DEVELOPMENT OF SPECIALTY COATED FABRICS FOR CANOPY OF INFLATABLE MILITARY TENT (IMT) FOR FOREST AREA

The principal objectives of this present work were to develop novel coated fabrics in olive green (OG) colour to serve as canopy for inflatable military tent (IMT) for forest area. Two varieties of coated fabrics were developed by coating of specific grade aliphatic thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) on Nylon fabrics and one more with coating of plasticized polyvinyl chloride (PVC) on Polyester fabric. The construction parameters and properties of the substrate basic fabrics used for coating were evaluated and reported. The various functional parameters such as breaking strength and elongation%, tear strength, bursting strength, waterproofness, flame retardancy, flexing, accelerated ageing (-400C and 700C), blocking, ultraviolet (UV) radiation protection and colour fastness to washing and light of the coated fabrics were measured and reported with details, along with an elaborate note on the preparatory process pursued for the development of these coated fabrics. The most suitable coated fabric for canopy of IMT was selected based on the evaluated functional features. Further, the thermal analysis was carried out for the selected coated fabric using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) for assessing its heat resistance. The shelf-life of the selected coated fabric was assessed by evaluating the residual strength (tensile and bursting), measured by subjecting it to accelerated and natural weathering tests. A special device was fabricated to carry out natural weathering test. Statistical analysis was performed at 95% significance level to estimate the actual strength (tensile and bursting) loss upon weathering.