Posted by Bally Ribbon Mills on | Comments Off on Enhancing Our Capabilities to Meet NASA’s Needs
At Bally Ribbon Mills (BRM), we design, develop, and manufacture high quality engineered webbing, tape, and narrow fabric. While our products’ applications vary across a range of industries, we focus particularly on the technology needed to manufacture specialized webbing for critical use applications.
We are proud of the role our critical use products have played in the aerospace industry, as well as our trusted partnership with NASA on recent projects. Last year, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden visited our facility to support our work on a new space mission technology, declaring, “From this day on, the path to Mars goes through Bally, Pennsylvania.”
In order to enhance our product capabilities to meet NASA’s needs, we have been implementing innovative weaving technologies using high strength fibers such as Kevlar®, Technora®, and Vectran® to develop complex webbing for aerospace products.
These lightweight materials comprise 3-D woven fabrics and multifunctional thermal protection system (TPS) padding for NASA directed commercial sector space vehicles. Our TPS padding was selected as the critical component of the heat shield on the Orion Crew Capsule, which helps protect against the extreme temperatures of atmospheric re-entry during missions to the moon, asteroids, or Mars.
We provide customers with robust complex materials optimized for the low pack volume and high energy absorption that critical use applications demand. Our advanced launch and recovery decelerator webbing has been key to the successful design of space rocket launch vehicles and capsule recovery programs. We also design T, X, and Pi shaped webbing for lighter-than-air inflatable airships, surveillance aerostats, and NASA directed commercial sector space vehicles (COTS).
Our high performance webbing has appeared in a variety of other aerospace, space, and commercial applications such as parachutes, flight suits, seat belts, seat construction, cargo netting reinforcement tapes, and crew safety components. We ensure that all of our products pass strict Mil-Spec, PIA-Spec, and Department of Defense Berry Amendment requirements for the procurement of fabrics and textiles.
BRM was proud to be featured as a Phase II Company in NASA’s highly competitive Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program for our four year support of the Orion project, as well as our current work for an upcoming EM-1 mission. We are grateful for NASA’s commitment to integrating small businesses into its contractor base, and we are dedicated to leveraging our unique strengths to help pioneer the future of space exploration.
Want to Learn More?
Since 1923, Bally Ribbon Mills has been a leader in the design, development, and manufacture of 2-D and 3-D specialty webbing. Our custom engineering and diverse weaving technologies enable us to provide advanced products for both commercial and critical use applications.
To learn more about how 3-D woven composites outperform their metallic counterparts to support critical use applications, download our eBook The Benefits of 3-D Woven Composites.
Posted by Bally Ribbon Mills on | Comments Off on Join Us At The IFAI Expo 2015
Receive free admission for the IFAI Specialty Fabrics Expo & Advanced Textiles Expo Anaheim Convention Center Anaheim, CA October 6th – 9th, 2015.
Come join Bally Ribbon Mills at the IFAI Specialty Fabrics Expo and the Advanced Textiles Expo. Our booth number is A640 located within the Advanced Textiles section of the conference center. A discount pass is available for download, courtesy of Bally Ribbon Mills and the Industrial Fabrics Association International.
About Bally Ribbon Mills
BRM is a leader in the design, development, and production of engineered narrow woven webbing, tape, and specialty fabric. For 90 years we have supplied the world with the highest quality webbing backed by unparalleled customer service and engineering support. Be confident that Bally Ribbon Mills will supply you with the best fabric for your products.
Posted by Bally Ribbon Mills on | Comments Off on Textile Technology in The News
01/12/06 – Discussions of cost and benefits of various fibers, filaments, weaves, dyes and finishes to solve customer problems happen regularly at Bally.
With regard to Vectran®, forty persons from Bally Ribbon Mills Engineering, Research and Development, Quality and Sales Departments attended Seminars on Vectran® engineering specifications and solutions. Vectran woven by Bally Ribbon Mills offers some solutions and new opportunities in narrow fabrics for certain design requirements.
Vectran® is a high-performance multifilament yarn spun from Vectra® liquid crystal polymer (LCP). Vectran is the only commercially available melt spun LCP fiber in the world. Vectran fiber exhibits exceptional strength and rigidity. Pound for pound Vectran fiber is five times stronger than steel and ten times stronger than aluminum. These unique properties characterize Vectran:
High strength
Excellent creep resistance
High abrasion resistance
Excellent flex/fold characteristics
Minimal moisture absorption
Excellent chemical resistance
Low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE)
High dielectric strength
Outstanding cut resistance
Excellent property retention at high/low temperatures
Outstanding vibration damping characteristics
High impact resistance
Vectran tends to outperform Kevlar® and other Aramids in:
Wire rope creep
Break strength
Dry and wet abrasion comparisons under load
Tenacity retention when exposed to bleach
Yarn on yarn abrasion dry and especially when wet
Flex fatigue from repeated bending or creasing
Bend tolerance
Impact and cut resistance
Vibration dampening
Kevlar® and other Aramids tend to outperform Vectran when there is simultaneous mechanical and thermal loading
* Overall performance dependent on environmental conditions and application.
We encourage you to visit the Vectran website, www.vectranfiber.com, and talk to Bally Ribbon Mills further.
For your information, the Kevlar website is www.dupont.com/kevlar. Bally Ribbon also handles Kevlar applications.
These lightweight materials comprise 3-D woven fabrics and multifunctional thermal protection system (TPS) padding for NASA directed commercial sector space vehicles. Our TPS padding was selected as the critical component of the heat shield on the Orion Crew Capsule, which helps protect against the extreme temperatures of atmospheric re-entry during missions to the moon, asteroids, or Mars.