TEXTILES.ORG
Milliken & Company launched a new, coated weft inserted warp knit product offering a 100% improvement to the tear resistance of polymeric single ply roofing membranes. This durability step-change to increase the longevity of commercial roofing systems is the latest in Milliken’s innovative line of advanced reinforcements for building and infrastructure applications.
Milliken’s new weft inserted warp knit innovation for PVC and TPO membranes features a proprietary coating that is free of plasticizers and volatile organics typically used on roofing fabrics. The coating imparts proven superior strength over existing fabric technologies, contributing to higher wind uplift resistance for the finished membrane. It also enables knock-on cost efficiency benefits, such as a more open fastening pattern to reduce the use of mechanical fasteners.
The fabric construction allows greater openness in the reinforcement’s structure of between 5-10% over traditional techniques. This improvement to openness benefits the customer by improving ply-to-ply adhesion of the membrane top and bottom plies. This warp knit can be substituted for existing reinforcements without any adaptation to the current manufacturing process.
Milliken’s weft inserted warp knit scrims are produced with polyester, glass and/or other specialty yarns at the company’s facilities in France, Belgium and the U.S. and are available globally. They are individually tailored to customer’s requirements, such as through the addition of functional chemistries to enhance physical properties, and mechanical treatments that improve adhesion, cold bending performance and aesthetics.