Assessing the quality level of the technical fabrics intended for protective equipment for firefighters by determining synthetic indicators

The paper aims to highlight the quality level of technical fabrics by determining synthetic indicators based on durability and comfort functions, which can subsequently be used for modelling the physico-mechanical properties and selecting the most suitable fabrics to meet the requirements of a specific field of use. The study was conducted on two groups of technical fabrics with different compositions (Kevlar and Nomex), intended to manufacture firefighter protective equipment (jackets). Quality indicators represent numerical expressions of the quality level of a product or the relative expression of a certain characteristic, obtained by comparing it to a reference value (norm, standard, model). Quality indicators are converted into grades I  [0,1], where conventionally, a grade of 0 represents an inadequate product/non- quality, and a grade of 1 represents a superior quality level. The synthetic indicators determined in this study express the quality level of a product through the prism of categories/subcategories of quality characteristics representative of evaluating the comfort and durability functions specific to the groups of fabrics intended for the manufacture of protective equipment. Based on the values obtained for the synthetic indicators, a ranking of fabric variants is made according to the importance of durability and comfort characteristics. Thus, optimal fabric variants from each group can be highlighted, and solutions for improving the quality level for other variants can be proposed.