UHMWPE fiber, short for ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber, has a molecular weight between 1.5 and 8 million — dozens of times that of ordinary fibers, which is where its name comes from. UHMWPE fiber is one of the three major high-tech fibers in the world today, and is the third generation of high-performance fibers to appear after carbon fiber and aramid fiber. It belongs to thermoplastic engineering plastics, and is the main material for manufacturing ballistic vests at present.
The preparation of UHMWPE fiber was first achieved in 1975, when the Dutch company DSM invented gel spinning and successfully produced UHMWPE fiber, and filed a patent in 1979. Since then, scientific research has confirmed that gel spinning is an effective method of producing UHMWPE fiber; it has good prospects for modern development, and with low processing costs, UHMWPE fiber soon drew the attention of the world’s industrial powers.
UHMWPE fiber is lightweight, with a density of only 0.97–0.98 g/cm³, and has strong chemical inertness; strong acid and alkali solutions and organic solvents have no effect on its strength. The fiber has very good resistance to weathering and ultraviolet radiation, and at liquid ammonia temperature (-269 ℃) it still retains plasticity, and it clearly offers impact resistance, abrasion resistance, bending resistance, and resistance to tensile fatigue and cut toughness.
Because UHMWPE fiber has many excellent characteristics, it shows great advantages in the high-performance fiber market, ranging from offshore oilfield mooring ropes to high-performance lightweight composite materials, and it has played a vital role in modern warfare, aerospace and maritime defense weaponry. In addition, in civilian, industrial, sports and medical products, UHMWPE fiber also plays a vital role.