In 1984, as part of the process to vertically integrate the manufacturing of ballistic spall liners and the U.S. Army's PASGT Helmet, Sioux Manufacturing Corporation (SMC) installed weaving and prepregging equipment to process ballistic aramid fibers. In the years since then, SMC has woven over 6.4 million linear yards of aramid fiber for ballistic applications around the world.

Weaving	SMC's modern facility has the capability of weaving high-performance fabrics such as DuPont's Kevlar® and Teijin Ltd.'s Twaron®. With the capacity to weave in excess of 1.8 million linear yards of aramid fabric per year, woven fabrics ranging in size from 38" to 130" are 100% inspected at SMC, thereby assuring a high-quality product.

Water-Repellent Treatment

Before any application of water-repellent treatment, cloth is first washed in a scouring jig to remove finish from the surface of the yarn. After drying the cloth, waterproofing chemicals, such as fluorocarbons or wax-based substances, are applied using a dip coating line. The addition of this capability has given SMC the ability to provide quality water-repellent products and services.

Prepregging

Prepregging is accomplished with a customized PVB phenolic resin formulation. Surface coating is a two-station continuous operation with loading and unloading accomplished on the fly using festoons for accumulators at each end of the coating line. Broadgood widths range in size up to 72" wide with a maximum speed of 25 feet per minute.

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