Nonwovens

&
Technical Textiles
 Polymers

Fibers

Yarns

Woven Knitted Braided Non-woven

Fabrics

Application

Woven structure Knitted structure Braided structure

 NONWOVENS IN GENERAL

Definition of Nonwovens
• Nonwoven is a sheet, web, or batt of natural and/or man-made fibers
or filaments, excluding paper, that have not been converted into the
yarns, and that are bonded together in different ways.
• It may also have other names such as Shaped Fabrics (or) Yarn free
Fabrics.

Non-Woven structure
 Nonwovens
• A textile structure produced by the bonding or interlocking
of fibers, or both, accomplished by mechanical, chemical,
thermal or solvent means and combinations thereof.
• Nonwovens are in fact products in their own right with
their own characteristics and performances, but also
weaknesses.
 Cont’d
• Nonwoven fabrics are broadly defined as sheet or
web structures bonded together by entangling
fiber or filaments (and by perforating films)
mechanically, thermally or chemically.
• They are flat, porous sheets made directly from
separate fibers or from molten plastic or plastic
film.
• They are not made by weaving or knitting and do
not require converting the fibers to yarn.
 History of nonwovens
• In 19th century when England was the leading
textile producing country, realizing that large
amount of fiber were wasted as trim, a textile
engineer named GARNETT developed a
special carding machine to shred the wastage
to fibrous form.
 Brief about Nonwoven
• Fibers are the basic element of Nonwovens.
The selection of raw fibers, determines the
properties of the final nonwoven products.
• Fiber selection purely depend on Application,
customer requirement and cost of Product.
• The fibers can be in the form of stable form
(or) filament form. Any natural or synthetic
fiber could be used in the production of
nonwoven.
• Synthetic fibers provide specialized
properties, uniformity, and consistency of
supply which cannot be achieved by natural
fibers.
• Bi component fibers are a manufactured fiber
having two distinct polymers components
may also used in nonwoven manufacturing.
• Nano fibers, Glass microfibers also used in
nonwoven Industry.
 Identification of
nonwoven
• To distinguish nonwovens from papers by a
Identified material should contain 30% - 50%
of mass content is made up of fibers
(excluding chemicall fibers).
• Length to diameter ratio more than 600.
• Density of the fabrics is less than 0.4 g/cm3
• Stitching the fibers or filaments in place
• Thermally fusing the fibers or filaments to
each other or to other meltable fibers or
powders.
• Nonwoven structures may incorporate
monofilaments or yarns
• A nonwoven may be a structural component of
a composite
Manufacturing process
Nonwoven
Production
cycle
 Production Rate

• To produce 500,000 meters of woven sheeting requires

• 2 months of yarn preparation
• 3 months of weaving on 50 looms
• 1 month for finishing and inspection
• Non-woven fabric can deliver the same quantity within 2
months from the order received
 Fabric Production Stages
• The production of nonwovens can be described in three
stages, although modern technology allows an overlapping
of some stages, and in some cases all three stages can take
place at the same.
• That three unavoidable main stages are:
1)Web formation
a)Fiber to Fabric (Ex: Carded, Air Laid, Wet Laid)
b)Polymer to fabric (Ex: Spun Bond, Melt Blown, SMS)
2)Web bonding
3)Finishing Treatments
Process flow of non wovens
 Classifications of Nonwovens
The classification of nonwovens is based either
production techniques or structures.
Class based on production
techniques

Web forming
Dry Laid/ Wet Laid /Spun Laid

Web bonding
Mechanical /Chemical/Thermal

Fabric finishing
Coated/Laminated/Crimped/
Printed /Special Finish
 Raw Material for Nonwovens
Natural Fibres – 10%
Man-made Fibres – 90%
Man-made Fibres

Synthetic Polymers Natural Polymers Inorganic Materials

 Web Formation
• Fibre or filaments are either deposited onto a
forming surface to form a web or condensed into
a web and fed to a conveyor surface.
• Web formation involves converting staple fibres
or filaments into a two or three-dimensional
assembly which is a precursor for final fabric.
• The arrangement of fibres governs the structure
and subsequently properties of the fabric.
 Web Bonding
• Nonwovens can be bonded by mechanical, chemical, or
thermal means, Hydrogen bonding is also important in
bonding cellulosic webs.
• More than one bonding process could also be
employed.
• Mechanical bonding involves mechanical constraints to
fibres for structural integrity.
• Chemical bonding involves applying adhesive binders
to webs by saturating, spraying, printing, or foaming
techniques.
• Thermal bonding involves the use of heat and often
pressure to soften and weld fibre together.
Nonwovens Structure
 Raw Material for Nonwovens
Man-made fibres contains:
• Polypropylene- 63 %
• Polyester - 23 %
• Viscose - 08 %
• Acrylic - 02 %
• Polyamide - 1.5 %
• Other - 2.5 %
APPLICATIONS
 Advantages of Nonwoven

