the factory housing Invista Textiles UK Ltd in Gloucester,

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1 Durability is the core to the success of Invista s Cordura brand on a recent visit to Invista textiles Ltd, editor Nick butler learned about the technology and marketing strategy that lie behind the success of the Cordura brand, and how the company exploits its know-how to develop new products. the factory housing Invista Textiles UK Ltd in Gloucester, UK, is associated with the development of one of the world s first jet aircraft, the Gloster, a version of which (the Gloster Meteor) was the only jet aircraft to be used operationally by the Allies during World War II. The building is now used to extrude and spin polyamide 6.6 (PA 6.6) yarns and, without pausing for thought, this could be taken to be a considerable step down the technological scale. However, on a recent tour of the facilities, Editor Nick Butler learned that the building still houses considerable technology, some of which, among many other end-uses, finds application by the military. Invista Textiles UK Ltd s manufacturing site in Gloucester, UK. Invista first emerged in 2004 when DuPont of Wilmington, Delaware, USA, the chemical giant that invented PA, changed the name of a portion of its business prior to its sale. DuPont retained the para- and meta-aramid (Kevlar and Nomex) businesses, but the divested parts still form one of the world s largest integrated suppliers of chemical intermediates, polymers and fibres, principally focused on PA, elastane (spandex) and polyester (PES). Invista has its corporate base in Wichita, Kansas, USA, but is organized around a number of regional headquarters for its various businesses, according to my host for the visit, Global Brand and Marketing Director, Cordura Brand, Cindy McNaull. It is a global company, with representatives and sales operations in North and South America, Europe and Asia. The company inherited and has developed its own technologies, of which it is highly protective, adding to these where necessary through acquisitions, such as that of the speciality PES fibre (Thermocool), purchased in 2013 from Advansa of Hamm, Germany, another company with its origins in DuPont. The breadth and sophistication of Invista s technology is illustrated by the capabilities of the Gloucester plant, which produces industrial yarn, including a significant share of that used in European-made airbag fabrics. The raw materials for this production are PA 6.6 chips made by Invista using the company s own intermediate chemicals, but at another location. Currently, the raw materials are all petroleum-based products, but the company is working on bio-derived alternatives, McNaull says. From the storage silos, the chips are transported via pipes to a series of hoppers, the second of which is maintained under a nitrogen environment to strip out any oxygen. In the three-storey-high conditioner, the chips are exposed to a hot gas in a process similar to using a fluidized bed, causing the material to polymerize further and form longer chains. The resulting chips are then ready for melting and extrusion. Crushing the chips within an extrusion screw heats them to about 300 C and creates the molten polymer, which is then kept at a controlled temperature by surrounding all the subsequent pipework and manifolds with a heated fluid, itself contained within an insulated surround. The molten polymer is transferred through a carefully organized network of pipes before the filaments are extruded. After extrusion, the filaments are quenched by a Global Brand and Marketing Director, Cordura Brand, Cindy McNaull was the host for Editor Nick Butler s visit to the company s site in Gloucester, UK International Newsletters Ltd 19

2 September 2015 Cross-sections of bundles of polyamide 6.6 filaments manufactured by Invista: (left) tex (210 denier), 34 filaments; (right) tex (420 denier), 140 filaments. Textiles made with higher filament counts have increased and more natural fabric coverage. A plain-weave Cordura fabric made from 100% polyamide 6.6. controlled flow of air. The parameters of the quench (such as the speed, humidity and temperature of the air) are precisely controlled, because this step is crucial to the correct alignment of the polymer chains. A spin finish is then applied, the precise type depending on the end-use and needs of the customer, and the filaments are drawn, typically by about a factor of five, to improve their strength. Blasts of air then interlace the required number of filaments needed to form the yarns, which are wound-up on bobbins; for instance, a single bobbin carrying 68-filament yarns carries approximately 175 km of fibre. The company prides itself on attention to detail and this process is continuously monitored at measurement points from the start (the tipping of the polymer into the storage silos from lorries can be a problem if wind speeds are too high, for instance, and so wind speed is checked) to the finish each feeding a central control system. All of this data is stored in case a subsequent problem needs to be traced back to the production conditions; in the case of airbag filaments, the data is stored for 20 years. The manufacturing technology is all proprietary, as is the design of the equipment used, most of which is built by third parties. Within the last five-to-six years, the Gloucester site has added a robotic handling system, supplied to the standards used in the automotive industry, which is used in the inspection and packaging area to pack and release products. One of the few remaining manual tasks is a visual inspection of the bobbins to check for any obvious defects. The computer-controlled production, combined with an efficient and highly skilled workforce, allows the company to aim for continuous operation. In some cases, the line can run for months at a time. However, on such a scale, the costs of the line stopping unexpectedly are huge, so it is essential that any potential faults are detected and dealt with quickly. As a result, one person is required to be in the control room at all times to instigate immediate action in response to any fault alarms. Our tour concluded at the site s testing facilities, which can perform all the standard textile and mechanical tests (such as tensile and break strength) necessary to characterize the yarns and to monitor quality during production (samples are taken at the beginning and end of, and at regular intervals during, each run). The laboratory also undertakes tests on customers fabrics made using the yarns in order to verify claims of performance and justify the use of any branding associated with Invista, which was to be the subject of our discussions after the factory visit. A Martindale abrasion tester is used to quantify how hardwearing a fabric might be. Invista s Cordura fabrics are designed to be highly resistant to abrasion International Newsletters Ltd

