Magnetoactive Polymer Composite Fibers and Fabrics -Processing and Mechanical Characterization:

A new polymer composite material and textile product has been developed. The main constituents of this composite are thermoplastic polymer and embedded carbonyl iron powder. Through an extrusion process, endless flexible fibers having diameters of 200 and 500 mm have been produced. The fibers show a very high degree of bending flexibility to the extent of knotting. Endless fibers with a 20-60% volume fraction of carbonyl iron could easily be produced. In this study, only fibers with a diameter of 500 μm are investigated. Tensile strengths ranging from 8 to 20 MPa, and strains ranging from 6 to 20% have been recorded. In a further development, fibers have been woven into flexible plain weave woven fabrics. The magnetoactive fibers and fabrics offer many advantages over the steel fibers and fabrics. These include no conductivity, light weight, corrosion resistance and high degree of flexibility. Applications of this new material include covers for magnetic shielding, sensors, actuators, functional clothing,...