At every step of manufacturing, our products are controlled according to the most demanding quality standards.
Our control labs are situated near the manufacturing plants. This way, our engineers are in permanent contact with the production teams.
Samples of fabric are taken at every step of the production. They are subjected to complex procedures of control to confirm that the properties of the product are 100% consistent with what is required.
Our controlling equipment is regularly checked and calibrated.
Sample taking
The porosimeter
One of the steps: the porosimeter measure the permeability of the fabric to air. This industrial instrument measures a volume of air that can pass through the fabric for a given time.
The tear resistance is very precisely measured using the pendulum method.
The pendulum method
Measuring mechanical properties
With very high precision weighing, our engineers verify the mass per area of fabric - with lighter products such as the Skytex 27, it becomes increasingly important to maintain this parameter with consistency. Another important measurement: Bias stretch. The same instrument also measures the breaking resistance and stretch, in both warp and weft.
For quality control as well as for the development of future products, our engineers subject some samples to artificial accelerated ageing. There are various tests including exposing fabrics to UV light or to subject them to repetitive folding. The "floater" on this picture helps to confirm the resistance to wear and tear in the wind: the sample is fixed to one of the turning wheel's spokes. Continuously moving and flapping in the relative wind, the fabric is subjected to constraints close to those in real use.
Artificial accelerated ageing
Importance of tests "in situ"
When developing new fabrics, the laboratory work is greatly complemented by tests "in situ". One the tests we use: in collaboration with some paraglider manufacturers, we have some complete wings made up with many different samples. The paraglider is then subjected to tough flying conditions in the harshest regions for the fabric: long exposure to sun, high humidity, abrasive sand and rocks…
Later the wing is cut into small samples that are subjected to all our usual measurements in the lab. The values are compared to the original characteristics of the fabric and give us valuable data on real use ageing.
