NonWoven Module 2023

Wollo University, Kombolcha Institute of Technology, Department of Textile Engineering
Wollo University
Kombolcha Institute of Technology,
Department of Textile Engineering
Non-woven Technology (TEng4202) Module
Prepared By: Dr. Alhayat Getu (Assistant Professor)

January 2023
Non-woven Technology (TEng4202) Module Prepared By: Dr. Alhayat G. Page 0

This module was prepared based on the course description of Non-woven Technology (TEng4202)
which are given at Wollo University, Kombolcha Institute of Technology, Department of Textile
Engineering
The aim of the module is enable students (Learning objectives): On completion of this Module,
the students should be able to:
• Explain the benefits and limitations of the nonwoven route for textile manufacture
• List the main fibres used in nonwovens and their features that make them suitable for this
application
• Know the technology of nonwoven fabrics
• Understand the manufacturing processes of nonwoven
• Understand the bonding processes of nonwoven
• Understand finishing processes of nonwoven
• Know the end uses of nonwoven
• Know nonwoven manufacturing machines
Key terms and concepts
Nonwovens, felt, needlefelts, fibres, web, drylaid, carding, airlaid, wetlaid, spunlaid, meltblown,
chemical bonding, mechanical bonding, needlepunching, hydroentanglement, thermal bonding,
finishing treatments

Contents
CHAPTER ONE- INTRODUCTION TO NON-WOVENS MANUFACTURING ....................... 4

1.1. Definitions, Terms and Systematic Classification of Nonwovens .............................................5
1.2. Classification of Non-woven Fabric......................................................................................... 7
1.3. Raw Materials Used for Non-Woven ..................................................................................... 10
1.4. Characteristics Features and Properties of Nonwoven Fabrics................................................ 14
1.5. Advantages and Limitation of Nonwoven .............................................................................. 18
CHAPTER TWO: MANUFACTURING PROCESS OF NON-WOVEN FABRICS .................. 21
2.1. Definitions and Classification of Bonded Fabrics .................................................................. 21
2.2. Fiber requirements................................................................................................................. 24
2.3. Web Formation and Effect on Its Nonwoven Properties ......................................................... 26
2.3.1. Dry-laid web formation 26
2.3.2. WET-LAID WEBS 31
2.4. Web laying – Types............................................................................................................... 34
2.5. Quality control of web. .......................................................................................................... 38
CHAPTER THREE: NON-WOVEN FABRIC FORMING TECHNIQUES ............................... 42
3.1. Mechanical bonding .............................................................................................................. 42
3.1.1. Bonded Fabric Production by Mechanical Bonding 43
3.1.2. Needling Punched Non- Woven 44
3.1.3. Stitched Bonding Technology 46
3.1.4. Water-Jet Consolidation 48
3.1.5. Applications. 50
3.2. Chemical Bonding ................................................................................................................. 51
3.2.1. Chemical Bonding 52
3.2.2. Binder Polymers and Bonding Technologies 53
3.2.3. Application 56
3.3. Thermal Bonding .................................................................................................................. 56
3.3.1. Thermal Bonding Technologies 56
3.3.2. Factors Influencing the Properties 59
3.3.3. Applications. 60

3.4. Polymer–Laid Web and Fabric Formation ............................................................................. 61

3.4.1. Manufacture of Spun Bonded Fabrics 61
3.4.2. Manufacture of Melt Blown Fabrics 64
3.4.3. Applications 71
CHAPTER FOUR: FINISHING AND CHARACTERIZATION OF BONDED FABRICS ........ 74
4.1 Dry finishing ........................................................................................................................ 77
4.2. Wet finishing......................................................................................................................... 80
4.3. Chemical Finishes ............................................................................................................... 81
4.4. Safety Measures to Be Taken at the Nonwoven Industry ....................................................... 84
REFERENCE:............................................................................................................................ 87
GENERAL QUESTIONS .......................................................................................................... 88

CHAPTER ONE- INTRODUCTION TO NON-WOVENS MANUFACTURING
Textile fabrics can be manufactured in many different ways, the most common being weaving,
knitting or through production of non-woven fabrics. While woven, knitted and tufted goods make up
the largest quantity of textile fabrics produced, other fabric forming methods are available that do not
require the prior making of a yarn, or weaving or knitting steps. These products, which are called
nonwovens, are produced by the direct conversion of fiber to fabric. There are different methods of
fabric formation. These are weaving process, knitting process and non-woven technology. As we
know weaving is the interlacing of warp and weft threads in vertical and horizontal direction in order
to form textile fabric. The mechanical and physical properties of woven fabric are determined by the
following factors: fiber type, yarn twist, fabric construction and so on. Based on the structural
formation woven fabrics are broadly classified as plain weaves, twill weaves and sateen weaves. All
other weaves are directly or indirectly derived from these fundamental weaves.
Knitting is the production of fabric by forming loops with yarn, which are interlaced in a variety of
ways to form the fabric. Knitted fabrics are divided into two distinct sectors, weft knitting and warp
knitting. In weft knitting, the loops are formed across the width of the fabric, and each weft thread is
fed, more or less, at right angles to the direction in which the fabric is produced. It is possible to knit
with only one thread or cone of yarn, though production demands have resulted in circular weft
knitting machines being manufactured with up to 192 threads (feeder). But in the case of warp
knitting fabric is produced by using needles similar to those used in weft knitting, but with the knitted
loops made from each warp thread being formed down the length of the fabric; the loops (courses ate
formed vertically down the length of the fabric from one thread as opposed to across the width of the
fabric, as is the case of weft knitting.
The concept of non-woven is quiet different both from weaving and knitting process. In most case it is
considered as modern techniques of fabric formation. An average person is unlikely to be familiar with
the term non-woven and a few decades back there were no experts in this field. When the textile
consumer hears the term non-woven it makes him think of something which is not like traditional
woven fabrics, he understand that something modern or advanced than the fabric produced by
interlacement of threads , but he is not aware of any specific types of materials among those which
carry the same name. But now the precise meaning of the term is somewhat clearer to the experts.

According to the experts, non-woven is a class of textiles/sheet products, unique in industry, which is
defined in the negative; that is, they are defined in what they are not. Non-woven fabrics are different
than the conventional textile fabrics and paper. Non-wovens are not based on yarns and (with frequent
exceptions) do not contain yarns. They are based on webs of individual fibers. Non-wovens are
different than paper in that non-wovens usually consist entirely or at least contain a sizeable proportion
of long fibers and/or they are bonded intermittently along the length of the fibers. Although paper
consists of fiber webs, the fibers are bonded to each other so completely that the entire sheet comprises
one unit. In non-wovens we have webs of fibers where fibers are not as rigidly bonded and to a large
degree act as individuals.
Figure.1: Conventional Fabric Manufacturing Techniques
(Source: https://www.scribd.com/document/491809394/4-4-INTRODUCTION-TO-NON-WOVEN)
1.1. Definitions, Terms and Systematic Classification of Nonwovens

Definitions of Nonwoven
Nonwoven fabrics are one of the oldest and simplest textile fabrics. Its classic example is felt. The
first well documented discovery of felt dates back 3500-3000 BC. It was made from hairs of

various animals. The term “Nonwoven fabrics” was applied to new modern techniques, which
were totally based on new principles, by U.S.A. in 1965. “Non-woven fabrics” is being defined
into different ways by different literatures; the term defined by “Textile oregano” in 1965 is as
follows:
“Nonwoven fabrics are products made of parallel laid, cross laid or randomly laid webs bonded
with application of adhesive or thermoplastic fibers under application of heat and pressure.”
(Milin Patel & Dhruvkumar Bhrambhatt, 2016)
It is an unfortunate fact that there is no internationally agreed definition of nonwovens, in spite of

the fact that the International Standards Organization published a definition in 1988 (ISO
9092:1988). Many countries, particularly those that have played an active part in the development
of nonwovens, still prefer their own national definition, which is generally wider in its scope than
the very narrow definition of ISO 9092(Philip A Smith, 2016). Also, the American Society for
Testing Materials (ASTM D 1117-80) definition nonwoven as follows: ‘A nonwoven is a textile
structure produced by the bonding or interlocking of fibers, or both, accomplished by mechanical,
chemical, thermal or solvent means and combinations thereof.
INDA definition:
Non-wovens are a sheet, web of natural and/or man-made fibers or filaments, excluding paper,
that have not been converted into yarns, and that are bonded to each other by any of several means.
The various methods for bonding are:
a) Adding an adhesive
b) Thermally fusing the fibers or filaments to each other or to the other meltable fibers or
powders.
c) Fusing fibers by first dissolving, and then resolidifying their surfaces.
d) Creating physical tangles or tuft among the fibers.
e) Stitching the fibers or filaments in place.

