Effect of outdoor exposure and accelerated ageing on textile materials used in aerostat and aircraft arrester barrier nets

Abstract

The degradation behaviour of polyurethane (PU) coated nylon fabric and woven webbings made of nylon and polyester fibres when exposed to outdoor environment has been studied. The degradation behavior of these materials has also been studied under accelerated ageing using xenon lamp. The degradation behavior of the samples has been studied in terms of increase in gas permeability (for PU coated nylon fabric only), loss in breaking strength, work of rupture and extension-at-break. In PU coated fabrics, even though the tensile strength loss after outdoor exposure is acceptable, the gas retention property of PU coatings deteriorates sharply and material becomes unusable. It is observed that in case of polyester webbing, the outdoor exposure and xenon arc exposure data correlate quite well, however no such finding is observed for nylon webbing. It also emerges out that during outdoor weathering, although the strength loss in polyester webbing is less than that of nylon, the loss in work of rupture is higher. The UV resistant (UVR) finish has been found to be quite effective on both nylon and polyester webbings.