Combination of Hydroentanglement and Foam Bonding Technologies For Wood Pulp and Polyester Fibers in Wet Lay Nonwoven Fabrics

No Thumbnail Available

Date

1999-02-23

Journal Title

Series/Report No.

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Abstract

This project searches for synergism between two binder technologies, specifically 1) low levels ofhydroentanglement energy which avoid excessive fiber loss but do not give adequate fabric strength, abrasionresistance or strain recovery, and 2) low levels of binder which do not degrade fabric aesthetics. The mainsteps were to 1) determine the fiber loss while hydroentangling, by testing three fabric weights and severalspecific energy levels for a 50% wood pulp and 50% polyester, and then 2) combine both technologies, fortwo fiber blends, at three levels of specific energy and four levels of binder add on. We found that: 1. Thecarrier screen mesh size, during hydroentanglement, was a critical factor for making the desired fabrics. 2.The fiber loss during hydroentanglement increases linearly with increasing specific energy, in the rangestudied. 3. The fabric basis weight has a very weak influence on the fiber loss during hydroentanglement. 4.Fabrics hydroentangled from one side only or on both sides lose the same amount of fibers. 5. The physicalproperties -strength, load at 5% strain, abrasion resistance- are greatly improved with an add-on of binder,while different levels of hydroentanglement energy input were found to be less significant. 6. Thehydroentangled and foam bonded fabrics are softer than those which were foam bonded only. 7. Theaddition of foam bonding up to 5% did not affect the softness of the hydroentangled fabrics. 8. The hydrogenbonding effect is shown to be significant at these levels of hydroentanglement and binder add-on. 9. Thefabric bending rigidity can be correlated with the Young's modulus of the bonded fabric for a 60% woodpulp fabric. 10. The abrasion resistance behavior is very different depending on the side tested: foam free orfoamed.

Description

Keywords

Citation

Degree

MS

Discipline

Textile Management and Technology

Collections