EDANA definition:
Nonwoven are a manufactured sheet, web of directionally or randomly oriented fibers,

bonded by friction, and/or cohesion and/or adhesion, excluding paper or products which are
woven, knitted, tufted stitch bonded incorporating binding yarns or filaments. The fibers
used may be of natural or man-made origin. They may be staple or continuous filament
fibers (Source: https://www.edana.org/nw-related-industry/what-are-nonwovens,).
1.2. Classification of Non-woven Fabric
A. Classification of Non-woven Fabric according to the Methods of Production:

1. Wet Bonded
2. Dry Bonded
3. Spun Bonded
B. Classification of Nonwoven according to the use of Raw Materials:
• Durable
• Semi durable
• Disposable
C. Classification of Nonwoven according to the Technology of Raw Materials:
1. Staple fiber non-woven
2. Filament non-woven
3. Fiber nonwoven
Figure 2: Types of non-woven fabric

D. Classification of Nonwoven according to Their Properties:

• Flame retardant
• Water re-parent
• Water absorbent
Here, we are going to provide, Specifically, some popular Classification of Nonwoven Fabric.
Here, you will get a crystal idea about these nonwovens’ fabric.
E. 5 Popular Nonwoven Fabric

1. Spunbound NonWoven Fabric
2. Meltblown Nonwoven Fabric
3. Spunlance Nonwoven Fabric
4. SSMS NonWoven Fabric
5. SME Nonwoven Fabric( Source: Suno Tex, 2021)
F. The non-woven fabrics can be Classifications according to different manufacturing
processes:
 Spunlace nonwovens: It is a non-woven cloth, it is the direct use of polymer slices, short
fibers or filaments into a network of fiber by air or mechanical, spunlace, acupuncture, or
hot-rolled reinforcement, and finally after finishing the formation of spunlace nonwoven
fabric.
Application: It is well-known for its great uses for facial mask fabric, medical non-woven fabric,
wet wipe fabric, non-woven filter fabric and etc.
 Heat-bonded nonwoven fabrics: This type of non-woven fabric is mainly manufactured in

several processes: adding fibrous or sticky reinforcement material into the fiber network, and
then reinforcing the network into cloth via heating and cooling.
 Pulp air-laid nonwovens: Air-laid nonwovens can also be called the dustless paper or dry
paper nonwovens. It uses the air-laid technology to open the wood pulp fiberboard into a
single fiber state, then uses the airflow method to make the fiber agglomerate on the net
curtain, and then consolidates the fiber web into cloth.
 Wet-laid non-woven: The manufacturing process of wet nonwoven fabric goes like this:
open the fibrous raw material in the aqueous medium into single fibers, meanwhile forming a
fibrous suspension slurry by mixing different fiber raw materials, then transport the

suspended slurry to a mesh-forming mechanism, and the fibers are laid in a wet state to form
a cloth.
 Spunbond nonwovens: Spunbond-type of nonwoven fabric is processed as follows: extrude
and stretch the polymer to form a continuous filament, laid the filament into web, then
process the web into nonwoven fabric through their own bonding, thermal bonding, chemical
bonding or mechanical reinforcement methods.
 Meltblown nonwovens: Melt-blown nonwoven fabric is manufactured by extruding melted
polymer fiber through a linear die containing several hundred small holes to form long thin
fibers which are stretched and cooled by passing hot air as they fall from the linear die, then
the resultant web is blown onto a collector screen forming fined-filtered, self-bond
nonwovens. Usually, this type of nonwoven fabric is added to spunbond in order to form SM
or SMS webs.
 Acupuncture nonwovens: Acupuncture nonwoven is a type of dry nonwoven fabric. The
fluffy fiber is reinforced into cloth by needle puncture.
 Stitch nonwovens: Stitched nonwoven is another type of dry nonwoven fabric. The
manufacturing process uses a warp knitted loop structure to reinforce the fiber web, yarn
layer, non-woven materials (such as plastic sheeting, plastic foil and etc.) or a combination
thereof so as to form a nonwoven fabric (Source: Md. Tanvir Hossain, 2020).

Figure 3: Fig: Classification of nonwoven fabric based on manufacturing techniques

(Source: textileblog, 2020)
1.3. Raw Materials Used for Non-Woven
Nonwovens are textile fabrics consisting of separated fibres which are arranged properly by means
of enduse-oriented technologies. In order to guarantee serviceability of the finished product, they
are bonded. For this reason the choice of fibres and possibly bonding materials is of special
importance: This relates to fibre raw materials and fibre dimensions. Fibers are the basic element
of non-wovens. Manufacturers of non-wovens product can make use of almost any kind of fibers.
These include traditional textile fibers (cotton, wool, nylon, polyester, etc), as well as recently
developed hi-tech fibers. The selection of raw fibers, to considerable degree, determines the
properties of the final non-woven products. It is obvious that fabric properties of non-wovens
range from crisp to fluid, soft-to-the –touch to harsh, impossible-to-tear to extremely weak. This
leads to a wide range of end-products. The selection of fibers also depends on customer
requirement, cost, process ability, changes of properties as a result of web formation and
consolidation. The fibers can be in the form of filament, staple fiber or even yarn. The following
diagram shows the significant fibers used in the nonwovens industry all over the world ( Source:
EiTex Lecture Note; W. Albrecht, 2003).
Fibers Used in
Non-woven
Traditional
Hi-Tech Fibers
Textile Fibers
Figure 4: Fiber Used for Nonwoven
Virtually all types of fibrous material can be used to make nonwoven bonded fabrics, The
commonly used fibers include natural fibers (cotton, jute, flax, wool), synthetic fibers (polyester
(PES), polypropylene (PP), polyamide, rayon), special fibers (glass, carbon, nanofibers,
bicomponent, superabsorbent fibers), etc. The choice being dependent on:

 The required profile of the fabric

 The cost/ use ratio (cost effectiveness)
 The desired end-use properties of the web.
 The ease of process ability
To produce nonwoven bonded fabrics
 chemical fibers of both cellulosic and synthetic origin as well as

 natural fibers and
 inorganic fibers are mainly used
Because such a wide range of fabrics is either being developed or is already in production, it is
impossible to name and describe all fabrics and fibers. The most important details will be
provided below and the relevant literature will be cited. For more details the interested reader
would be advised to consult additional reference material and to assess the importance of e.g.
chemical fibers experimentally ( Source: W. Albrecht, 2003).
The fibers used in the greatest volume in nonwoven fabrics today are cotton, rayon, acetate,
nylon and wool. The synthetics, such as polyesters and acrylics, are being used increasingly,
not necessarily to replace cheaper fiber but in fabrics intended for new and more exacting
applications. Finally the very newest fibers are modifications of standard types to make them
especially adaptable to nonwovens, e.g. self-bonding viscose rayon and the synthetic polymeric
fibers known as „fibrids‟. Man-made fibres account for the majority of raw materials used in
the nonwovens industry, and in the carding sector, polyester is the most widely used. This is
principally because of its suitability for many product applications and comparatively low cost.
Polypropylene is also important, particularly in the manufacture of heavyweight needled
fabrics for durable products such as floorcoverings and geosynthetics as well as in
needlepunched filtration media and lightweight thermal bonded fabrics for hygiene
disposables. Viscose rayon is extensively used in the medical and hygiene sectors, principally
because of its high moisture regain. The flexibility of the carding process is reflected by the
diversity of staple fibre types that are utilised by the industry and includes polymers, glass and
ceramic materials. Table 1 gives a general overview of the fibres that are carded either alone or

in blends. Fundamental to the suitability of a particular fibre for dry-laid processing is its
machine compatibility as well as its influence on fabric properties. There are numerous
examples of new fibre developments that have been slow to develop because of processing
problems, particularly during carding (Source: Milin Patel & Dhruvkumar Bhrambhatt DTT,
BE In Textile Technology; S. J. Russell, 2007; Nazan Avcioglu Kalebek and Osman
Babaarslan, 2016).
Table 1. Properties of Nonwoven Fabrics Produced Using Different Fiber (Source: Milin Patel
& Dhruvkumar Bhrambhatt DTT, BE In Textile Technology)
FIBERS RESULTANT PROPERTY

POSITIVE NAGETIVE
POLYESTER •Good recovery High pilling tendency
•Good Heat setting
Formulation of static
property
charge
•High elasticity
•Good drape
•High wet strength
ACETATE FILAMENTS •Good handle •Low wet strength
•No pilling •Low abrasion
•Good recovery resistance
•Good drape •Low softening
•Easy bonding point
•Low price
POLYAMIDE •Good wet strength •Bad handle
•Good resistance to •Bad light fastness
soiling •High pilling
•Quick drying tendency
•Good chemical •High price
resistance

•Good elasticity
•Good heat
pocessability
VISCOSE FILAMENTS •Good strength •Low wet strength
•High bulk •Low abrasion
•Good drape resistance
•No pilling •Slow drying
•Easy cleaning •Hard hendle
•Low price
POLYACRYLONITRILE •Good recovery •Low abrasion
•Good drape resistance
•Excellent chemical •Tendency to
resistance pilling
•Soft hand •High price
•High bulk
•Good moisture
resistance
•Excellent sun light
fastness
COTTON •Good abrasion •Non elastic
resistance recovery
•Good bulk •Low resistance to
•High wet strength soiling
•Soft handle •Low uniformity of
•Easy bonding fibers
•Excellent absorption
power
•Low price
WOOL •Good bulk •Tendency to

