Markets Served
Stern & Stern is a Tier 1 or 2 supplier to the automotive industry. All of its shop floor processes and products are covered by AIAG QS-9000 quality systems.
For the automotive industry, Stern & Stern manufactures a wide range of nylon, polyester, and nomex fabrics. Typical applications are airbags (safety restraints), substrates for fuel flow diaphragms, bearings and bushings, and fuel tank filters.
In their electrostatic paint booths, most car assemblers in North America rely on Stern’s ChemStat® materials for their protective apparel to ensure an optimal paint finish, both for basecoat/clearcoat painting and for powder painting. These are generally nylon fabrics, polyester fabrics, or nomex fabrics.
Stern & Stern holds numerous patents for low permeability fabrics used in inflatable restraints (airbags).
Stern & Stern provides the cleanroom industry with a range of reusable protective apparel and related materials (designated ChemStat®) that are designed to reduce microcontamination and stray voltages. The cleanrooms may be electronic, pharmaceutical, aerospace, or (automotive) paint related. In addition to the primary garment material, the ChemStat line includes face mask material, reusable nose bridges, and static dissipative soles. These are generally polyester fabrics and nomex fabrics that are static dissipative.
The aerospace industry places a premium on weight reduction. Consequently, many of the products Stern manufactures are high-strength-to-weight materials. Stern’s unique shop floor processes retain as much initial fiber strength as possible, allowing either higher strength materials or reduced fiber content for a given strength requirement. Typical applications are parachutes and substrates for aircraft fuel bladders.
Some aerospace fabrics are used as aircraft interior products. They are composed of high heat resistant materials. Some are inherently static dissipative or electrically conductive. These are generally nylon fabrics, polyester fabrics, nomex fabrics, or teflon fabrics.
Stern & Stern works closely with NASA and its subcontractors to produce new materials for new applications as NASA’s designs evolve. For the Space Shuttle program, Stern materials are used in space suits, cargo bay liners, and protective apparel for ground personnel. These are generally nomex fabrics or teflon fabrics. Custom parachutes for interplanetary missions use ultra-light nylon fabrics and polyester fabrics.
Stern is a leading producer of two and three dimensional teflon fabrics, suitable for incorporation in load-bearing laminates that require no lubrication. Typical examples are bearing fabrics that are used to line journal bearings on control surfaces (such as ailerons and rudders).
Filtration is used to extract either valuable or pernicious elements from either a dry or wet fluid stream. Fabric strength, permeability, and chemical resistance are key design elements. These are generally nylon fabrics, polyester fabrics, nomex fabrics, or teflon fabrics.
Elastomeric Substrates, Coated Fabrics:
When an elastomeric is heat cured on a thermoplastic substrate, a physical mismatch can distort or degrade the original physical parameters of the woven substrate. Stern’s unique processing methods marry the physical properties of the substrate to the process conditions in coating for optimal yield. Coated fabrics employing Stern’s substrates are incorporated in many aerospace and automotive applications. These are generally nylon fabrics, polyester fabrics, or nomex fabrics.
To prevent dehydration in burn patients, Stern manufactures woven fabrics that simulate the permeability of human skin. Careful processing minimizes broken filaments that would otherwise adhere to tissue regenerating in the wound. Other fabrics designed for extreme pliability are similarly processed for use in plastic surgery. These are generally nylon fabrics or polyester fabrics.
for the abrasives industry Stern has woven fabric substrates for specialty belts, easy-tear tapes, and splicing tapes. These substrates involve either the control of a woven pore size or the weaving of materials vastly dissimilar in terms of strength or elongation. These are generally nylon fabrics or polyester fabrics.
Mil-Spec fabrics are fabrics designed primarily for military or related uses and are accompanied by a corresponding specification. They are assigned a unique alphanumeric designation whose prefix indicates whether the material is a broadwoven material (Mil-C), a woven web (Mil-W), or a woven tape (Mil-T). Stern & Stern produces Mil-C fabrics composed of nylon, polyester, Nomex, Teflon, and Kevlar in a wide range of weights, strengths, and permeabilities. Recently, specification control of parachute-related Mil-Specs has been transferred from the US Military or its subcontractors to the Parachute International Association (PIA) and many former Mil-spec fabrics now carry a PIA-Spec designation.
When resin systems or elastomerics are combined with reinforcing fibers, exceptional properties can be obtained. The resin or elastomeric matrix spreads the load applied to the composite between each of the individual fibers and also protects the fibers from damage caused by abrasion and impact. High strength and stiffness, ease of molding complex shapes, high environmental resistance all coupled with low densities, make the resultant composites superior to unreinforced materials for many applications.
Stern & Stern fabrics are used in both elastomeric and rigid resin laminate construction, either as a substrate material or as multi-layer elements. Some composite laminates even involve woven Teflon fiber, which one does not normally associate with laminates or adhesion; however for flexible or rigid composite use, Stern & Stern is able to produce woven substrates from any fiber.
