{"id":239250,"date":"2022-07-03T09:00:39","date_gmt":"2022-07-03T15:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/?p=239250"},"modified":"2024-12-27T12:24:13","modified_gmt":"2024-12-27T18:24:13","slug":"stephanie-kwolek-inventor-of-kevlar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/stephanie-kwolek-inventor-of-kevlar\/","title":{"rendered":"Stephanie Kwolek: Inventor of Kevlar"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you google \u201chow was Kevlar invented\u201d the answer that immediately pops up is, \u201cby accident<\/em>.\u201d This is true to a point, but the more complete answer is\u00a0thanks to Stephanie Kwolek.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Read on for more in The Mag Life’s first article by Stephanie Martz<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Stephanie
Stephanie Kwolek in 1996 displaying different forms of her life-saving invention (including what appears to be a PASGT helmet). Photo by Jeff Tinsley.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From the Author, <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my first article writing for The Mag Life. I was given the idea by my editor. When first seeing the name I thought, \u201cWow, pretty standard, my first article and he gives me a female war story, typical man.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

How dare I even think that.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

This woman, this Patriot, gave us an invention that will serve us for 40+ years and lead to future technology. My editor gave me a story about someone that did more for our country with an idea that a lot of us will ever do or even fathom. So, how dare I think just wow, another female war story.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Stephanie Kwolek<\/h2>\n

Her name was found simply by researching the development of ballistic helmets. A standard search when it comes to the current gear veneration. A company that many know, Second Chance, sold their 1 millionth vest around the same time she passed, June 18th, 2014. An armor company founded in 1970, five years after a scientist by the name of Stephanie Kwolek discovered a crystalline solution that will lead to years of space exploration, ballistically improved equipment, and the ability to cross a river due to strong cables holding a bridge.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her Background<\/h3>\n

Stephanie Kwolek was a scientist with many facets. Born in 1923 right outside of Pittsburgh, Stephanie grew up with two immigrant Polish parents. One a seamstress, and another a naturalist. This grew Kowlek’s interest in patterns and design yet also science. The Smithsonian Magazine talks of Stephanie\u2019s walks in the woods noticing patterns in spiderwebs. She would then draw for hours these and other patterns to perfection.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After graduating from Carnegie College, Kwolek applied for a job with Dupont Chemical Company intending to be a doctor. While a scientist is about brains and detail, is it not about overall confidence? After her interview with Dupont she was told what we all hear, <\/span>\u201cyou will hear from us in the coming weeks\u201d<\/span><\/i>. That wasn\u2019t good enough for Kwolek. <\/span>\u201cWith great boldness\u2014I would never do it now\u2014I said to him, \u2018I wonder if you could possibly tell me sooner because there is another company that wants me to decide whether I should come and work for them.\u2019\u201d –<\/span><\/i>Kwolek, smithsonianmag.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Stephanie
https:\/\/www.sciencehistory.org\/historical-profile\/stephanie-l-kwolek<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She was hired on the spot and worked for Dupont for 40 more years. In those 40 years after boldly showing her worth to her future boss, Kwolek went on to invent something instrumental to this country’s safety and strength\u2026<\/span>liquid rope.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people owe her their lives and they don\u2019t even know it\u201d- David Reeder, TML Editor<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Before Kevlar<\/h2>\n

Now before we go any further, let\u2019s talk about what our now-Kevlar items were made from before Kwolek.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The M1917 derived from the British helmet, the Brodie helmet was basically a bowl made of metal, according to the Smithsonian. The inside had a basic liner against the Soldiers scalp, leather chin strap, and altogether weighed around 1.3 lbs. Compare that to a Kevlar helmet now, which depending on the cut and size, will be around 3 lbs.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
The Brodie Helmet. A standard steel helmet issued to the British Troops in WWI. https:\/\/.ku.edu\/the-brodie-helmet\/<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It took 30 more years to evolve the making of the helmet. In 1941 the M1 helmet came to light and had a manganese steel outer shell. Which nowadays manganese steel is used in safes and anti drill plates. (Try wearing that on your head all day..oof.) The M1 helmet weighed closer to our current weight 2.88. It also featured an upgraded chin strap that broke away under pressure. Another fun fact, this was the first time that the web like liner had the ability to tighten and loosen, just like our adjustable webbing lined helmets today.<\/span><\/p>\n

Steel Manganese still couldn\u2019t stop closer range munitions but the science just simply wasn\u2019t there yet and the M1 helmet stuck around until\u2026you guessed it, 1965 when Kwolek gave us our liquid rope, or in much more tactically sound terms, the material for Kevlar and Yoga Pants.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Process<\/b><\/p>\n

With a possible oncoming fuel shortage a group of Scientists within DuPont Chemical Company were tasked with inventing lighter fibers for use in cars that would consume less gas. In the early 1960\u2019s DuPont made an aramid fiber called and patented Nomex. This fiber is heavily resistant to electrical and chemical abrasion. As always though, DuPont continued into their discoveries of strong fibers.<\/span><\/p>\n

During her work, Stephanie Kwolek would need to find a solvent that did not totally melt the polymers used to make the fiber, but instead dissolve the polymers into a liquid. She found it, which in turn lead to the greatest accident that will shape our modern battlefield.<\/span><\/p>\n

When discovering the thick milky solution that led to the strong fibers Kwolek ran into an <\/span>\u201coh no<\/span><\/i>\u201d moment. You know the moment where you are working in a class on something and it comes out to look 20 times different than the students next to you? You look around the room and think you must have done something wrong. Instead of Kwolek thinking she made a mistake due to her milky thick substance instead of others in her group that had a thin like clear substance she kept her confidence and kept working on it, not showing anyone<\/span><\/p>\n

“I think someone who wasn’t thinking very much or just wasn’t aware or took less interest in it, would have thrown [the solution] out. The fibers created from this solution were the strongest anyone had ever seen\u2014plastic strong enough to stop bullets and knives\u2014described as being “five times stronger than steel on an equal weight basis.”<\/span><\/i>– Kwolek, Edge of Yesterday.com<\/span><\/p>\n

Within a lot of industries, even the firearms industry, the invention of an item often comes before the machines to properly reproduce or experiment on said item. When experimenting on liquids that are then turned into fibers they are spun by a machine called a \u201cspinneret\u201d. The spinneret is ultimately run by humans that egos can be sometimes too much for their own good.<\/span><\/p>\n

As Kwolek remembers the moment she took her solution to the man running the spinneret,<\/span> “he said to me, ‘this will never spin, it flows like water. And, furthermore, it has particles in it and these will plug up the holes of the spinneret.’ Well, previous to talking to him, I had filtered the solution….and there was no separation\u2014the whole thing went through. I was convinced this solution would spin, because it just had the right flow and cohesive properties.” After several days arguing with the man, “I wore him down,” Kwolek laughs. “He said he would spin it. So we spun it and it spun beautifully,”.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

In the end, Kwolek invented a new fiber called an \u201caramid fiber\u201d and a new substance called \u201cliquid crystalline solutions\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n