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CHAPTER 3

MATERIALS AND METHODS

3.1 INTRODUCTION

The Engineering provisions like non woven composites made from

virgin fibers are reasonably higher in price. Environmental legislation as well
as consumer pressure has enforced manufacturing industries (particularly
automotive, construction and packaging) to look for new materials that can be
used as alternate to conventional non-renewable reinforcing materials. With a
considerable production of waste fibrous material, different companies are
now seeking for applications where waste materials may be represented as an
added-value material. To prevail upon this environmental issue, reclaimed
fibers can be used as non woven composite. In this study, waste fabrics are
shredded and distorted into fibers of more homogeneous and combed fibers,
mainly containing cotton and polyester fibers. The fiber material is then
fabricated into non woven fabric. Further, non woven fabrics are united with
epoxy resin, and prepared as non woven composite materials.

3.2 MATERIALS

The raw materials used in the study are cotton and polyester, of
colored and white materials of fabric wastes, these wastes are then fed into the
re-used fabric opener machine to obtain reclaimed fibers, and their
characteristics have been studied as per the ASTM standards. Air laid web
formation is used in this research for the development of both the thermal
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bonded and chemical bonded nonwoven from reclaimed fibers. The air or
random laying techniques allows fabrics with wide range of mass per unit
area to be produced, in which fiber orientation can be made very much more
random than in the case with traditional web layering.

Short fibers of reclaimed cotton, polyester, cotton polyester blends

with color and white can be processed easily, allowing textile waste materials
to be used in non woven. In alternative means of producing fleeces is offered
by machines by using aerodynamic feed of fibers. In this case those fibers
form carding cylinder are carried in air currents and deposited onto a
condenser cage, from which they are drawn of in sheet form. Random laid
webs are made as a single layer and are claimed to have equal properties in all
directions. Cotton and polyester fibers parameters were preferred for this
experiment. The polyester and cotton reclaimed fibers afford the necessary
strength and durability for the development of composite materials for sound
absorption behavior.
Knitted Waste

Recycling Of All Waste

Materials
Used Fabric Waste
Design And Development
Of Reused Fabric opener
RAW MATERIALS Knitted Cutting Cutting Waste

Reclaimed Fiber
Garment Waste

Characteristics Of
Reclaimed Fiber
Used Knitted Waste

Development Of
Thermal And Chemical
Knitted Dirty Waste
Bonded Non Woven
Fabrics

Characteristics of Non
Woven Fabrics

Development of
composite materials

Characteristics of
composites materials

Figure 3.1 Flowcharts of Materials and Methods

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3.3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

The research methodology includes two aspects such as

methodology for the development of materials and methodology for the
analysis of material characteristics. The methodology for the material
development consists of three parts namely, development of thermal bonded
non woven fabrics, development of chemical bonded non woven fabrics, and
development of composite material for sound absorption behavior.

3.3.1 Development of Thermal Bonded Non Woven Fabrics from

Reclaimed Fiber for Sound Absorption Behavior

In this study the thermal bonded non woven samples were

assembled into a standardized web structure in order that a bonding process
can be applied to stabilize the tenuous network. Through this method, the non
woven samples are developed from the air laid webs of cotton (color and
white), polyester (color and white), and cotton polyester blend (color and
white). A hot air bonding machine was used for the thermal bonding which
was set to an air temperature of 2200C at the feeding speed of 0.6 m/min and
30 cm bonding area for the development of thermal bonded non woven
samples.The preferred samples proportions 6-8 mm thick, 80 mm wide and
200 mm long were developed to measure the sound absorption coefficient. A
detailed flowchart is given in chapter 6.

3.3.2 Development of Chemical Bonded Non Woven Fabrics from

Reclaimed Fiber for Sound Absorption Behavior

In this research, the development of chemical bonded non woven

fabrics is manufactured by spray bonding method. From the air laid webs, the
samples such as cotton (color and white), polyester (color and white), and
cotton polyester blend (color and white) were developed through adhesive
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bonding. The binder used here is poly vinyl acetate (PVA).The bonding is
done by means of spraying the binders is produced into the textile structure by
means of sprayer arranged above the moving web. The binders saturated on
the surface layers and do not penetrate far in the structure which is normally
quite thick.

The spray adhesive bondings are an exact measure of the amount of

binders applied, uniform binder distribution and a soft fabric handle. The
preferred samples of proportions with 6-8 mm thick, 80 mm wide and 200
mm long were developed to measure the sound absorption coefficient. A
detailed flowchart is given in chapter 7.

