Study on thermal insulation properties of aluminised aramid fabrics

In order to prevent or minimise skin burn damage resulting from high temperature, a kind of thermal insulation composite fabric, the surface of which is aluminised, was developed. In this study, the thermal insulation properties of aluminised aramid fabrics were investigated. The reflectance of aramid fabrics and aluminised aramid fabrics were measured using a UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometer. The reflectance of aramid fabric increased from 63.6% to 92.3% as a result of aluminising. The thermal insulation of aluminised fabrics and nonaluminised fabrics was measured using a dry hot plate instrument, where the aluminised fabrics had a higher thermal resistance than those non-aluminised , and the thermal resistance of aramid fabric could be enhanced by almost 45% when aluminised. The aluminised and non-aluminised fabrics were exposed to a hot environment for a few minutes using self-designed apparatus. The results showed that the aluminised aramid fabrics had better thermal insulation performance than the non-aluminised aramid ones. Therefore aluminised aramid fabric exhibits great thermal insulation properties and can be used in the field of thermal protection.