JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 17

safety

High-tech composite fire fighter helmet

Four companies partnered to create a full-shell
fire fighter helmet combining high-protection and
comfort with an extremely low weight.

U

sing a brand-new
hybrid technology to
comply with the strictest requirements inherent to
the most extreme situations
encountered by fire fighters, the Dräger HPS 7000
illustrates the cooperation
between four different players, representing the whole
value chain. Aside from a
technology that can, and will,
be exported to other markets
such as electronics, aerospace,
and automotive, the product
also has

The Dräger HPS 7000

recycling potential thanks
to the use of thermoplastic
materials.

Safety, low weight, and
comfort
The composite innovation
consists in a high-standard
safety application using the
injection moulding technique
with a thin tailored thermoplastic composite preform.
Combining the stringent
technical requirements with
mass-production suitability
was only possible through
the use of a thermoplastic
Kevlar preform solution.
Technical hurdles consisted
in, for example, passing the
wrinkle-free forming and
trimming of the aramid/
PA composite sheet,
the adhesion between
the tailored composite preform and the
plastic material of
the shell, as well as
finding materials to successfully pass the test
standards.
The "hybrid technology" denomina-

tion comes from the fact that
the part is a combination of
continuous fibre-reinforced
plastics (CFRP) and a fibrereinforced injection moulding
material. The alliance of these
material systems offers the
best of both worlds: exceptional mechanical properties
such as impact resistance at
high temperatures combined
with high design freedom and
functionality through integration of the shell and various
inserts all in a cost-effective
mass production process.
The end result is a combination of a thinner and lighter
helmet shell, both highly
functional and protective,
which also brings the highest
level of comfort for the fire
fighter.

From launch
to worldwide production
This helmet is the result of
an inspiring cooperation
between four partnering
companies, bringing along the
entire composite production
value chain: from the material
producer (Bond-Laminates),
to Tier 2 (Cato Composite
Innovations) and Tier 1 (Pöppelmann) players and, finally,
the OEM (Dräger).
The development of this
product is the result of a
three-year-long project. It
started in 2011, with research

on the best material combination for protection against
impact at high temperatures.
A continuous fibre-reinforced
aramid/PA in combination
with a short glass-fibre-reinforced PA injection moulding
material was selected as the
best material option.
The product was launched
worldwide two years ago
with over 35,000 units in the
first 18 months and has well
exceeded the initial expectations in terms of market acceptance and sales, making it
the new norm for fire brigade
helmets.
In terms of market potential,
the final product is already
being produced in volumes of
30,000 units/year and further
growth is expected: potential
production rates could reach
up to 50,000 units/year.
What's more, since the helmet
is the first-ever commercial
application of the hybrid
technology in high-volume industrial applications, it can be
seen as a demonstrator. This
technology could potentially
be used over a wide range of
applications, especially in the
automotive, aircraft interiors and consumer products
industries, opening its market
potential wider. n

No98 July - August 2015 / jec

More information:
www.draeger.com

composites magazine 17
http://www.draeger.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015
