Knitted Polyester Scrim Fabrics For Military Use

The military requires the best fabric to protect our men and women in the field, on land, in the air and on the water. That's why they use knitted polyester scrims to create fabrics that can withstand all kinds of conditions.

NonWoven scrims fabricated with thermoplastic latex binders can be mechanically shaped (e.g., pleated) without damage to the fiber structure. The resulting structures retain their shape upon cooling.

Tensile Strength

Fabrics made from knitted polyester scrim fabrics have high tensile strength combined with excellent flexibility. They can withstand significant localized stress concentrations and are often used for military purposes. These fabrics have very low permeability, ensuring that air can flow through the fabric without causing it to tear.

These fabrics can be mechanically shaped into the desired shape of a filter element. The fabric can then be heated and cooled to form a self-supporting structure that preserves its shape.

The nonwoven scrim may be based on fibers of one or more polymer types and a latex binder of a different type. The synthetic fibers and the binder are selected to have different softening and melting points, enabling the scrim to be shaped without damaging its fiber structure or losing its physical properties.

The scrim can be coated with various chemicals to achieve color, mildew resistance and other property requirements. The coating can also be designed to be transparent or opaque.

Flexibility

In addition to their exceptional tensile strength, these scrim fabrics also have a high degree of flexibility. This enables them to be shaped, for example, into a pleated or corrugated structure, without damaging their fiber and binder structures or losing their desired physical properties.

The wet-laid process allows the web to be made up of a blend of synthetic fibers of one or more types and a latex binder of a different polymer type. The latex or thermoplastic binder softens or melts at relatively low temperatures, which enables the web to be shaped (e.g., pleated or corrugated) for filter applications.

The resulting fabric can be coated with a PVC material that adds color, mildew resistance, UV protection, and/or water repellency. The coating can also be formulated to achieve different levels of light transmission. The fabric can then be cut to length and slit for use as needed. These fabrics are available in prepackaged quantities of one, three or five yards. 

Tear Strength

Manufacturer of polyester & nylon knitted scrims with woven heavy-duty polyester threads and punctures, tears & chemicals resistant features. Fabrics are available in colors including red, black, forest green, royal blue, rocket red & FR white and can be custom cut to size.

Military fabrics have special needs, demanding top-notch tensile strength and tear strength. Knitted polyester scrims excel in these areas, making them the perfect choice for numerous military applications. For example, tarps used to cover weapons are typically made from this type of fabric, protecting them from extreme weather conditions.

These fabrics are also characterized by having high Frazier porosity and permeability values at equal basis weights. Additionally, they can be thermopleated to shape them as required. Typical binders are polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl acetate and butadiene styrene. Development work continues on heat activatable binders and thermal bonding methods.

Chemical Resistance

A polyester scrim fabric can be coated to achieve a desired level of color, water and mildew resistance or fire retardancy. Typical coating chemistries include polyvinyl alcohol and polyvinyl acetate. Newer technologies utilizing thermal bonding also are gaining acceptance.

These fabrics are used for stage effects. They are effective in diffusing light when lit from an oblique angle but appear solid when lit from the front. They are often dyed in a wide range of colors to provide the required look for a theatrical effect.

Knitted polyester scrim fabrics have many military applications. They can be made into tarps that protect weapons from weather conditions during shipping or storage. They can also be used to construct tents for rapidly deployable medical facilities or to protect equipment on Navy ships. These tarps are also able to retain their shape when mechanically pleated. They can be thermopleated to a desirable filter element configuration and have permeability values that are considerably higher than spun bonded nylon webs of the same basis weight.