3.3.3 Development of Non Woven Composite Materials from

Reclaimed Fiber for Sound Absorption Behavior

The composite with fabric loading was fabricated using chemical

bonded and thermal bonded non woven samples with size mould of
28cm(length, L)x 28cm (width, W)x 0.7cm (Thickness, T) initially, epoxy
and hardener were mixed in ratio of 4:1 to form a matrix. Then, non woven
fabric was spread into mould and covered with the matrix. The curing time of
6 hours was maintained uniformly for the 9 composite materials at (60o). The
samples like chemical white polyester, chemical colour polyester, chemical
colour cotton/polyester, thermal white polyester, thermal colour polyester,
thermal colour cotton/polyester, thermal-chemical white polyester, thermal-
chemical colour polyester, thermal-chemical colour cotton/polyester non
woven composites were developed. Finally, composites plates were cut into
the tensile and flexural specimens based on ASTM standard D638 AND
D790, respectively. The detailed flow chart is given in chapter -8.
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3.4 TESTING METHODOLOGY

The thermal bonded, chemical bon

textile materials was done in six distinct steps such as fabric thickness, areal
density, bulk density, porosity, air permeability, thermal conductivity. These
materials were tested according to the ASTM standard, and physical
properties were tested to measure the influence of sound absorption
coefficient

3.4.1 Fabric Thickness

Fabric thickness tester is a specialized equipment to determine the

thickness of fabrics. Latest model equipment was employed with modern
facilities like modern aesthetics, maximum capacity 10mm & accuracy
0.01mm and portable & handy to carry anywhere. It has smooth precision-
engineered components for accurate results. It also has analog dial for
measuring thickness in millimeters. The fabric sample that is to be measured
is kept on an anvil. The press foot is gently lowered on to the specimen. The
reading is taken to get the thickness of the specimen. The flat circular indenter
of the micrometer exerts the specified pressure on the fabric sample. The
above procedure is repeated to obtain the values of thickness at least at three
different locations. The mean value of all the readings of thickness were
determined to the nearest 0.01m is calculated and the result is the average
thickness of the sample under test. The Fabric thickness was determined in
accordance with ASTM D5729 standard method.
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Figure 3.2 Testing of non-woven fabric thickness

3.4.2 Areal Density

Areal density of developed non woven material is an important factor

that should be considered for effective sound absorption behavior of the
material. At the same time, cost of an acoustical material is directly related to
its density. Astudy by Koizumi et al. (2002) showed the increase of sound
absorption value in the middle and higher the frequency as the density of the
sample increased. The number of fibers present in the thermal and chemical
bonded non woven samples from cotton, polyester, cotton polyester blends
(color and white) increases per unit area when the apparent density is large.
Energy loss increases as the surface friction increases, thus the sound
absorption coefficient increases. Moreover, the sample showed the following
effect of density on sound absorption behavior of nonwoven fibrous materials.
The areal density was determined in accordance with ASTM D 6242.

3.4.3Bulk density
The developed thermal and chemical bonded non woven samples using
reclaimed fibers are subjected to bulk density analysis for the influence of
sound absorption behavior. The specimen with 12 cm diameter and 80cm2
area were cut out randomly and weighted. Average of 10 observations were
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taken for each sample and expressed in kg/m2.The bulk density was calculated
by using the following relationship.
Bulk density = W/t kg/m3
Where,
W weight of sample per unit area, determined the following standard
method ASTM D 3776.

3.4.4 Porosity

Porosity of thermal and chemical bonded non woven samples was

found out to evaluate the sound absorption. Number, size and type of pores
are the important factors that one should consider for sound absorption
mechanism in porous materials. To allow sound dissipation by friction, the
sound wave has to enter the porous material. This means, there should be
enough pores on the surface of the material for the sound to pass through and
get dampened. The porosity of a porous material is defined as the ratio of the
volume of the voids in the material to its total volume (Allard et al., 1989).
Equation gives the definition for porosity
Porosity ,(H) =Va/Vm
Where:
Va= Volume of the air in the voids
Vm = Total volume of the sample of the acoustical material being tested
Shoshani et al. (2003), stated that designing a nonwoven web to have a
high sound absorption coefficient, porosity should increase along with the
propagation of the sound wave. The porosity was find out with ASTM B809.
3.4.5 Air Permeability

This test method covers the measurement of the air permeability of

chemical and thermal bonded non woven fabrics. Air permeability is the rate
of air flow passing perpendicularly through a known area under a prescribed
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air pressure differential between the two surfaces of a material. Air

permeability of the fabric at a stated pressure differential between two
surfaces of the fabric is generally expressed in terms of cm3/s/cm2 calculated
at operating conditions. The rate of air flow passing perpendicularly through a
known area of fabric is adjusted to obtain a prescribed air pressure differential
between the two fabric surfaces. From this rate of air flow, the air
permeability of the fabric is determined.

