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Ageing of High Strength p-Aramid Fibers Used in Body Armor

Published by National Institute of Standards and Technology | National Institute of Standards and Technology | Catalog Last Checked: August 03, 2026 at 03:50 AM | Dataset Last Updated: October 10, 2019
To improve the reliability and design of armor, it is imperative to understand the failure modes and the degradation rates of the materials used in armor. Despite the best efforts of manufacturers, some vulnerability of armor materials to ageing due to hydrolytic or oxidative environments is expected and may result in the degradation of material properties such as tensile strength. In this work, p-aramid yarns from two manufacturers were exposed to environmental conditions of various fixed temperature and humidity combinations. The maximum temperature and humidity condition was 70 °C and 76 % RH. Tensile tests were performed on specimens extracted at several different timepoints over the course of at least one year to determine the change in ultimate tensile strength and failure strain as a function of time, temperature, and humidity. These materials were found to be generally resistant to degradation at most conditions, showing changes of less than 10 % only at the highest temperature and humidity conditions. This data set contains failure load and failure strain values for three different aramid yarns, exposed to various conditions. It also includes Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy spectra for two of the aramids.

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Complete Metadata
@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel public
bureauCode 
[
  "006:55"
]
contactPoint 
{
  "fn": "Amy Engelbrecht-Wiggans",
  "hasEmail": "mailto:amy.engelbrecht-wiggans@nist.gov"
}
description To improve the reliability and design of armor, it is imperative to understand the failure modes and the degradation rates of the materials used in armor. Despite the best efforts of manufacturers, some vulnerability of armor materials to ageing due to hydrolytic or oxidative environments is expected and may result in the degradation of material properties such as tensile strength. In this work, p-aramid yarns from two manufacturers were exposed to environmental conditions of various fixed temperature and humidity combinations. The maximum temperature and humidity condition was 70 °C and 76 % RH. Tensile tests were performed on specimens extracted at several different timepoints over the course of at least one year to determine the change in ultimate tensile strength and failure strain as a function of time, temperature, and humidity. These materials were found to be generally resistant to degradation at most conditions, showing changes of less than 10 % only at the highest temperature and humidity conditions. This data set contains failure load and failure strain values for three different aramid yarns, exposed to various conditions. It also includes Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy spectra for two of the aramids.
distribution 
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]
identifier ark:/88434/mds2-2145
issued 2019-10-24
keyword 
[
  "PPTA",
  "aramid",
  "body armor",
  "environmental ageing",
  "mechanical properties",
  "tensile testing",
  "yarn testing"
]
landingPage https://data.nist.gov/od/id/mds2-2145
language 
[
  "en"
]
license https://www.nist.gov/open/license
modified 2019-10-10 00:00:00
programCode 
[
  "006:045"
]
publisher 
{
  "name": "National Institute of Standards and Technology",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
theme 
[
  "Materials",
  "Materials:Materials characterization",
  "Materials:Polymers"
]
title Ageing of High Strength p-Aramid Fibers Used in Body Armor

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