ALUULA Composites
Aluula Composites is a cutting-edge new fabric manufacturer based in Victoria, B.C. with a focus on sustainability and high performance. Their new Graflyte™ fabric is at the forefront of innovation in material technologies and represents a measurable step forward when it comes to the strength, weight, durability, and sustainability of ultralight performance fabrics.
Innovation
Aluula’s proprietary fusion process enables them to utilize a waterproof film backing on their fabrics without the use of adhesives. This opens the door for several improvements over previous fabrics made with ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE).
When using glue to adhere a waterproof film backing, a UHMWPE face fabric has to be blended with another material such as polyester in order to adhere because glue does not adhere well to UHMWPE fibers. This has two drawbacks, first the introduction of another fiber to the UHMWPE reduces the overall durability of the face fabric. Second, the glue only adheres to a portion of the face fabric, lowering the quality of adhesion and increasing the possibility of delamination which is when the film backing comes loose from the face fabric.
Aluula has addressed both of these issues by removing glue from the equation and instead chemically bonding the film backing directly to the face fabric. Not only is this a much more stable bond but it also enables them to use a 100% UHMWPE woven face. The result is a fabric that is lighter, stronger, less prone to delamination, and fully recyclable.
New Possibilities
In addition to solving the long-standing weak points of UHMWPE fabrics, Aluula Graflyte™ also opens up the possibility of several new construction methods including heat welding and thermoform. We are just beginning to incorporate Aluula fabric technologies into our products and we can’t wait to continue to explore the possibilities that they open up!
