SBIR/STTR Award attributes
An auxetic material is defined as having a negative Poisson’s ratio, whereby a counter intuitive effect is observed. During elongation the material expands perpendicular to the plane of elongation resulting in a compensatory effect for the “necking� phenomenon typically observed at the midpoint of the fabric. A conductive auxetic fabric may be produced which can exhibit electrical resistance stability during elongation. Swift Textile Metalizing (STM) commercially produces a wide range of metallized, highly conductive fabrics for use in commercial and defense applications, including lightning strike protection (LSP) and as magnetic resonant absorbers (MRA). By combining the auxetic properties with STM’s metalizing process, an improvement in LSP and MRA performance may be observed through increased stability of the fabric's electrical resistance.