3 LeArNING to exploit branding Invista clearly understands the need to engage actively along the supply chain, and reaches right down to the end-users, according to McNaull. From the insights gained as a result, Invista s Cordura brand now actively engages with spinners, weavers, knitters, converters and finishers, a move that has led to some innovative developments in fibre technology, allowing the company to exploit further its heritage in key markets such as military, workwear, and fibres and yarns for use in automotive airbags. To qualify to use the Cordura brand, these mills need to meet Invista s rigorous standards and their fabrics must pass stringent tests. The attention to detail evident in its own production is also expected of the textiles and textile-based products made using Invista s fibres. At present, the Cordura brand team works with about mills around the world. In return, however, there are many benefits to the mills, such as: Invista actively protects its brands, policing any unauthorized use on behalf of its customers as well as itself. The company even monitors online media to detect such violations; the company actively explains the benefits of the brand, all the way through the supply chain down to the education of consumers; the company develops marketing materials for the brand, including hangtags for use on qualifying products; Invista has the experience and capability (through investments in research and development (R&D), and via acquisitions) to develop the new fibres and related technologies needed for new products that satisfy the direct customer s and ultimate end-users specific requests. It can even help develop the resulting textiles in collaboration with the customer; Invista has a global footprint. The Cordura brand is an excellent example of all of Invista s dedication to innovation, as well as its history. Derived from the expression durable cord, the brand was originally used as far back as 1929 for rayon tyre cord being developed by DuPont. Its use was resurrected in 1967, when DuPont introduced the first commercial products to bear the name, now being made using a dyed PA 6.6 fibre. Initial uses included softsided luggage and a wide variety of military applications Above: Cordura Denim fabric is based on a blend of cotton and a polyamide 6.6 fibre (Invista T420), giving the textile an abrasionresistance that is four times that of a traditional 100% cotton denim of comparable weight (see also, page 22). Below: After 2000 cycles on a Martindale abrasion tester, 100% cotton denim (465 g.m 2 ) has clearly worn through (right); while (left) Cordura Denim fabric (also 465 g.m 2 ) has not. (such as uniforms, battle dress, parachutes and packs to carry equipment). Today, nearly 50 years on, such applications endure. Currently the brand can be found on fabrics containing PA and high-tenacity PES fibres, as well as fabrics that are made from fibre blends. Durability is the common theme in all of these textiles and end-products, making it the heart of the Cordura brand. As an illustration of the durability that Cordura fabric can offer, McNaull recounted a test made on a performance activewear fabric on behalf of a customer. The customer had asked for technical data to support its story about the fabric s capabilities. To support these marketing efforts, the Cordura brand team performed tests on the fabric s tensile, tear-strength and abrasion-resistance (Martindale) International Newsletters Ltd 21

