Materials for the procurement file
Datasheets for the components proposed or recommended in report HIB-MAT-2026-0147, prepared to the Client's procurement format. The Division does not normally issue datasheets to clients. The Client's instruction — “make the cat out of materials that do not catch fire” — has, over three revisions, required the Division to behave as if it might.
Distribution: the Client's procurement file; Institute records (Nuneaton); the Division's ethics file, which is now kept in a drawer rather than on the shelf, and which contains copies of most of what follows.
AMA-4000 · Class A, ASTM E84
Candidate replacement for the keratin integument (parent report §4). Rated TRL 9: an off-the-shelf part. The Division has confirmed with the manufacturer that the product was not designed for this application, and the manufacturer has confirmed the same, at length.
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Classification | Class A, ASTM E84 |
| Flame spread index | 0 |
| Smoke developed index | 5 |
| Thermal reflectance | 92 % |
| Basis weight | 410 g/m² |
| Operating temperature | to 550 °C continuous |
| Acoustic signature | Crinkles audibly on contact; transient, 2–4 kHz band |
| Behaviour after dark | Visible from the end of the garden. Not a fire-safety failure. |
| Handling notes | The material does not burn. It reminds everyone present that it does not burn, continuously, by sound. |
Storage. Store rolled, reflective side in. Do not fold: creasing is retained permanently and is not a defect.
Disposal. The material does not burn, and incineration is therefore not available. Landfill only, or retain. The Division retains its samples.
Compatibility. Incompatible with velvet upholstery. The two will not be separated. (Test record: fabric-to-fabric adhesion after 40 minutes' contact; separation caused pilling of the velvet. The fleece emerged unchanged. The Division has no recommendation.)
NOM-UC-1 · Nomex/Kevlar, aluminised outer
The recommended interim measure (parent report §7.1). A Nomex/Kevlar underlayer with an aluminised outer, available off the shelf in four sizes, at approximately £42 per unit. The Division recommends this component over all others in this annex because it is the only one that can be fitted without modifying the animal, and because it is the only one that meets Criterion 4.
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Construction | Nomex/Kevlar underlayer; aluminised silica-fibre outer |
| Sizes | Four (1–4) |
| Closure | Dorsal hook-and-loop |
| Ventilation | Four flank grommets, 8 mm |
| Passive thermal cutoff | 41 °C |
| Ambient deployment limit | 26 °C (see Annex A, Session A-006) |
| Resistance | 10 s direct flame, to 370 °C |
| Unit cost | £42 (approx.) |
| Handling notes | The animal is not included, and has declined, on eight occasions, to be. |
Storage. Store flat, closure unfastened. A fastened garment is a statement of intent, and the closure is not load-bearing.
Disposal. Used garments are accepted for return at the Client's expense. They are not re-issued. They are retained for the record, in the order in which they were returned, which the Division has chosen not to comment on.
Compatibility. The dorsal closure is compatible with standard handling gloves (spec. GLO-14), but the Division no longer uses gloves. See Annex A, Session A-003.
RMW-1200 · rigid batt, 1,200 °C rated
Candidate replacement for the adipose reserve (parent report §4). The material is proven, inert, and dimensionally stable. Its dimensional stability is the difficulty.
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Density | 120 kg/m³ |
| Temperature rating | 1,200 °C |
| Thermal conductivity | 0.037 W/m·K |
| Thickness | 40 mm, rigid |
| Mass contribution | +4.2 kg to the subject |
| Profile | Rectangular |
| Flap passage | Not possible. See parent report, Rev 2.0 rejection. |
| Handling notes | The batt does not bend. The animal, so fitted, does not bend. The two are in agreement, and neither is a cat. |
Storage. Store flat, unloaded. The batt is not load-bearing and should not be asked to be.
Disposal. The batt does not burn. It is disposed of by burial, in the same class as the fleece, which the Division has considered and declined to combine into a single sentence.
Compatibility. Compatible with the titanium lattice (Rev 2.0 frame). The lattice and the batt have been modelled together. They have not been introduced to the animal.
BFV-60 · 60 µm, 1,200 °C rated
Candidate replacement for the keratin sensors (parent report §4). Tactile response is unchanged. The parent report notes a further property, which the Risk Register (R4) has since priced.
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 60 µm |
| Temperature rating | 1,200 °C |
| Flexural modulus | 89 GPa |
| Tactile response | Unchanged (subject-reported; n=1) |
| Cutting edge | Formed on fracture; not sharpened, not dulled |
| Laceration potential | Confirmed. Risk Register R4. |
| Handling notes | The whiskers are now capable of inflicting lacerations. The Division's Risk Register lists a dulling compound, or acceptance. The Division has begun to lean towards acceptance. |
Storage. Store separated from all other components. The vibrissae have not been stacked on anything, and the Division would prefer the record to stay that way.
Disposal. Do not handle without gloves (spec. GLO-14 — the only remaining use for the gloves). Dispose of in a sealed container, clearly labelled as not being cat whiskers.
Compatibility. Compatible with the interim garment (NOM-UC-1), with the exception that the garment's flank grommets create a pinch point at the cheek. This has been modelled but not tested on an animal, which the Division considers a reasonable ordering of events.
LFP-SS · non-flammable electrolyte
Candidate replacement for the metabolism (parent report §4). A solid-state lithium-iron- phosphate cell with a non-flammable electrolyte. No thermal runaway. The cell is rated TRL 9 and is the only component in this annex with an existing service history in the target application's environment, which is to say a warm room with a laptop in it.
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Chemistry | LiFePO₄, solid-state electrolyte |
| Electrolyte | Non-flammable |
| Thermal runaway | None (by design) |
| Capacity | 2.1 kWh (estimated requirement) |
| Charge cycle | Mains, every 8 hours |
| Charge behaviour | Behaviourally indistinguishable from the subject's existing routine |
| Handling notes | The cell requires mains charging every 8 hours. This is behaviourally indistinguishable from the animal's existing routine, which was the specification. |
Storage. Store at partial charge. A full cell in storage is a plan the Division is not prepared to sign.
Disposal. Cells must not be disposed of with the animal, or vice versa. The Division has been asked to specify which way round this instruction is to be read, and has declined.
Compatibility. The cell is compatible with the remainder of the Rev 2.0 configuration, and incompatible with the animal's continued metabolism, which the configuration replaces. The Division draws the Client's attention to this sentence because it is the closest the Division has come, in three revisions, to a summary.
What the datasheets establish.
No component in this annex is itself a cat. The Division draws this to the Client's attention because the Client's instruction has, on two occasions, been read as if the Division might forget.
The garment (NOM-UC-1) is the only component rated TRL 9 that has been fitted to a cat. All other TRL 9 ratings describe the material, not the fit. The Division invites the Client to note the difference, and has priced it.
The components are mutually compatible. The cat is not, which is to say that the cat is not a component, and the Division has declined to proceed as if it were. See the Ethics File, which is in the drawer.