Gold Flex

Gold Flex is a non-woven fabric manufactured by Honeywell from Kevlar and often used in ballistic vests and body armor. Gold Flex is lighter than woven Kevlar, Twaron and other Ballistic material. According to the manufacturer Gold Flex offers superior bulletproof protection. Gold Flex is a laminated material consisted of cross-laid non-woven fibers in a resin matrix. Because the fibers are laid straight and not in a woven fabric configuration superior bullet penetration resistance is claimed by the manufacturer. When an object strikes this material a "web" of its clusters absorb the impact by a good percentage and minimizes penetration. Per the manufacturer since this is a straight fibre-based creation, all fibres on the GoldFlex works together on the vest or material to stop the impact.

Gold Flex
ManufacturerHoneywell

Protection

GoldFlex gives great resistance to abrasion and resists organic solvents making itself nonconductive, low flammable, and a great fabric that has an amazing resistance to elevated temperatures. Its degradation point starts from 500 °C and it has no melting point. It is sensitive to salts, acids, and ultraviolet radiation. When it comes to the static build-up in the body it is prone to it as well [1]. Protection is also based on the pressure of the impact. Some of these fabrics are only designed with hand-guns in mind basically making anything with a bigger calibre a threat potential. One cannot wear a GoldFlex and expect a large caliber round (E.G .50 BMG round) to be stopped from penetrating it. Also GoldFlex is not the only material that is responsible for minimizing penetration and absorbing the attack. Along with GoldFlex there are other layers on top of this fabric to ensure that the object does not penetrate through the material.

Armor

When a bullet strikes the body armor, it hits ballistic fiber which is strong enough to not let it through. This fibre absorbs and disperses the impact that has been made by the bullet to the body armor. This process continues and every layer of this material is effected until the bullet has reached to a full stop. All layers combined together form a larger area of the impact to disperse and keep the bullet from penetrating the carrier. This helps reducing the risk of blunt force trauma also known as injuries to internal organs.

Production
Element Table
Characteristics
Roll Weight Pounds122.7
Width Inches63.0
Length Feet492
Total Area Density Testing MethodASTM D3776-96 (2002)

Comparison with other materials

Kevlar Chemical Composition
A Chemical Structure of the fabric used in a Kevlar

Kevlar is five times stronger than steel of equivalent weight. It was invented by a Polish-American chemist Stephanie Kwolek and introduced in the 1970s. It is used for body armor and racing tires but is more expensive than Gold Flex. Twaron is another alternative to Gold Flex but is not much in demand. Occasionally several materials are used in one product.

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See also

References
  • Aramid
  • Ioffe Institute Databases
  • WebElements.com
  • ChemSpider - The free chemical database, The Royal Society of Chemistry
  • Honeywell manufacturer of the Gold Flex fabric.
  • About Gold Flex.
  • Information
  • "Bullet Proof Shop". Bullet Proof Shop. Archived from the original on 22 January 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  • "Rhino Armor". rhino armor. Archived from the original on 15 April 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  • "Blanket of Gold Flex". interamer. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
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