•High elasticity pilling

•Soft, warm handle •Low abrasion
•Quick recovery resistance
•Good absorption •High shrinkage
power •Low strength

•Unstable price
Bicomponent Fibers in Non- • Non-woven fabrics for diapers, feminine care and
wovens adult incontinence products (as top sheet, back sheet,
leg cuffs, elastic waistband, transfer layers)
• Air-laid non-woven structures are used as absorbent
cores in wet wipes
• Used in spunlaced non-woven products like medical
disposable textiles, filtration products
1.4. Characteristics Features and Properties of Nonwoven Fabrics
Characteristics of Nonwoven Fabric: Nonwovens may be a limited-life, single-use fabric or a

very durable fabric. Nonwoven fabrics provide specific functions such as absorbency, liquid
repellency, resilience, stretch, softness, strength, flame retardancy, washability, cushioning,
filtering, bacterial barriers and sterility. The particular set of properties that a non-woven fabric
may have is dependent upon the combination of factors in its production. The range of
characteristics is wide.
1. The appearance of non-woven fabrics may be paper like, felt like, or similar to that of woven
fabrics.
2. They may have a soft, resilient hand, or they may be hard, stiff, or broadly with little
pliability.
3. They may be as thin as thin as tissue paper or many times thicker.
4. They also may be translucent or opaque.
5. Their porosity may range from low tear and burst strength to very high tensile strength.
6. They may be fabricated by gluing, heat bonding, or sewing.

7. The drapability of this type of fabrics varies from good to none at all.
8. Some fabrics have excellent launderability; others have none. Some may be dry-
cleaned(Source: B.J.Group, Mawna, Gazipur, 2020)
 In selecting fiber for use in nonwoven fabrics the fiber description, i.e. the crimp, length,
deniers per filament and finish, is fully as important as fibers.
Crimp
It is almost impossible with most equipment to produce a nonwoven fabric from a completely
straight fiber. The natural fibers have varying amount of crimp and, just as the cut filament
must be crimped for spinning, a crimp is necessary for formulation of manageable web for
nonwoven fabric production. Curly fibers are better than straight and usually curlier the better.
Highly crimped fibers tend to form more uniform web which will retain its original structure
during the subsequent process. The amount and type of crimp may be determined by the
requirements of the finished product. For example a nonwoven intended for padding or
cushioning in automobiles or furniture applications where loft and resiliency are required must
be made from fiber having a permanent crimp. In spray process the penetration of a binder is
directly dependent on the crimp and the relationship between crimp and denier.
Denier
The choice of denier per filament for fiber to be used in nonwovens is governed primarily by
the requirements of the end product. The use of the finer fibers results in great density, strength
and softness and at the same time a more opaque sheet (fine fiber has more “covering” power).
Heavy deniers are easier to open for production of a uniform web at higher speeds than fine
deniers. The adjustment of the processing equipment of the denier of the fiber used is a very
important factor in successful nonwoven fabric production.
Length
The staple length of the fibers to be used depends on the type of web forming equipment
selected for production line in most cases longer fibers can be used in cards and garnets better
than in air lay machines, but there is no advantage in fabric strength derived from longer fiber.
In any type of web forming nonwoven fabrics, manufacturers have learned through the
experience that low production rates and poor quality fabrics usually result from the use of
fibers that are too long. Another result of long fibers may be excessive breakages.

Finish
The finish on the fiber surface is usually designated as “bright”, “dull”, or “semidull” and the
selection is arbitrary depending on the lusture or appearance desired in the end product.
Basic properties to Consider in Choosing Nonwoven Fibers
Manufacturers have a wide range of fiber options when specifying nonwoven fabrics for the
products they produce. While some applications are great for natural fibers like cotton, others
might be better served with synthetic fibers such as polyester. When considering fibers, it is
important to compare the attributes of a given fiber in light of the fabric characteristics you want
your final product to have.
When choosing the nonwoven fiber for your application, there are five key fiber characteristics
that should be considered:
1. Strength
If strength is an important feature for your finished product to have, synthetic fibers offer high
tensile strength. High strength synthetic fibers can be blended with weaker fibers to create a
durable bicomponent fiber nonwovens. Polyester filament or a polyester blend fiber are a great
choice for strength because polyester nonwovens offer high density. Nonwovens that require
strength include those used for medical and hygiene products, construction materials, telecom
products, agricultural fabric, and more.
2. Temperature Resistance
A variety of fibers including cotton, rayon, polyester, and blend can be used to create nonwovens
with resistance to temperature. Chemical bonding is highly effective for developing temperature
resistant nonwovens. The process of chemical bonding involves the application of a chemical
binder to join polyester and rayon fibers to impart unique and beneficial characteristics to
nonwovens, such as temperature resistance.
3. Shape
For products that need to retain their shape, without shrinking, stretching, or creasing, polyester
fibers offer the best option. Chemical bonding and bicomponent fibers can also be beneficial to
impart characteristics such as resistance to washing or dry cleaning, resistance to aging, as well as
superior flexibility and handling.

4. Absorbency
For the characteristics of superior absorption and release, with a high degree of comfort and
softness, cotton fiber is a great choice. Rayon filament or rayon blend are natural fibers derived
from wood pulp, that offer high absorbency, softness, and comfortable finish. Nonwoven
cotton and nonwoven rayon are ideal materials for a hygienic application needs including cosmetic
wipes, baby diapers, adult incontinence products, hygiene products, cleaning wipes, medical
bandages, equine bandages, and more. When durability is also required, other types of fibers can
be treated or blended to create a hydrophilic nonwoven.
5. Sustainability
Naturally occurring fibers are the best choice for sustainable nonwoven products. Though natural
fibers are considered to be more expensive, they can be made in a way that makes them very
competitive with synthetic fiber products if you choose a supplier that is experienced in
developing environmentally friendly nonwovens. As governmental regulatory pressures
concerning the environment increase, manufacturers in a variety of industries are switching from
synthetic fiber nonwovens to compostable or biodegradable fiber environmentally friendly and
sustainable nonwovens(Source: WPT Nonwovens Corporation,2019).
Nonwovens may be a limited-life, single-use fabric or a very durable fabric. Nonwoven fabrics
provide specific functions such as absorbency, liquid repellency, resilience, stretch, softness,
strength, flame retardancy, washability, cushioning, filtering, bacterial barriers and sterility. These
properties are often combined to create fabrics suited for specific jobs while achieving a good
balance between product use-life and cost. Following are just a few of the properties that can be
attained using nonwoven fabrics:
• Absorbency • Resilience
• Bacterial barrier • Softness
• Cushioning • Sterility
• Filtering • Strength
• Flame retardancy • Stretch
• Liquid repellency • Washability

1.5. Advantages and Limitation of Nonwoven
Advantages of Nonwoven:
 Light weight: Polypropylene resin is used as the main raw material, with a
specific gravity of only 0.9, only three-fifths of cotton, with fluffy and good hand
feeling.
 Soft: It consists of fine fibers (2-3D) and is formed by light point-like hot melt bonding.
The finished product is moderately soft and comfortable.
 Water repellency and breathability: Polypropylene chips do not absorb water, have zero
moisture content, and the finished product has good water repellency. It is composed of
100% fiber, which is porous and has good air permeability. It is easy to keep the cloth
surface dry and easy to wash.
 It can purify the air and use the advantages of small holes to keep bacteria and viruses
out.
 Non-toxic and non-irritating: The product is produced with FDA-compliant food-grade
raw materials, does not contain other chemical ingredients, has stable performance, is
non-toxic, has no peculiar smell, and does not irritate the skin.
 Antibacterial and anti-chemical agents: Polypropylene is a chemically passive substance,
not moth-eaten, and can isolate the erosion of bacteria and insects in the liquid;
antibacterial, alkali corrosion, and finished products do not affect the strength due to
erosion.
 Antibacterial. The product is water-repellent, not moldy, and can isolate the erosion of
bacteria and insects in the liquid, and is not moldy.
 Good physical properties. It is made of polypropylene spun directly into a mesh and
thermally bonded. The strength of the product is better than that of the general staple
fiber product, the strength is non-directional, and the vertical and horizontal strengths are
similar.
 In terms of environmental protection, the raw material of most non-woven fabrics used is
polypropylene, while the raw material of plastic bags is polyethylene. Although the two
substances have similar names, they are quite different in chemical structure. The
chemical molecular structure of polyethylene is quite stable and extremely difficult to

degrade, so it takes 300 years for plastic bags to decompose; while the chemical structure
of polypropylene is not strong, the molecular chain can be easily broken, so that it can be
effectively degraded , and enter the next environmental cycle in a non-toxic form, a non-
woven shopping bag can be completely decomposed within 90 days. Moreover, non-
woven shopping bags can be reused more than 10 times, and the pollution to the
environment after disposal is only 10% of that of plastic bags.
Shortcomings:
✓ Compared with textile cloth, the strength and durability are poor.
✓ Can't be washed like other fabrics.
✓ The fibers are arranged in a certain direction, so it is easy to split at right angles, etc.
Therefore, the improvement of the production method is mainly focused on the
improvement of preventing splitting( Source: Suntech Textile Machinery, 2022) .

