Weatherproof fabrics

Another important area is oriented tapes and webs which are used in the fabrication of porous fiber, fabric, tube, and sheet. These porous articles find applications for protective clothing, waterproof and weatherproof fabrics, gaskets, filter bags, and many other items. 

Equipment should be supported in such a way that it will not rest in pools of hquid or on damp insulating material. Porous insulation should be weatherproofed or otherwise protected from moisture and spills to avoid contact of the wet material with the equipment. Specifications should be sufficiently comprehensive to ensure that the desired composition or type of material will be used and the right condition of heat treatment and surface finish will be provided. Inspection during fabrication and prior to acceptance is desirable. 

Some of the chemical strategies used in weatherproofing have been applied to the preservation of cellulosics for indoor storage and display. The historical Wasa sails of 1628 were preserved by copolymerizing acrylates and styrene onto this material (36). Antimicrobial treatment of cotton goods by polymerization in situ of a urea-mercury compound with formaldehyde or immersion in a quaternary ammonium salt solution protected the fabric for up to three years storage provided it did not need to be laundered (37). 

In conclusion, both woven polypropylene and glass-fiber fabric each give strong, flexible weatherproof sheet materials when impregnated by sulfur modified by myrcene, alloocimene, or cycloocta-1,3-diene. Typical applications for this type of material are in the fields of civil engineering... 

The French developed the M-2 mask , consisting of 20 layers of muslin impregnated with Greasene and another 20 impregnated with Complexene . The mask had twin circular celluloid lenses and a weatherproof flap for rain protection, but no outlet valve or filter canister. The M-2 was followed by the Tissot mask , with a thin, moulded rubber facepiece incorporating eyepieces, a flapper-type rubber exhale valve and a flexible, fabric-covered hose running over the shoulder to a filter canister worn in a harness on the back. The Tissot mask also ducted air over the eyepieces to help demist them a feature still used in most present-day respirators. 

In USA, SCRIMP fabricated large RP products such as a transportation bus weighs about 10,000 kg (22,000 lb) that is 3200 kg (7000 lb) lighter than steel units are. It fabricates a trial 75 ft high integrated mast structure for an amphibious warfare vessel. The RP structure, made up of infused panels, encloses and supports the forest of antennas visible on a normal warship, in a weatherproof, electro-magnetically tuned mast/ housing. 

Source Gottwald L, Water vapor permeable PUR membranes for weatherproof laminates, J. Coated Fabrics. Jan 1996 25, 168-175. 

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