The Effect of Twisted and Braided Weave Types on the Deterioration and Breakage of Kevlar Fibers

School Name

Spring Valley High School

Grade Level

10th Grade

Presentation Topic

Physics

Presentation Type

Non-Mentored

Oral Presentation Award

1st Place

Abstract

Kevlar, along with other high tensile strength materials, are used in products of grave importance, such as military grade resources. The purpose of this study was to determine which kind of woven Kevlar, braided or twisted, could endure more strain. Understanding which kind of weave is stronger could be used in the future production of products that rely on this material. It was hypothesized that the braided Kevlar, when tested using a Mark-10 series 5 tensile strength machine will have a higher breaking point (in Newton meters) than that of the twisted and straight cords. When the different samples were prepared, they were clipped into the Mark-10 and pulled apart using a handle. The machine read the exact force required (Nm) in each trial. It was found that the control group with the straight strands consistently had the highest breaking point (Nm) with a mean of 7.7. The braided average was the lowest at 4.3, and twisted with 4.9. It was concluded that the unwoven strands were significantly stronger than the twisted and braided groups when tested on the Mark-10 due to p<⍺ (.001<.05). Each mean is significantly different due to the resulting intervals of the tukey test. When comparing the strength of twisted, braided, and straight strands, the straight group was the strongest, and braided was the weakest.

Location

Founders Hall 210 B

Start Date

3-30-2019 9:15 AM

Presentation Format

Oral and Written

Group Project

No

COinS
 
Mar 30th, 9:15 AM

The Effect of Twisted and Braided Weave Types on the Deterioration and Breakage of Kevlar Fibers

Founders Hall 210 B

Kevlar, along with other high tensile strength materials, are used in products of grave importance, such as military grade resources. The purpose of this study was to determine which kind of woven Kevlar, braided or twisted, could endure more strain. Understanding which kind of weave is stronger could be used in the future production of products that rely on this material. It was hypothesized that the braided Kevlar, when tested using a Mark-10 series 5 tensile strength machine will have a higher breaking point (in Newton meters) than that of the twisted and straight cords. When the different samples were prepared, they were clipped into the Mark-10 and pulled apart using a handle. The machine read the exact force required (Nm) in each trial. It was found that the control group with the straight strands consistently had the highest breaking point (Nm) with a mean of 7.7. The braided average was the lowest at 4.3, and twisted with 4.9. It was concluded that the unwoven strands were significantly stronger than the twisted and braided groups when tested on the Mark-10 due to p<⍺ (.001<.05). Each mean is significantly different due to the resulting intervals of the tukey test. When comparing the strength of twisted, braided, and straight strands, the straight group was the strongest, and braided was the weakest.