Exercise
Briefly explain the following questions
1. As a Textile Engineer if you are assigned as consultant in Ministry of Agricultural and the
ministry give you assignment to reduce the percentage of soil erosion, what type textile fabric
manufacturing are you recommended? Why? Which types of fibers are you suggest? Why?
2. Wollo University, Kombolcha Institute of Technology need to build a model drainage

system using geotextiles as a Textile Engineer if you are assigned as consultant, which type
of fibers are you recommended? why? What types of fabric fabrication mechanism are you
suggested? Why?
3. Define the term nonwoven as compared with other textile fabric manufacturing methods?
4. Why nonwoven fabric fabrication methods had a high rate of production and nonwovens
can be produced economically?
5. What makes exceptions for nonwoven technology from weaving and knitting?
6. What are the properties of non-woven? What are the characteristics of non-woven fabrics?
7. What are the basic criteria for fiber selection for the production of nonwovens?
8. What are differences between woven and nonwoven fabrics interns of production rate?
9. As a Textile Engineer if you are assigned as consultant in automotive sectors and your
industries need to reduce (if necessary to remove completely) the high level of sound (Noise)
inside the automobiles, what type textile materials manufacturing techniques are you
recommended? Why? Which types of fibers are you suggest? Why?
10. If you family need to build soundproof wall in your home, as a Textile Engineer what type
textile materials manufacturing techniques are you recommended? Why? Which types of
fibers are you suggest? Why?

CHAPTER TWO: MANUFACTURING PROCESS OF NON-WOVEN FABRICS

2.1. Definitions and Classification of Bonded Fabrics
What Are Bonded Fabrics? Bonded fabrics are made of two or more already-constructed fabrics
held together by wet adhesives or thin polyurethane foam. Wet bonding adhesives aid in
preserving the original hand and drape of fabrics. Foam bonding adds body, shape retention and
thermal qualities where needed in fabrics. Bonded fabric joins two or more layers into one
material using resins or adhesives. Bonded fabrics are fundamental in today’s economy and are
used in various applications. Bonded fabrics can mix textiles with other materials like rubber,
plastic, or metal; they are also used in many industrial applications such as automotive
components, insulation products, and packaging. These bonded fabrics can be produced in
different ways. There can be direct bonding, in which two sheets are placed face-to-face and
heated by hot air or infrared radiation so that polymeric resins can flow between them. Some
examples of bonded fabrics include:
• Pre-pregs – carbon fiber fabric impregnated with an epoxy resin that is then backed with
fiberglass cloth (used prominently in the aerospace industry); *
• Tapes – thin sheets that provide easy handling and resistance against weathering;
• Textiles – materials that are made with yarns, fibers, or strands of various types;
• Sheets – used in various applications where the fabric is cut into shapes and pieces to be
put together in the final structure (Source: Mary, 2022).
The bonding agents are the „glue‟ as it binds the web firmly together to give the nonwoven
fabric. These agents largely determine the wear properties of the nonwoven fabrics. The bonding
agents have such a great influence on the properties of the fabric that the requirements of the
finished product determine the choice of bonding agent. The following characteristic features of
nonwoven fabrics decide which bonding agent is most suitable:
 Strength / stretch (resistance to  Washing and dry cleaning fastness
pilling, tearing and ripping)  Resistance to chemicals
 Elastic tenacity and bend-ability  Resistance to air and oxygen
(„spring elasticity‟)  Resistance to light and heat
 Handle and draping qualities  Flame resistance property

 Hydrophilic or hydrophobic properties

The bonding agents used might be liquid bonding agents or solid bonding agents in form of
fibers, powders or paste. The range of chemical substances that can be used in polymer
dispersion is exceptionally wide, but the most important are:
✓ Butadiene polymers, often known as synthetic latex or as unsaturated polymers,
✓ Acrylic acid polymers, also called saturated polymers
✓ Vinyl polymers (vinyl acetate, vinyl ether, vinyl ester, vinyl chloride)
Bonding fibers are usually made from thermoplastic polymers. The most important of the former
kind are polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), co-polyamide, polyolefin, polyester and polyvinylchloride.
Among the powders and pastes made from them, those used are co-polyamides, polyethylene
and ethylene vinylacetate (EVA) copolymers.
Properties Desired In a Bonding Agent
The construction of a nonwoven with suitable binders is to achieve improved characteristics such
as strength, softness, adhesion, firmness, durability, stiffness, fire retardence, hydrophilicity,
hydrophobicity, anti-microbial properties, organic compatibility, reduced surface tension,
improved dimensional stability and solvent, wash and acid resistance. The following list
illustrates some general considerations required for an ideal binder. The required properties can
be varied depending on the end-uses.
Strength: The strength of a nonwoven fabric is more closely related to the strength of the
applied binder.
Adhesion to Fibers: Even though the mechanism of adhesion is not completely understood,
the adhesion strength of the binder-to-fiber bond has to be considered.
Flexibility/handle: The some movements of fibers should be allowed, especially when a soft
hand is desired.
Elastic Recovery: To avoid the permanent deformation of fabric, good elastic recovery is
required under strain.

Minimum film forming temperature: At this temperature a bonding film will dry without
cracking which will occur if the temperature falls below this point. It can be reduced by adding
softeners or optical brighteners.
White point (ISO standard 2115) is the temperature at which the layers of polymer particles
that has not yet turned into the film below this point. The whitening point is always 1-2oC below
the minimum film forming temperature.
Glass or brittle temperature is the average temperature of the range in which the polymer
passes from being hard and brittle to being soft and rubber like. This temperature will give an
indication of the feel, the flexibility and the hardness of bonding film.
Resistance to washing/ Drying cleaning: Some nonwoven products need durability in

cleaning processes according to their end-uses.
Resistance to aging: The binder should be stable and not be degraded in the fabric during
storage and use.
Good color and color retention: Diverse ranges of colors are required, and the colorfastness
and yellowing problems should be considered.
Economical: Minimizing the cost is an on going requirement.
Other special requirements: Such as Flame resistance, resistance to chemicals, air, oxygen,
light, heat, etc. (Source: Milin Patel & Dhruvkumar Bhrambhatt DTT, BE In Textile
Technology)
Standards of Performance for Bonded Fabrics: Manufacturers of bonded fabrics and trade
associations are now setting standards for performance in bond and wear as well as performance
in laundering and dry cleaning. There is a general agreement to produce quality bonded fabrics
which:
• Withstand a reasonable number of washings and dry cleanings.

• Have shrinkage within a certain acceptable amount.

• Do not peel, pucker, crack or bubble.
• Maintain drape and ability to breathe.
• Do not become stiff.
• Do not absorb odor.
• Will resist discoloration.
• Will have no surface evidence of adhesive.
The Benefits of Bonded Fabric
There are many benefits to the bonded fabric. Below are listed some of these benefits and several
examples of how the process works.
Benefits
Some quilters enjoy doing projects out of bonded fabric because it makes piecing challenging
and exciting rather than monotonous. – Quilters also enjoy this project for its durability
compared to regular fabric. -Bonded fabrics are fantastic for bags, purses, wallets, totes, etc.,
due to their lasting nature and waterproof ability (perfect for wet clothes). -Many other craft
projects use bonded fabric, including appliques, quilted garments, etc.
Bonded fabrics are difficult to rip or tear, providing long-lasting durability in any project. Most
notably, when using bonded fabric, you reduce the time spent working with frustrating pins and
needles (Source: Mary, 2022).
2.2. Fiber requirements

Fiber characteristics influence not only nonwoven fabric properties but also processing
performance. Web cohesion, fiber breakage, and web weight uniformity are the key quality
parameters and are influenced by fiber diameter, fiber length, fiber tensile properties, fiber finish,
and crimp. The properties of nonwoven fabrics are largely dependent on fiber properties and
fabric structural geometry (Source: Nazan Avcioglu Kalebek and Osman Babaarslan, 2016)
How to Choose the Right Fiber for Your Nonwovens
Manufacturers who wish to use nonwoven fabrics for their products have a wide range of fiber
options. For some applications, natural fibers like cotton are a good choice, but for others, a
synthetic fiber such as polyester, might provide better attributes. When selecting fibers, it is
important to consider the characteristics of a given fiber in light of the characteristics you want
your final product to have.