The test specimens were handled carefully to avoid altering the

natural state of the material. Each test specimen was placed onto the test head
of the test instrument, and the test was performed as specified in the

and continued as directed, until 20 specimens have been tested for each
laboratory sample. The air permeability was determined in accordance with
ASTM Test Method D 737.

Figure 3.3 Testing of non-woven fabric Air permeability

3.4.6 Thermal Conductivity

Thermal conductivity coefficient of specimens was measured using

Faieza, 2006). The apparatus, shown in, consists
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of two identical discs of 4 cm in diameter. One of them includes an electrical

heater. The specimen (non woven such as cotton, polyester, cotton polyester
blend with color and white) with 4 cm in diameter was placed between the
discs (A) and (B). The heat is supplied between the discs. Temperature of (A)
and (B) discs were measured using two thermocouples. The temperature of
the ambient was also measured. The rate of supply energy was noticed.

Figure 3.4 Testing of non-woven fabric Thermal Conductivity

When the discs were assembled they are vanished to give them the
same emissive, and the whole apparatus was suspended in an enclosure of
constant temperature. Total heat (Q) can be obtained in terms of supply
energy (IV), since the total heat supplied must be equal to that given up by the
various surfaces (Faieza, 2006).
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Q = VI aATA + asTA+TB + aBTB +acTc

2

K= Qts TA + 2TA (tA + ts) + tsTB

TB-TA r 4 2r

The average of 10 measurements was taken for each specimen to

minimize the possible errors. Thermal conductivity of samples was then
calculated theoretically by using Maxwell model as illustrated above where
comparisons between theoretical and experimental results were accomplished.
The thermal conductivity was determined in accordance with ASTM D 6343.

3.4.7 Sound absorption Coefficient by Impedance Tube method

The sound absorption coefficients of the nonwovens were tested by the

impedance tube method on ASTME 1050 at Indian Institute of Technology,
Chennai. A sound source (loud speaker) is mounted at one end of the
impedance tube and at the other end the nonwoven and composite materials
are placed. The loud speaker generates broadband, stationary random sound.
This sound propagates as planner waves in the tube, hits the sample and gets
absorbed. Thus a standing wave interference pattern results due to
superimposition of forward and backward travelling waves inside the tube.
The sound pressure at two fixed location is measured and by using the two-
channel digital frequency analyzer. From the results it will be possible to
determine the complex reflection coefficient, the sound absorption coefficient
and the normal acoustic impedance of the nonwoven.
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Figure3.5 Impedance Tube Method (ASTM E 1050)

The usable frequency range depends on the diameter of the tube and
spacing between the microphone positions. The small tube setup with 29mm
diameter measures the parameters of sound in the frequency range from
500Hz to 6.4 KHz. Whereas, the larger tube setup with 100mm diameter
measures the parameter of sound in the frequency range from 50Hz to
1.6KHz.

3.4.8 Sound resistance Testing Method

A sound of particular decibel is created by the sound source and the

receipt decibels have been measured by the decibel meter with and without
sample. The sound insulation by the fabric samples can be calculated by the
following derivation (equation -13) derived by surajit sen guptha et al (2010).

The sound resistance or insulation by the fabric samples can be

calculated by the following derivation by Teli et al (2007) and surajait and
Senguptha et al (2010).
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dBwos-dBws
SR% = X 100
dBwos

Where,

SR Sound reduction

dBwos Sound level without sample and

dBws - The sound level with sample

The samples were placed in three different positions: 25 cm, 50 cm,

and 75 cm from the sound source and measured for sound source and
measured for sound resistance with three decibel value of 60 dB, 70dB, and
80dB. The average sound resistance percentage of these three decibel values
are calculated and compared for all the samples.

3.4.9 Measurement of air flow resistance:

The fibers interlocking in nonwovens are the frictional elements that

provide resistance to acoustic wave motion. In general, when sound enters in
these materials, its amplitude is decreased by friction as the waves try to move
through this friction passages, the tortuous converted into heat.Thus,acoustic
energ
flow is called air flow resistance.

The unit,that is generally used for the specific air flow resistance is
Rayls(N.S/m×10).
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According to Delany et al (1970) flow resistance is proportion to the

material bulk density and fiber size. Fiber packing density decreases the air
permeability with a resultant increase in pressure drop and hence flow
resistance.

Based upon the air flow test ASTM D-1564, the flow resistance Rf of the
sample the sample obtained from the following equation

Rf = p/vI

Where;

p = Static pressure differential between both faces of the sample,

dyn/ Cm2 (10-1 Pa)

v = Air velocity,cm/s

I = Thickness of sample in cm