Nonwoven fabric has a lot of advantages:

1. ventilation
2. filtration
3. insulation
4. water absorbent
5. waterproof
6. flexible
7. not disheveled
8. good hand feeling, soft
9. light
10. flexible, resilient
11. no cloth direction
12. low price, can be mass-produced.
 Disadvantages are
1) Compared with textile cloth, strength and
durability is bad
2) Can not be like other as cleaning
3) Fiber cloth by certain direction arrangement,
so easy to burst
 Technical Textiles
All textile product, which are designed for the most
part to conform to their functionality , are technical
textiles
Technical Textiles
• Technical textiles can be defined as “the textiles in which
the performance properties are of greater importance
than the aesthetics,” says author Michael Litton.
Functions of Technical Textile:
• Different functions can be achieved through technical
textiles. These can be categorized into four groups.
• Mechanical functions: It includes mechanical resistance,
reinforcement of the materials, tenacity, elasticity, etc.
• Exchange functions: It includes filtration, insulation and
conductivity, drainage, permeability, absorption, etc.
• Functionalities for living beings: It includes antimicrobial, anti-
dust mites, biocompatibility, biodegradability, etc.
• Protective functions: It includes protection from fire, chemicals,
infrared and ultraviolet rays, electromagnetic fields,
environment, etc.
Areas of Technical Textiles
• Argotech
• Buildtech
• Clothtech
• Hometech
• Geotech
• Indutech
• Medtech
• Mobitech
• Ecotech
• Packtech
• Protech
• Sporttech
Agrotech
• Textiles used in agriculture, horticulture,
forestry, farming and fishing.
• Agrotech sheets are
also used for soil
reclamation.

• These sheets can

contain soil erosion
problem and
decompose into plant
nutrients.
Buildtech

• Buildtech involves textile composites used in

building industry.
Structures built of textile materials
Textile Materials as Concrete Reinforcement

Litracon
Clothtech

Military advancements

• It aims to integrate
smart textile technology
in the uniforms of it’s
military personnel.
Astronaut suits

• Cosmic apparel used by

astronauts in space or
on the surface of a
planet.
 Geotech

As implied from the

name Geo textiles are
the textiles which work
in contact with Earth’s
basic elements; soil,
rocks, water etc.
 Dams

• Geotextiles are used in the

construction of dams as
concrete reinforcements.

• Used either in powdered or

compact form.
Indutech

• The textile materials

used in industries are
known as indutech.

• Generally industech are

used in purifying
poisonous gases at high
temperature.
Used in chimneys

• Most poisonous gases

are discharged into the
atmosphere at very high
temperatures.

• Common materials can’t

withstand such
temperatures without
melting.
Indutech has the remedy

• To solve this problem

heat resistant textile
materials with small
pore sizes are used to
filter hot poisonous
gases.
Meditech
In Transplantation
• Artificial kidney,
Artificial liver, Artificial
heart, Mechanical lung,
grafts, artificial skin and
bones are produced for
transplantation.
Soothing Broken Bones and Hearts

• Textile based grafts and

replacements of broken
or damaged bones are
also available for
transplantation.
Mobiltech

• The textile materials in

automobiles.
Military use

• A very interesting
application of such
fabrics was devised by
various countries.
Oekotech

• Textiles for
environmental
protection are known as
Oekotech.(GREEN
TEXTILES)
An interesting application

• Used effectively against oil

spillages in coastal areas or
in open oceans or seas,
separates water and
oil.(otherwise it is harmful to
ecosystem)
Nothing goes to waste

• Separated oil can be

used again, while on the
other hand disasters can
be averted.
Packtech
Protech

• Heat resistant clothing

for scientists studying
volcanic eruptions.
Fire suits

• Fire men’s protective

clothing.
High tech military apps.

• Clothing against
chemical substances for
atomic, chemical and
biological warfare
specially(gas, liquids,
particles)
For Falcons

• G suits for fighter pilots

to coup up with the
pressure due to high
speed maneuvers in air.
Suits for Deep Sea Divers

• Pressure suits for under

water divers are also
manufactured by some
special types of fibers.
Sport tech