4 September 2015 Cordura fabrics are used in military uniforms, protective vests, loadcarriage equipment and boots. Disclaimer: use of a military image does not Solution-dyed Cordura Classic fabric and webbing meets US military imply or constitute endorsement by the US Department of Defense. specifications for its low level of detectability by night-vision technologies and has a built-in colour-fastness to preserve the effectiveness of camouflage patterns. Tensile testing was straightforward, but the abrasion-resistance was so high that, when the test was stopped after six weeks, there was no obvious sign that the fabric was nearing the point of failure. At that point, with the potential for more, the fabric had endured in excess of rubs, compared with a typical competitive product s maximum resistance to about rubs. Recognizing that the markets now demand multiple functions in materials, however, the Cordura brand team now works with numerous suppliers in the textile chain to develop a wide range of branded products that combine the core durability with other high-performance properties, such as moisture-management, liquid-repellence and wicking. Any functionality that can be added to a conventional fabric, moreover, can be added to Cordura fabric, McNaull said. At Techtextil (held in Frankfurt, Germany, on 4 7 May 2015), for instance, the company highlighted its latest military fabric ranges, including Cordura Classic SDN, which is based on a solution-dyed PA 6.6 fibre (SDN). This fabric has a low level of detectability when exposed to the near infrared radiation used by night-vision equipment. Another military technology (Cordura NyCo fabric) shown in Frankfurt consists of a blend of 50% cotton and 50% Invista s PA 6.6 staple fibres (Invista T420), which the company manufactures at its facility in Seaford, Delaware, USA, using a process similar in the initial stages to that found in Gloucester. In addition to offering good abrasion-resistance, Cordura NyCo fabric does not melt or drip when exposed to flames, a requirement of the US military for all its garments. McNaull described Invista T420 fibre as the power inside several materials developed recently, another being Cordura Denim (see also, page 21). Until 2009, staple Cordura NyCo fabric is a blend of 50% cotton and 50% Invista s polyamide 6.6 fibre (Invista T420), developed for the US military and used in desert combat uniforms. Disclaimer: use of a military image does not imply or constitute endorsement by the US Department of Defense International Newsletters Ltd

5 fibre-based fabrics had been used primarily in military and safety and protection applications, but then the company expanded its use of Invista T420 fibre technology with cotton to make denim and canvas. Initially, the goal was to create fabrics for workwear able to withstand industrial laundering, but the materials also quickly became popular for garments worn by motorcyclists and skateboarders, as well as fashion and lifestyle clothing. Once again, anything that can be done to pure cotton denim (such as enzyme and laser treatments) can be done to Cordura Denim. In fact there are even some advantages, such as an enhanced colour-fastness, owing to the presence of the PA 6.6 components in the blend. Other developments here include: a second cotton blend (Cordura Canvas fabric), distinguished by a different specification for the minimum content of Invista T420 fibre, but still resulting in excellent abrasion-resistance and durability; a blend of 40% PA 6.6 with 60% cotton (Cordura Baselayer fabric), which is now finding use in sportswear, but was originally developed for the military to satisfy the nonmelting, non-dripping combat requirement; most recently, a blend with merino wool (Combat Wool) launched at the end of 2014 for the outdoor market, but already attracting interest from the military and for workwear. Finally, as the company demonstrated at Techtextil, developments are not limited to PA fibres. Another innovation shown in Frankfurt under the banner of the Cordura brand was a range of high-tenacity PES fibres intended for knitting and weaving into high-visibility fabrics. Air-jet texturing of the yarns used changes the spacing and air-gaps between individual filaments, and so the profile of the yarn. In turn, this is believed to lower the surface area of the exposed filaments and so increase the yarn s abrasion-resistance, as well as reducing the light-reflectance, producing a duller yarn. The resulting fabrics can be printed, laminated and used in uncoated forms. where to Next? Having developed Cordura products with 100% PA, as well as with cotton and wool blends, and PES, the Cordura brand team is now looking for fresh challenges. McNaull said there could be further announcements regarding highvisibility fabrics at A+A(to be held in Düsseldorf, Germany, on October 2015). Most recently, during the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market show in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA (held 5 8 August 2015), the company has introduced more knitted fabrics with innovative staple and filament blends. Moreover, there is still something new to learn each time the company collaborates with its supply chain, says McNaull. Finding creative ways to harness the Cordura brand s heritage in military and workwear applications with new technologies and products will continue to make for exciting times ahead. further information America/Asia: Cindy McNaull, Global Brand and Marketing Director, Cordura Brand. Cordura@invista.com Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA): Catherine Anderson Jones, Marketing Manager Cordura Brand. Cordura.eu@invista.com Advances in Textiles Technology INTERNATIONAL IN NEWSLETTERS Technical An International Newsletter Covering the Latest Technologies, Processes and Materials Worldwide Provides a comprehensive overview of new technological advances in textiles. Describes new materials available for commercial use and how to exploit them. Reports and analyses new patents in textile technologies, materials and processes. Covers new applications, new materials and products from around the world. Contains contact details so you can obtain more information immediately. Download your free sample copy at advanced textiles 2015 International Newsletters Ltd 23