DuPont™ Kevlar® brand fiber helps improves the safety, performance and durability of automotive components for a wide variety of vehicles, from passenger cars and light trucks to professional race cars. It is not uncommon for a new vehicle to have several crucial parts that employ products made of Kevlar® brand fiber. Kevlar® is available in several different product forms making it useful for a wide range of automotive applications:
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Kevlar® fiber is a continuous filament yarn available in a broad range of deniers. It is often woven into fabric and twisted and plied into cords.
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Kevlar® stable and floc are short fiber versions suitable for textile applications, and for reinforcement of thermoplastic and thermoset matrices.
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Kevlar® pulp is a fibrillated short fiber widely used in friction and sealing applications.
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Kevlar® Engineered Elastomer is a concentrate of short fiber materials predispersed in a thermoset or thermoplastic matrix.
Belts
The high modulus and abrasion resistance of Kevlar® helps belts retain their original shape and tension over the millions of revolutions they go through over the lifespan of a vehicle.
Brake pads
The frictional forces that brake pads are designed to endure take less of a toll on brake pads made with Kevlar® pulp. The enhanced thermal stability and inherent abrasion resistance of brake pads reinforced with Kevlar® allow them to last long and stop the vehicle safely and quietly.
Clutches
Like brakes, clutches undergo the severe frictional stresses for which Kevlar® provides an effective solution. Tests show that clutch linings that use Kevlar® do not require service or replacement as frequently as standard clutch linings.
Gaskets
Chemical stability and thermal stability helps make gaskets reinforced with Kevlar® pulp strong and durable. The galvanic corrosion resistance of Kevlar® also contributes to improved long-term engine performance.
Hoses
Using knitted or braided Kevlar® fiber to reinforce radiator, transmission and turbo-charged hoses helps make them strong and light. This is because Kevlar® is not only stronger than other materials typically used in high-pressure hoses; it has outstanding thermal stability and chemical resistance as well.
Composites
Kevlar® is replacing fiberglass-reinforced plastic in NASCAR™ race car bodies and air dams because it doesn't shatter or leave hazardous debris on the track after a crash. In the HANS Device—the life-saving restraining linkage that supports the driver's head and neck— Kevlar® absorbs impact forces that are strong enough to pulverize neck vertebrae.
Formula 1 cars use Kevlar® straps to hold onto wheels that break off during crashes, which helps prevent them from bouncing off the track and into the stands.
Tires
Car and truck tires have incorporated Kevlar® into their construction because it offers superb puncture, abrasion and tear resistance. Other benefits of tires made with Kevlar® include a quieter ride and a reduction in rotational weight—which can decrease strain on the engine and typically results in improved fuel efficiency.
Vehicular armor
Kevlar® provides an effective, lightweight armor solution for vehicles that require protection against ballistic attack, allowing cars and light trucks to retain most of their original handling characteristics, while stopping multiple rounds. Law enforcement agencies, cash security companies, and people who live or work in hostile environments depend on Kevlar® armor to increase security in vehicles where weight is critical.
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