Tough, Flexible Insulating Fabric

Are they going to be bonded together? If so how, as the obvious material Nylon isn't very good for sticking to stuff. Woven glass mat too stiff?
Del

Bug screen sandwiched in Kevlar?

There is a material called "Elephant Hide Paper", it is essentially a cardboard sheet. You could glue foil to that.

You'll have to google for your local suppliers.

Elephant Hide paper is used to insulate electrically "hot" items such as terminals from accidental contact. Mainly in High voltage circuit areas (50V>400V)

Depending on the frequency, a wire mesh screen can be an effective shield if it is grounded or electrically charged.Perhaps you could laminate it between insulating sheets.

At the last place I worked, we made roll stock of a 48gauge metallized (aluminum) polyester sandwiched between two layers of DuPont Sontara nonwoven fabric.

This product was used in making blinds/shades - the purpose of the metallization was for complete light blockout.

How much of this do you anticipate needing?

Hi Mikerho, all

MANY THANKS FOR ALL THE FEEDBACK!

this sounds interesting. At the moment, I'd need a sample to try something with. Anything up to a square meter, but a sheet of paper size would be fine too!

Cheers

RFG

Have a look at <http://www.zippertubing.com/>

And at Google...

Foil or mylar laminated between the layers would probably greatly reduce the flexibility of the cloth and or rip to shreds reducing its shielding properties. Better use a metal mesh sewn between layers of canvas.

I think I would go with a hunters cap design rather than a toque.

You might try placing either metalized Mylar, metalized Nylon film, or aluminum foil between two sheets of plastic bubble wrap of the types commonly used in parcel packaging. In the case where you would want to reduce the risk of the rupture and cutting of the bubbles and/or the plastic bubble wrap film composition, you might try placing a layer of Nylon fabric between the bubble wrap and the foil. This configuration might not be durable enough, however, to meet your requirement for a tough, flexible, insulating fabric.

Another option might be to place the aluminum foil or metalized polymer film between two rubber bath-tub matts such as those made by Rubber Maid. In order to prevent the foil from or film from breaching the drainage holes commonly included in the matts, perhaps a thick layer of Nylon fabric backed by a non-metalized Nylon film would be of help.

Regards;

Jim

Actually, I have seen metalized bubble wrap insulation in hardware stores.

Try wetsuit material it is a cloth covered neoprene type rubber. I assume it is electrically insulating. It is available on the roll at 2m wide in different thicknesses.

What "functions" will this insulating fabric perform?

Is it intended to be waterproof? What sort of operating environment will it be expected to work in? Heat exposure? Chemical exposure? Light / UV exposure? Wind / weather exposure?

How conformable must the laminate be? Will it be installed onto flat surfaces...or will it be wrapped around small diameter shapes?

Will it be self-supporting...or sandwiched in place by other more rigid materials?

What sort of abrasion and puncture resistance properties are required?

There are literally "hundreds" of potential solutions...but you need to be far more precise in defining what your applications / needs / requirements are....

Felts or foams are tough and flexible insulating fabrics, depending on how flexible you want it.

For example of felt products (adhesive backed or not): Under apps, there are a variety of felts including very tough and semi-rigid material used for squeegees.

More specific to the RFI shielding objective, felts impregnated with carbon are used. More expensive of course, but designed for the absorber function. If a semi-rigid foam is more applicable, something like this might be a good choice. The base material is open cell polyurethane foam.

As others pointed out, you will get better advice if the application is specified - is Gore-Tex really the degree of flexibility you are looking for? If so the neoprene wetsuit fabric or a thinner felt may be the best choice. Thin is okay, if the absorber thickness is adequate to the application.

To RFGUY, have you found a solution yet?

Please let us know what you have done.

Jim

Maybe the voices got to him...