Strength of a Nonwoven Fiber

When your product needs to be strong and durable, synthetic fibers offer high tensile strength.
High strength synthetic fibers can be blended with weaker fibers to create a rugged bicomponent
fiber nonwoven. Polyester filament or a polyester blend fiber provide excellent strength since
polyester nonwovens are high density.
Temperature Resistance of a Nonwoven Fiber
When your nonwoven product needs to have resistance to temperature, good fibers to choose
include: cotton, rayon, polyester, and blends. Chemical bonding is also an effective way to
develop temperature resistant nonwovens. The process of chemical bonding involves the
application of a chemical binder to join polyester and rayon fibers to create beneficial
characteristics to nonwovens, including temperature resistance.
Resistance to Shrinking or Stretching
For nonwovens that need to retain their shape, without shrinking, stretching, or creasing,
polyester fibers are an excellent choice. Chemical bonding and bicomponent fibers can also be
useful in creating characteristics such as resistance to washing or dry cleaning, resistance to
aging, as well as superior flexibility and handling.
Absorbency of a Nonwoven Fiber
For excellent absorption and release, with a high degree of comfort and softness, cotton fiber is a
great choice. Natural fibers, rayon filament and rayon blend are derived from wood pulp, and
offer high absorbency, softness, and comfortable finish. Nonwoven cotton and nonwoven rayon
are great choices for hygienic products such as feminine items, diapers, and personal wipes.
When durability is important – for products like cleaning wipes – other types of fibers can be
treated or blended to create a hydrophilic nonwoven.
Sustainability of a Nonwoven Fiber
If sustainability is a priority to you as a manufacturer, natural fibers are a responsible choice.
While natural fibers are assumed to be more expensive, they can be made in a way that makes
them very cost competitive with synthetic fiber products. Choosing a supplier that is experienced
in developing environmentally friendly nonwovens is important. Regulations concerning the
environment have led many manufacturers in a variety of industries to switch from synthetic
fiber nonwovens to compostable or biodegradable fiber environmentally friendly and sustainable
nonwovens (Source: WPT Nonwovens Corporation, 2021).

2.3. Web Formation and Effect on Its Nonwoven Properties
The web formation in nonwoven production is a critical contributor of the end-use product
performance. There are three basic methods of web formation: dry laid; wet laid; and polymer
laid. The latter one classified as spun laid and melt blown web formations which are particularly
applicable for synthetic polymers. Fibers must be placed in a loose sheet structure called web
forming. There are three web forming processes: dry laid, wet laid, and melt spun (Source; H.
Charles Allen, Jr.,1998). The web formation had a major effect on its nonwoven properties. The
different types of webs can be classified as shown in Figure 4:
Figure 5: Types of Webs and their Forming Techniques
STAPLE FIBER WEBS
2.3.1. Dry-laid web formation
Dry-laid web formation is one of the old techniques and is very similar to the felting process. For
the production of dry-laid web, carding machines and web lappers are used to layer the fibrous

batt. The fibrous web layers are subsequently felted using heat, moisture, and agitation. These
materials may be of natural or synthetic polymer composition and can be processed alone or in
blends. Carded webs are produced from either short-staple fiber (20–60 mm) or long-staple fiber
(50–150 mm). The dry-laid web formation technique, such as fiber preparation, blending,
carding, and garnering are innovations of the textile industry. These processes prepare staple
fibers, blend them, and layer the fiber batt in a dry state. In dry-laid web formation, the fibers are
collected into a web form by parallel lapping, cross-lapping, or aerodynamic (air-laid) lap
forming and then bonded by means of mechanical needles, hydro-entanglement, chemical
adhesives, and thermal bonding methods.
Raw material: Cotton fiber, synthetic Fiber, Viscose fiber, Short cotton fiber.
Four Phases of the Dry-Laid Manufacturing System
Dry laid webs are mainly produced using staple fibers, natural or manmade. Dry laid webs
formation mainly consists of 4 steps as mentioned below
Figure 6: Dry Laid Webs Formation Steps
Fiber Selection
Some of the factors to be considered in the selection of Fibers for dry-laid nonwovens are:
 Absorbency
 Abrasion resistance
 Bursting strength
 Permeability
 Softness and tear resistance in the fabric

Fiber Preparation: Staple Fibers are shipped to the manufacturer in the form of bales and fiber
preparation consists of mechanical and pneumatic processes of handling from the bale to the
point where the fiber is introduced into the web-forming machine. The following processes are
included in a typical fiber preparation line:
Bale opening
The bales are unstrapped and placed side-by-side in line with the milling head of a bale opener.
The Fibers are picked up from the top of the bales by two opening rolls in conjunction with a
partial air vacuum. The opening head traverses back and forth across the bale laydown, starting
and stopping on demand from the blending hopper. This ensures maximum efficiency and
blending. The objective of an opening line is to reduce the size of fiber tufts from the bale to the
chute feed, which supplies the web forming machine.
Blending
The blending feeders gently open the tufts of Fibers by the interaction of an inclined needle
lattice apron and an evener roller equipped with needles. Blending of the tufts from different
bales also takes place in the opening and mixing achieved by the inclined apron and the evener
roller. The opened tufts are deposited into a weigh pan controlled by load cells which dump the
Fibers onto a feed conveyor.
Coarse opening
The blending conveyor feeds fiber into an opening roll, which has a three-lag pin beater
(Kirschner beater type) where coarse opening of the fiber tufts takes place.
Fine opening
The fiber opened by the opening roll is transported by air to the feed box of the fine opener. The
fine opener consists of two opening rolls, one evener roll and a cylinder roll all of which are
wound with metallic clothing. The opener reduces the tuft size by using the principle of carding
points between rolls A and B and between rolls B and C. The reduced tufts are transferred to the
cylinder roll D which delivers the opened fiber into an air stream to the web-former.

Figure 7:Micro Tuft Opener
Web-former feeding
The feed system to the web-forming machine is selected based on the type of fiber and the type
of web-former. Chute feeding is normally used to feed Fibers up to 60 millimeters in length. For
longer Fibers, a hopper feed with a shaker-type chute isused.
Web formation and layering: The dry-web process for making a nonwoven consists of
basically three methods:
a. Mechanical web formation (carding or garnetting)

Carding
The main objectives of carding are to separate small tufts into individual Fibers, to begin the
process of parallelization and to deliver the Fibers in the form of aweb. The principle of carding
is the mechanical action in which the Fibers are held by one surface while the other surface
combs the Fibers causing individual fiber separation. At its center is a large rotating metallic
cylinder covered with card clothing. The card clothing is comprised of needles, wires, or fine
metallic teeth embedded in a heavy cloth or in a metallic foundation. The cylinder is partly
surrounded by an endless belt of a large number of narrow, cast iron flats positioned along the
top of the cylinder. The top of the cylinder may be covered by alternating rollers and stripper

rolls in a roller-top card, also. The Fibers are fed by a chute or hopper and condensed into the
form of a lap or batting. This is initially opened into small tufts by a licker-in, which feeds the
Fibers to the cylinder. The needles of the two opposing surfaces of the cylinder and flats or the
rollers are inclined in opposite directions and move at different speeds. The main cylinder moves
faster than the flats and, due to the opposing needles and difference in speeds, the fiber clumps
are pulled and teased apart. In the roller-top card the separation occurs between the worker roller
and the cylinder. The stripping roller strips the larger tufts and deposits them back on the
cylinder. The Fibers are aligned in the machine direction and forms a coherent web below the
surface of the needles of the main cylinder. The web is doffed from the surface of cylinder by a
doffer roller and deposited on a moving belt. The orientation ratio of the web at the doffer of a
conventional card is approximately 5:1. Productivity of older roller cards is about 30-50 kg/hour
at the width of 1.5~2m. Nowadays, the roller cards of performance up to 1000kg/hour in width
2~3.5m are delivered. Flat carding machines are usually 1m wide and process about
5~50kg/hour.
Garnett
Garnetts are similar to roller-top cards. R.L. Street has described the garnett as "a group of rolls
placed in an order that allows a given wire configuration, along with certain speed relationships,
to level, transport, comb and interlock Fibers to a degree that a web is formed."[2] Garnetts are
mostly used to process waddings and for making pads for automobile and bedding industries. It
delivers a more random web than a card. Most webs from garnetts are layered by crosslapping to
build up the desired finished nonwoven weight.
b. Aerodynamic web formation (air-lay)
The orientation created by carding is effectively improved by capturing Fibers on a screen from
an air-stream. This is done on a Rando-Webber component. Starting with a lap or plied card
webs fed by a feed roller, the Fibers are separated by a licker-in or spiked roller and introduced
into an air-stream. The total randomization excludes any preferred orientation when the Fibers
are collected on the condenser screen. The web is delivered to a conveyor for transporting to the
bonding area. Feeding of the Rando-Webber by the cards increases the uniformity of the web.
The length of Fibers used in air-laying varies from 2 to 6 cm. The shorter lengths allow higher
production speeds. Longer Fibers require higher air volume, i.e., a lower fiber density to avoid

