Advanced Fabric Technologies Engineered Auxetic Technology, Armour Design and Smart Fabric Development

Advanced Fabric Technologies (AFT) is an engineering company focused on providing auxetic solutions to the defence industry.

Our staff has decades of experience designing and manufacturing cost-effective solutions for the most pressing problems in the defence industry and developing proof of concept production on commercial and mass production scales. We particularly pride ourselves on providing detailed research and analysis of materials and material systems.

In addition to this, AFT is knowledgeable in developing techniques and manufacturing processes for exotic material fabrication.

Auxetic fabric systems

In essence, auxetic fabrics are weaving wrapped fibres with composites, which, when hit by explosive forces, strengthen and thicken, or in other words absorb the energy.

Based on this principle, AFT has created its Xtegra™ fabric line, which provides protection as well as stress and load absorption against projectile energy explosions. Consisting of a highly technical yarn which transmits longitudinal stress all along the yarn strand, the Xtegra’s ability to absorb energy from the impact zone on all of the surrounding fabric makes it a popular choice against its competitors. The Xtegra fabric has been tested against multiple missile fragment, grenade and projectile studies, and has been proven to effectively absorb the impact each time.

Auxetic fabric systems have also been used by military and government organisations for blast panels and armour plates, heavy-duty structural blast panels, blast protection for mobile field facilities, reactive protective gear, medical products and applications.

Portable blast containment

In the past, AFT has been asked numerous times to design and develop lightweight and tailored armour solutions that adhere to MIL-STD-2105 requirements and are engineered to geometric configurations depending on the impending blast or penetration threat to that particular defence unit.

One invention, the portable blast containment solution, otherwise known as the ‘Blast Blanket,’ was order by Maersk Oil & Gas to absorb any explosions and protect staff from any projectiles. Since then, AFT has provided engineered solutions for GE Oil & Gas, BP, Baker Hughes, FMC Technologies and WEIR Power and Industrial, to name a few.

Multi-material and hybrid armour design

Along with AFT’s Xtegra fabric technology, the company also designs and produces hybrid armour designs with multi-material components for the defence industry. By combining materials that will complement and enhance the performance of one another, AFT is able to invent cost-effective and lightweight fabric systems.

Products like CEASE™ technology, which is the basis for a number of blast panel and armour developments, and the HyperSizer™, which uses structural sizing methods to work interactively with analytical codes, are just a couple of the innovative fabric technologies employed by militaries and commercial organisations today.

Hard panel solutions for ballistic protection

AFT combines auxetic fabrics with high-strength fabric layers and polymer strike plates to create ballistic panels and armour plates that protect users from small arms fire ballistics.

These panels can be installed as new applications or retrofitted into old systems. They also provide clients with a cost-effective solution, as the number of panels and layers can be adjusted depending on budget constraints.

The panel system is lightweight and naturally resistant to vandalism due to its inherent properties, making it a suitable choice for building and automobile protection.

Blast threat containment systems

Auxetic fabric can also be combined with portable panels to provide rapid deployment blast threat containment against suspicious packages in public areas. The flexibility of the panels makes them a suitable choice for a wide variety of scenarios, including uneven surfaces, grandstands, even locations with unusual geometry. The panels also create a fire-resistant barrier that directs the energy of a blast upwards rather than out.