Tensile, electromagnetic, and far‐infrared properties of stainless steel/far‐infrared polyester composite materials

In this study, a continuous‐forming wrapping process simultaneously feeds far‐infrared ray polyester (FIR‐PET) filaments and stainless steel (SS) wire to prepare functional SS/FIR‐PET composite wrapped yarns. The wrapped yarns are made into functional SS/FIR‐PET composite woven fabrics. The cover factor, tensile properties, electromagnetic shielding effectiveness (EMSE), FIR emissivity, and air permeability of the wrapped yarns and woven fabrics are evaluated, examining the influences of the combinations of diameter of SS wires (0.05 and 0.08 mm are referred as 005SS and 008SS) and wrapped count (7, 10, and 13, turns/cm). For SS/FIR‐PET composite wrapped yarns, 005SS‐7 (0.05‐mm SS with wrapped counts 7 turns/ cm) and 008SS‐7 (SS/ FIR‐PET composite wrapped yarns with 0.08‐mm SS and wrapped counts 7 turns/ cm) have the optimal tensile strength and tenacity, while 008SS‐13 has the optimal elongation and work of rupture. For SS/ FIR‐PET composite woven fabrics, 008SS‐W (W regarded as woven fabric) has the optimal tensile properties; 008SS‐W‐10 has the maximum stress at break of 27.01 MPa along the weft direction; and 008SS‐W‐13 has the maximum elongation at break of 29.83% along the weft direction. The EMSE test results confirm that changing the number of lamination layers and changing the lamination angles have a positive influence on the EMSE of the woven fabrics. The EMSE of 008SS‐W reaches −40 dB when the number of lamination layers is 3 and the lamination angle is 90°. Moreover, the EMSE of 008SS‐W reaches 0.85 when the number of lamination layers is 3. It is expected to apply functional SS/FIR‐PET woven fabric in practical domains, which that can be regarded as the middle layer of laminated composite fabric or health‐care textile. The functional SS/FIR‐PET woven fabric can give traditional laminated composite fabric with the electromagnetic‐shielding ability and FIR emissivity, and thus highly enhance the additional value of traditional composite fabrics. POLYM. COMPOS., 40:2219–2230, 2019. © 2018 Society of Plastics Engineers