tangling. Problems associated with air-laying are speed, web uniformity and weight limitations.
Due to uniformity problems, it has not been practical to make isotropic webs lighter than
30g/m2. Air-laying is slower than carding and, hence, more expensive.
c. Centrifugal dynamic web formation (random card)
The centrifugal dynamic random card forms a web by throwing off Fibers from the cylinder onto
a doffer with fiber inertia, which is subject to centrifugal force in proportion to the square of the
rotary speed. Orientation in the web is threedimensional and is random or isotropic. The random
card produces a 12 to 50 g/ m2 web with fine Fibers of 1.5 den and a web up to 100 g/m2 with
coarse Fibers. The production of the random card is generally about 30 to 50% higher than
conventional cards. The machine direction versus the cross-direction strength is better than those
produced in the conventional card, but not as good as that of the air-laid webs. The number of
machines required in the nonwovens line for the production of multi-layered webs can be
reduced by the use of the random card. The broad scope of adaptability of the random card for
producing a wide range of nonwovens has led to innovations in this method (Source: Textile
Industry Education, Xiao Gao and Hsu-Yeh Huang).
Application of dry-laid
▪ Diapers ▪ Tampons
▪ Baby wipes ▪ Adult Incontinence Products
▪ Feminine Napkins ▪ Medical textile
2.3.2. WET-LAID WEBS
Wet-laid web formation: Wet-laid forming, which can be regarded as being analogous to
conventional papermaking processes but with use of chopped synthetic or staple fibers, continues
to draw attention as an advantageous way to prepare advanced nonwoven textile products. The
wet-laid web forming system is designed to fabricate short fibers dispersed in liquid, which are
subsequently layered. The wet-laid method is specifically suitable for the large scale production
of disposable products, such as tea bags, aprons, gloves, napkins, and surgical gauze. The wet-
laid web forming technique is similar to paper making technique. The fibers are dispersed in
water and then laid on a wire mesh to filter the liquid and form a web, which is transferred to a
drying Felt before finally being heat cured in a continues process. This produces a web in which
fibers are randomly oriented. These webs are then superimposed on one another in a parallel

fashion; hence it is termed as wet-laid parallel-laid webs. It is the combing of the web that is
directional, not the fibers within each web.
Figure 8: principle of wet laid web formation
Raw Material: A wide range of natural, wood pulp, mineral, synthetic and man-made fibers of
varying lengths can be used such as glass, polyester, polyamide, and regenerated fiber.
There are three characteristic stages in the manufacture of nonwoven bonded fabrics by the wet-
laid method.
• Swelling and dispersion of the fiber in water; transport of the suspension on a continuous
traveling screen;
• Continuous web formation on the screen as a result of filtration;
• Drying and bonding of the web
Whether or not a fibre is suitable for use in the web process depends on its ability to disperse in
an aqueous medium. The dispersion behavior of a fiber depends largely on the following factors:
• the degree of fineness calculated from the length and thickness of the fiber
• the stiffness of the fiber in an aqueous medium (web modified)
• the kind of crimping

• the wettability
• the cutting quality of the fiber
Wet-laid parallel-laid webs accounts 15% of web production and are produced on modified
paper machines. The advantages of low cost and high production rates are offset by the
limitations of fiber length (this technique is only successful with short fibers) and the papery
handle of the web. The wet laying technique is particularly appropriate for large scale production
of a particular quality in order to be economical. The strength of the random oriented web is
rather similar in all directions in the plane of the fabric. A wide range of natural, mineral,
synthetic and man-made fibers of varying lengths can be used. Disposable end products include
handkerchiefs, napkins, aprons, gloves, tea bags and surgical gauzes. While more durable
applications include interlinings, filter cloths and carpet under laying(Source: Milin Patel &
Dhruvkumar Bhrambhatt DTT, BE In Textile Technology) .
Special features of the wet-laid process and its products
Compared to the dry web-making processes (carding, aerodynamic and spun web methods) the
distinctive features of the wet method are its high productivity and wide range of application. It
is used for special papers, conventional wet-laid fabrics and wet-laids made from inorganic
fibers.
• Since short fibers are required the web structure is closer, stiffer and less strong than in
comparable web made from longer, curled fibers in dry processes. Special treatment is necessary
to achieve comparable textile properties.
• Single or multi-layered products can be made and reinforcement of the web with a layer
of threads can be applied, but in a continuous process on only one machine.
• The fibers in the web may be randomly or longitudinally arranged.
• The GSM can be varied within broad limits.
Examples of end uses of wet-laids

Applications: Filter paper, Tea Bag Fabric, Napkin, Surgical gauze. Wet-laid crepe papers are
used for a wide variety of different application fields, especially in the hygiene market and in
disposable nonwovens for medical/surgical purposes. They can be used for wet wipes for
spectacles; wet toilet paper; dental crepe; disinfection towels; perfumed towels; cleaning towels
and many more. Wet-laid nonwovens are also significant in filtration textiles; the products
include micro-glass paper, tea bags and coffee filters. Wet-laid nonwoven fabric can be used for
battery separators. Nylon 66 staple wet-laid nonwovens have high surface tension, compatibility
with hydrophilic finishes, low count per filament, high dye affinity and high melting and
softening points ( Source: EiTex Lecture Note).
2.4. Web laying – Types
Web formations can be made into the desired web structure by the layering of the webs from
either the card or garnett. Layering can be accomplished in several ways to reach the desired
weight and web structure.
 Longitudinal Layering: PARALLEL-LAID WEBS, Several carding machines are placed

one behind another in a long line. The web from the first card is allowed to fall on a
conveyor which runs along the full length of the production line underneath the cards. As
the web from the first card passes from the second card, the web from second card is
superimposed upon it. This process is repeated along the line until a fleece of the correct
mass per unit area is achieved. The parallel laid web system is used extensively in the
production of fleeces for relative light weight adhesive bonded nonwovens, such as
cleaning cloths. There are mainly three disadvantages of parallel laid web system viz.
a. Even though some width way stretching of the fleece is possible, it cannot be increased
more than the width of carding machine.
b. The fibers in web lie predominantly in the machine direction which means that the web is
five to six times stronger along its length than across its width.
c. The mass per unit area of the final fleece is limited because it is not economical to use
more than 12 cards.

Figure 9: principle of Parallel-Laid web formation
 Cross layering(most common): The cross laying, the web deposited on an inclined
lattice as it leaves the card and is subsequently laid in cross wise manner on a wider
lattice which is moving in a direction at right angle to the original direction of laying.
This cross layer enables three important characteristics of resulting fleece to be
controlled.
1. The width of the fabric, with cross laid fleece of up to the meters in width being possible.
2. The mass per unit area of the fleece, which is dependent on the take up speed, so that slow
take off allows many layers to be superimposed and produce heavy fabrics, while fast take
off produces fewer layers and a more open zigzag of lay to create lighter fabrics
3. The strength characteristics of the fleece as cross direction than in the machine direction
though the ratio can be varied by altering the angle of lay and the subsequent drafting of the
cross laid fleece.
The cross laid web techniques overcomes the difficulties encountered with parallel laid webs
and has an added advantages. By stretching the cross laid webs the ratio of strengths of the
fleece in the machine and cross directions can be controlled to suit the requirements of the
end product.

Figure 10: principle of dry laid web formation
Randomly laid webs or air laid webs; In alternative means of producing fleeces is offered by
machines using aerodynamic feed of the fibers. In this case, those fibers from a carding
cylinder are carried in air currents and deposited onto a condenser cage, from which they are
drawn off in sheet form. The condenser cage is usually a hollow cylinder formed from a
mesh; this enables it to be drawn through the mesh into the center of cylinder, but fibers into
the air current cannot pass through mesh and is collected on a surface. The air or random
laying techniques allows fabrics with a wide range of mass per unit area to be produced, in
which fiber orientation can be made very much more random than is the case with traditional
web layering. Short fibers can be processed easily, allowing textile waste materials to be used
in nonwovens.
 Randomly-Laid Webs: In alternative means of producing fleeces is offered by machines

using aerodynamic feed of the fibers. In this case, those fibers from a carding cylinder are
carried in air currents and deposited onto a condenser cage, from which they are drawn
off in sheet form. The condenser cage is usually a hollow cylinder formed from a mesh;
this enables it to be drawn through the mesh into the center of cylinder, but fibers into the
air current cannot pass through mesh and is collected on a surface. The air or random
laying techniques allows fabrics with a wide range of mass per unit area to be produced,
in which fiber orientation can be made very much more random than is the case with
traditional web layering. Short fibers can be processed easily, allowing textile waste

materials to be used in nonwovens. Random laid webs are made as a single layer and are
claimed to have equal properties in all directions. However they are the most expansive
to produce, when compared to parallel laid webs, which are the cheapest and cross laid
webs, which lie between the two from the production cost point of view.
Figure 11: Principle of Randomly-Laid Webs Formation
Continuous Filament Webs
There are mainly two types of continuous filament webs viz.
1. spun-laid webs
2. Melt blown webs
 SPUN-LAID WEBS: In this technique, a melt solution of a fiber forming polymer is

extruded through a systems of spinnerets in a high velocity current of air or other gas.
The fibers formed are deposited on to a support, which may be conveyor, a scrim (a very
open weave fabric) or screen drum (condenser cage), to form a web. If necessary the
extruded filaments are drawn and internally oriented prior to web formation, either by
rollers or high velocity air current, in order to increase their strength. The support than
carries the web to a bonding stage where consolidation of web occurs. Spun laid fabrics
tend to have low bulk and high tensile and tearing strength. This leads to numerous
industrial applications such as protective clothing, filters, packaging and geotextiles.

