twaron
Twaron (a brand name of Teijin Aramid) is a para-aramid. It is a heat-resistant and strong synthetic fibre developed in the early 1970s by the Dutch company Akzo Nobel's division Enka BV, later Akzo Industrial Fibers. The research name of the par ...
is another alternative to Gold Flex but is not much in demand. Occasionally several materials are used in one product.
See also
*
Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene
Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE, UHMW) is a subset of the thermoplastic polyethylene. Also known as high-modulus polyethylene, (HMPE), it has extremely long chains, with a molecular mass usually between 3.5 and 7.5 million amu. ...
*
Improved Outer Tactical Vest
References
*
Aramid
Aramid fibers, short for aromatic polyamide, are a class of heat-resistant and strong synthetic fibers. They are used in aerospace and military applications, for ballistic-rated body armor fabric and ballistic composites, in marine cordage, ma ...
Ioffe Institute DatabasesWebElements.comChemSpider - The free chemical databaseThe Royal Society of ChemistryHoneywellmanufacturer of the Gold Flex fabric.
Information*
*
*
External links
EINECS (European INventory of Existing Commercial chemical Substances)* https://web.archive.org/web/20101120153843/http://cas.org/products/sfacad/index.html
* http://webbook.nist.gov/chemistry/
Spectral Database for Organic Compounds, SDBS
* http://chemfinder.cambridgesoft.com/
* http://www.astm.org American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)
{{Types of armour
Synthetic fibers
Body armor