DSM Dyneema ultra strong fibers for personal and vehicle protection

DSM Dyneema is the inventor and manufacturer of Dyneema®, the world’s strongest fiber™. Dyneema® is an ultra strong polyethylene fiber which is finding an ever-increasing array of uses in the high-performance demanding life protection sector. Dyneema offers maximum strength at minimum weight. On a weight-for-weight basis, Dyneema® is up to 15 times stronger than quality steel and up to 40% stronger than aramid fibers.

Key applications for Dyneema® are highly diverse and range from bullet-resistant vests and inserts to helmets and anti-ballistic protection for military and police vehicles. All personal and vehicle protection applications using Dyneema® benefit from its unique combination of light weight and high protective ability.

Products made with Dyneema® have been proven in action - and provide protection in areas of conflict worldwide. End-users include individuals in military, law enforcement, civil protection and other areas where people are assuming risk. Dyneema® has been specified and used in numerous vehicles and body armor products around the world.

High strength, low weight, totally effective

As well as being ultra-light, extremely strong and durable, Dyneema® fibers are resistant to moisture, UV rays and to most chemicals such as sweat and common cleaning solvents. With low specific gravity of 0.97 g/cm³, this material floats on water. This means that pressed hard armor panels made of this material have the same characteristics. Dyneema® is easy to handle. This offers an added advantage of time and cost reductions for body armor manufacturers in material lay-up and cutting.

Dyneema® grades have been developed for soft and hard ballistic applications. Soft ballistic systems (SB) are designed specifically for use in vests to provide protection against handgun ammunitions and fragments, and combined threats, such as handgun and knives. Hard ballistic grades (HB) are specified for ballistic inserts and helmets to protect against heavier, more penetrating threats such as high-speed fragments and rifle threats. Dyneema® has been specified and used in numerous vehicles and body armor products - vests, helmets and inserts - across a rapidly growing list of end users.

Helmets

Ultra-strong Dyneema® UD composite HB80 was originally launched in response to a joint US Army and Marine Corps request for new material that would increase the ballistic performance of the next generation helmet - enhanced combat helmet (ECH) – without increasing the weight and 35% improvement on current specification for fragments (FSP and RCC).

A key application of HB80 is a ballistic combat helmet called the FAST (Future Assault Shell Technology) helmet. Introduced by Ops-Core, Inc. of Boston, USA, the FAST helmet has been a favorite of Special Operations Forces around the world for several years now. It is already used by many elite units in the US, as well as top tier programs in other European countries.

Vests

High performance Dyneema® SB71 was specifically designed and developed for use in ballistic vests certified under NIJ0101.06. Dyneema® SB71 facilitates protective concepts for the lightest, most comfortable and most demanding vest applications. It is suited for vest designs that meet the NIJ06 standard as well as other law enforcement and military standards. Where all the other Dyneema® UD grade based solutions are already lighter than other non-PE vest solutions, SB71 offers an average 15% weight saving.

Dyneema® SB71, which can be used to design vests meeting NIJ06 specification, was developed in close cooperation with body armor manufacturers. The main advantages of Dyneema® SB71 include reductions in costs, time and material. Ease of handling leads to time and cost reductions, with less time being spent in material lay-up and cutting. And with less material being required, the environmental benefits are significant too.

Inserts

Throughout the wide range of armor applications, Dyneema® UD has been well recognised by various defence forces around the world.

Because Dyneema® UD offers a combination of exceptional strength with very low weight, designers can add significant protection with minimal additional weight by using the material as the backing for the ceramic insert. The Dyneema® UD backing not only increases the vest’s resistance to ballistic impact, but also helps protect the wearer against wounds in the event the ceramic shatters.

Vehicle protection

Dyneema® is a key ingredient in armor solutions that increase crew survivability while at the same time creating room for further weight growth of the vehicle, as modern warfare dictates.

DSM Dyneema’s proprietary ballistic tape BT10 can be applied as a backing material for strike force armor. The material has been tested and certified according to NATO standard, STANAG 4569 and by AEP55.

Vehicle protection applications using Dyneema® Hard Ballistic solutions are benefiting from its unique combination of light weight and exceptional protective ability enabling vehicles to be more survivable, to have increased vehicle performance, increased payloads and to achieve reduced total cost of ownership while being ensured of retained armor performance in harsh environments.

DSM Dyneema has its own well-equipped testing facilities and is continuously looking at material improvements and application developments in collaboration with different institutes, customers and end users.

See our Special Report on Next Generation Ballistic Protection Armor at: http://www.dyneema.com/defenceindustryreports