Figure 12. Technique of spun-laid web formation
 MELT BLOWN WEBS: These are produced initially in the same manner as spun-laid
webs. With polymer extruded through the holes in a spinneret into a high velocity current
of air. The difference between these two methods is an increased force used the current
which breaks the filaments rather than just drawing them to produce staple fibers of
varying lengths, Thus consequently not a true continuous filament web(Source: Milin
Patel & Dhruvkumar Bhrambhatt DTT, BE In Textile Technology) .
2.5. Quality control of web.
It has become very important for nonwoven industry to develop solutions regarding the quality
of products. Effective monitoring and control, better data predictions, quick response to query is
necessary for effective Quality Control. Quality may be defined by the sum of all those attributes
which can lead to the production of products acceptable to the consumer when they are
combined and one such important attribute is the defects or the faults in the fabric. Thus keeping
fabric defects to a minimum is of prime importance from a quality perspective. A process quality
control system includes testing & inspecting of fabric, analysing the observations so made and
then making the decisions to improve the performance of the system. The qualities of the web
very significantly depend on the type and level of defects on the nonwoven fabrics. Defects in

Nonwovens: Some of the common defects obtained in the Nonwovens are described in Table 2..
They are illustrated in Figure 12
Table 2: Common Defects in NonWoven Fabrics(Source: Krishma Suresh Desai,2016)
Name of Defect Description Name of Defect Description

Eye brows Stretching or folds in fabric
Drops / bond point fusion Fused fibres on surface
Pinholes Very small holes in fabric
Thinspots Low density of fibres in a particular area
Wrinkles Wrinkle formation
Hard filaments Fused filaments on surface
Insects Trapping of insects in web/fabric
Monomer / polymer Drips Formation of spots on surface by droppings of monomer /
polymer
Holes Holes in fabric/ web
External Contamination / Dirt Contamination due to external factors like dust, dirt, etc
Oil contamination Contamination due to oil on surface of fabric
Melt-blown fly Drip in melt blown fabrics
Broken Filaments Cut marks due to calendaring
Scratch Scratches in web/fabric
Clumps Compact mass of fibres
Blowback Fibres in opposite direction of normal orientation
Un-bonded web Loose fibres in web
Rough Fabrics Surface of fabric is uneven
Streaks Thin line marks in fabric
Bad uniformity Uneven fabric
Spills Coming out of fibres/lump of fibres from the surface

Figure 13. : Defects in Nonwovens (Source: Krishma Suresh Desai,2016)

Exercise
1. What does it mean the term bonded fabrics? How bonded fabrics did was produced? As a
Textile Engineer, in which applications areas are you recommended to used boned fabric? Why?
2. Compare and contrast the three main routes to web forming techniques i.e, dry-laid system,
wet-laid system and polymer-based system based on their Raw materials, Web-forming process
technology and Bonding systems?
3. What does it mean bonding agents in nonwoven manufacturing technology? As textile

professional, what are desired properties to be considered during Bonding Agent selection
process? Which characteristics (features) of nonwoven fabrics decided by your selection of
bonding agent?
4. The binder properties can be modified considerably by the presence of co-monomers.

Different of type’s binders which provides relative performance are used in nonwoven
technology. Compare different of type’s chemical binders based on their advantages and
disadvantages in nonwoven industries?
5. Schematically explain the general production steps for nonwoven fabric manufacturing.
6. Schematically explain dry-laid web formations in nonwoven sector? What type fibers mainly
used in dry liad web formation? Staple or filament fibers? natural or manmade fibers? Why?
7. Schematically explain wet-laid web nonwovens from? Distinguish wet-laid nonwovens from
wet-laid papers? What type fibers mainly used in wet-laid web formation? Natural or manmade
fibers? Why?
8. Compared wet-laid process and dry web-making processes in terms of their productivity and
wide range of application?
9. Diagrammatically explain the types of web laying technique in nonwoven manufacturing

processes?
10. List out the common types of defects in with their possible cause non-woven fabrics?
11. What are the basic difference between spun-laid webs and melt blown web in continuous
filament webs?

CHAPTER THREE: NON-WOVEN FABRIC FORMING TECHNIQUES
Nonwoven manufacturing techniques is basically a continuous process in which the web laying
and web bonding are performed by two consecutive machines. In general, the nonwoven
formation processes consists of two basic steps, web formation followed by bonding. The web
formation in nonwoven production is a critical contributor of the end-use product performance.
There are three basic methods of web formation: dry laid; wet laid; and polymer laid. The latter
one classified as spun laid and melt blown web formations which are particularly applicable for
synthetic polymers. There are three basic types of bonding: chemical, thermal, and mechanical.
The natural fiber webs can be successfully bonded by mechanical process without any additives.
Additional binder polymer or synthetic fiber is required for the chemical or thermal bonding. The
production of nonwovens takes place 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 time.
The three stages as shown in Figure below (Source: https://www.edana.org/nw-related-
industry/how-are-nonwovens-made):
Figure 14. How are nonwovens made? (Source: edana.org).
3.1. Mechanical bonding
In mechanical bonding the strengthening of the web is achieved by inter-fibre friction as a result
of the physical entanglement of the fibres. There are two main types of mechanical bonding:
Needlepunching, specially designed needles are pushed and pulled through the web to entangle
the fibres. Mechanical Bonded Fabrics essentially involves the strengthening of webs through the
physical entanglement of fibres. Mechanical methods include needlepunching, hydroentangling
and stitch bonding. Mechanical bonding is when the fibres are not altered by either heat or
chemicals and are instead bonded by an alternate method. Hydro-Entanglement bonding (also
called spun lace), bonds the fibers by mechanically intertwining the fibres with water jets.
Similar to spunlace there is also needle punching/needle felting which uses needles to intertwine
the fibers as opposed to the water jets. Also, there is ultrasonic pattern bonding for use in
materials that need to be a bit softer than other non-wovens (Source: Basics of Textiles,2020).
Figure 15. Mechanical Bonded Non-Woven Fabric (Source: Basics of Textiles, 2020).
3.1.1. Bonded Fabric Production by Mechanical Bonding
The term mechanical bonding is taken to mean the bonding together of fibers in the web either
by felting or fulling, using pressure, heat, moisture and mechanically or by using needles and the
jets of air and water. The webs can also be reinforced by working in threads or fabric e.g. layer
of threads, woven or knitted fabrics, spun web or a film.
Mechanical Bonding Types
 Stitch Bonding

 Needle Punch Technique

 Hydro-Entanglement
3.1.2. Needling Punched Non- Woven
Needle punching is the oldest method of producing nonwoven products. The first needle
punching loom in U.S. was made by James Hunter machine co. in 1948. Then in 1957, James
Hunter produced the first high speed needle loom, the Hunter model 8 which is still used today.
Needle punching is a nonwoven process by which the fibres are mechanically entangled to
produce a nonwoven fabric by repeated penetration of barbed needles through a preformed dry
fibrous web. The machine which accomplishes this process is known as needle loom. Figure 3.1
displays the schematic diagram of a needle loom. The fibrous web, which is unbonded and
therefore thick and voluminous, is fed to the machine by a pair of feed rollers. It then goes to the
working zone of the machine and passes in-between a pair of perforated bed plates. The needles
are arranged in a needle board in width-wise rows. The needle board is mounted on a beam
which is given an up and down reciprocating motion by means of an eccentric crank mechanism.
In the down stroke mode, the needles descend through the perforations of the top bed plate,
through the web, and through the perforations of the bottom bed plate. During the upstroke, the
barbed needles withdraw upwards and the bed plate strips the web off the needles. As a result,
the fibres are mechanically interlocked, thereby providing the mechanical strength. The needle
bonded nonwoven is delivered by a pair of delivery rollers. Needles are the heart of the
needlepunching process. The schematic diagram of a typical needle is shown in Figure 3.2. As
shown, a needle has the following parts: crank, shank, taper, blade, barb, and point. The shank
locates in the hole in the needleboard and the crank is clamped between upper surface of the
needleboard and the needlebeam, thus holding it firmly and vertically aligned in the loom.
Traditionally, the cross-section of a needle is triangular and carries a total of nine barbs, three per
apex. The dimensions of the barbs and their relative arrangement vary depending on the
application and machine operation.
In general, the nonwoven industry uses two types of needles, known as single reduction needle
and double reduction needle. The single reduction needle has two sections, shank and blade. But
the double reduction needle has an intermediate section in-between the shank and the blade. This

is a transition stage between the different diameters of the shank and the blade. The single
reduction needle is much stiffer than the double reduction needle. The single reduction needle is
usually made only for coarser gauge needles. The single reduction needle is used for stiff fibres
(waste fibres, shoddy, etc.) (Source: https://www.summaryplanet.com/engineering/Mechanical-
Bonding-Processes.html; Milin Patel & Dhruvkumar Bhrambhatt DTT, BE In Textile
Technology).
The needle punch webs offer a wide range of product characteristics such as:-
1. Unique physical property. I.e. elongation in all (x, y, &z) directions for mould able
applications.
2. Ability to attach layers of different types of fiber webs to produce composites
3. High opacity per unit area.
4. High strength makes them overwhelming choice for geotextiles fabrics.
The needle punching system is used to bond dry laid and spun laid webs. The needle punched
fabrics are produced when barbed needles are pushed through a fibrous cross laid web forcing
some fibers through the web, where they remain when the needles are withdrawn. The needles
are normally triangular in cross section. The three barbs on each three corners, at different
distance along the edge. The figure illustrates the main parts of needle punching machine. If
sufficient fibers are suitably displaced the web is converted into a fabric by the consolidating
effect of these fibers plugs or tufts. This action occurs in needle punching machines where a
board usually containing several thousand barbed needles, in reciprocated at speed of around
2000 strokes per minute, depending on the machine width. This action normally occurs in
vertical direction and some machines may have two sets of needles, one operating downwards
and other upwards, so that both sides of web are needled (Source: Milin Patel & Dhruvkumar
Bhrambhatt DTT, BE In Textile Technology)..

Figure 16. Principle of Needlepunching nonwoven process
(Source:https://www.summaryplanet.com/engineering/Mechanical-Bonding-Processes.html).
3.1.3. Stitched Bonding Technology
Stitch-bonding is a process by which fibre webs and/or yarns are bonded together by stitching
with continuous filament or staple yarn, creating a series of loops that hold the web together.
Stitch bond is a non-woven construction where the fabric is formed by stitching or knitting the
fibres to form a fabric with the appearance of a knit fabric. However, in the most common cases
it involves warp knitting of yarns through a fibrous mat. It can also be knitted by fibres without
yarns or knitting of yarns around laid warp and filling yarns which do not interlace with each
other. Stitched bonding invariably uses a cross-laid web, which is fed directly to the stitch
bonder in a continuous process. The machine used in stitched bonding is basically a modified
warp knitting machine which bonds the fabric by knitting columns of stitches down the length of
the web. In some cases, the web is fed initially to a needle puncher to achieve a light needling
operation (known as tacking), before the rolls of fleece are passed to a stitched board. Tacking
enables the fleece to unroll easily and improves the mechanical interlocking between the fibers.
This is of vital importance because a very serious shortcoming of many stitch bonded fabrics is
that under heavy or sever use, they tend to lose fibers from the mobility of the knitted structure
cannot provide sufficient anchorage of the fiber in the fleece. Other steps minimize this
weakness include the use of fibers of longer staple length and the inclusion of some relatively
low melting point fibers, which can provide additional bonding during subsequent heat setting.

The Mali watt stitch bonder is shown in figure. The web is fed to the machine in vertical
direction via a lattice arrangement. During stitch bonding it is normally supported, while the
needles contained to the needle bar penetrates the web, when the needle emerges through the
web, the yarn guides lay threads into the open hook and, as the needle retract, the hook Is closed
by the tough. The closed needle draws the new loop through the previous off course which is
held round the needle stream. Course spacing during knitting is largely governed by the take-up
tension applied to the fabric by the take-up roller (Source: https://www.ntf.uni-lj.si/toi/wp-
content/uploads/sites/7/2021/01/chapter-x-and-xi-stitch-bonding.pdf)..
Figure 17. Principle of Stitched Bonding Technology nonwoven process
(Source: https://www.ntf.uni-lj.si/toi/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2021/01/chapter-x-and-xi-stitch-
bonding.pdf).

3.1.4. Water-Jet Consolidation
Hydroentanglement, spunlacing, hydraulic entanglement, and water jet needling are

synonymous terms describing the process of mechanically bonding the fibres in a web by means
of high energy water jets. The machine which accomplishes this is known as hydroentanglement
or spunlace machine. The basic elements of this machine are shown in Figure 3.10. A series of
multiple high pressure columnar water jets is produced by pumping water through a series of fine
nozzles in a jet strip clamped into an injector (manifold). The high velocity water jets are
directed to the unbonded web, which is supported on a moving perforated conveyor. The
conveyor may have a flat bed surface or cylindrical surface. The entanglement among the fibres
is introduced by the combined effects of the incident water jets and the turbulent water created in
the web which intertwines neighbouring fibres. The conveyor sleeve being permeable enables
most of the de-energised water to be drawn into the vacuum box for recycling and reuse.
Selection of fibres
Both natural fibres and synthetic fibres are used in hydroentanglement process. The wood pulp is
often blended with staple fibres and used in hydroentanglement process. Viscose fibre has been
found to be mostly used. The important fibre properties for this process have been fibre flexural
rigidity and fibre hydrophilicity. Viscose rayon has a low wet modulus and this partly explains
the ease with which this fibre can be hydroentangled as compared to polypropylene fibres that
have higher modulus. As the coarser fibres offer higher flexural rigidity as compared to the finer
fibres, the former require more hydroentagling energy as compared to the latter in order to have
the same degree of bonding. Effective hydroentanglement requires uniform and rapid wetting of
the web. That is why the manmade fibres are often treated with hydrophilic finishes before
hydroentanglement.
Critical process factors: The critical process factors of the hydroentanglement process are
specific energy and jet impact force. Specific energy is defined as the energy expended per unit
time for unit mass of fabric processed per unit time. As the hydroenglement process deals with
transfer of kinetic energy from the water jets to the web, the specific energy is very important in
deciding the degree of bonding of fibres.

Figure 18. Principle of Hydroentanglement process nonwoven
(Source:https://www.summaryplanet.com/engineering/Mechanical-Bonding-Processes.html).
As shown in Fig. 17, the hydro-entangling process consists of following four steps:-
1. The nonwoven web is passed through an image processing device (described by red color)
which typically imparts a final pattern to the web.
2. Now, the web is passed through a three nozzle (water jet) assemblies (described by blue color)
at a liner speed of approximately 35 yards per minute and an entangling pressure of 150 bar to
carry out entangling of fibers.
3. After hydroentangling, the web is passed through an application station (described by green
color) where polymeric binder composition is applied to the web.
4. Than the web is passed through a series of drying rollers (described by orange color) arranged
one above the other which are operated at around 3100C. With this the manufacturing of
nonwoven fabric is completed.

3.1.4. Factors Influencing the Properties
The mechanical properties of nonwovens depend on the constructional parameters of the web
(the basic structure element of the web, the fibres' composition and orientation, the method of
web production), and the type of web bonding and finishing. The selection of needle such as
number of needles per unit width of needleboard is very important for getting good quality
nonwoven a fabric for needle punching is a nonwoven process. Also, the fiber web advance per
stroke, the rate of production, and the number of punches per unit time are significantly influence
the properties of nonwoven. Likewise, the important fiber properties for the hydroentanglement
process have been fiber flexural rigidity and fiber hydrophilicity. The structure and the
performance of stitched bonded fabrics are affected by a large number of variables, some of
which are controllable, for instance web area density, fiber characteristics and course spacing.
Mail watt machines are used to produce certain drapes, mattress thinking and fabrics for
automotive industry, such as surface covers for various molded components, parcel shelves and
headliners. Other types of machines are available for the production of specialized fabrics such
as medical and electrical products.
3.1.5. Applications.
Table 3: Applications of Mechanical Boing Nonwoven Manufacturing Techniques
Types Mechanical Bonding Applications

Needling punched nonwoven Today the needle-bonded nonwovens are finding a wide
variety of applications, including geosynthetics, filter media,
synthetic leather, waddings and paddings, floor coverings,
automotive fabrics, insulation, blankets, wipes, roofing, etc.
Stitched Bonding Technology Maliwatt – applications:
• Soft furnishings, upholstery fabrics for mattresses and

camping chairs, blankets,
• Transportation cloth,

• cleaning cloths, fabrics for hygiene and sanitarypurposes,
• Secondary carpet backing,
• Lining fabrics, interlining for shoes and apparel,
• Adhesive tapes (e.g., those used for harnessing electric

cables in automobiles),
• Velcro-type fasteners,
• Laminating fabrics, coating substrate,
• Insulating materials,
• Geotextiles, filter fabrics,
• Composites and flame-retardant fabrics

Malivlies– applications:
• Threadless textile manufactured without any additional

binding
• The loops, which connect the fibrous fabric, are made from
the fibres of the fabric itself
Water-Jet Consolidation The hydroentangled nonwovens are used in a wide variety of
applications, including wipes, surgical fabrics, medical gauge,
filter cloths, artificial leather, automotive fabrics, linings and
clothes, etc.
3.2. Chemical Bonding

Chemical bonding allows nonwovens to be designed for specific and demanding requirements in
a variety of industries and applications. The process of chemical bonding involves the
application of a “chemical binder” to join polyester and rayon fibers to impart unique and

beneficial characteristics to nonwovens. In Chemical bonding process interlocking of fibers are

take place by the application of a chemical binder. The most frequently used chemical binder are
water-borne latex. Latex binders are made from vinyl materials, such as polyvinylacetate,
polyvinylchloride, styrene/butadiene resin, butadiene, and polyacrylic. Chemical binders are
applied to webs in amounts ranging from about 5% to as much as 60% by weight(Source:
http://textilepoints.blogspot.com/, 2016).
3.2.1. Chemical Bonding

Adhesive Bonding or Chemical Bonding: In adhesive bonding, the fibers in the web are bound
together by a bonding agent. A substance consisting of the same polymer as the fibers, or a
different one is used to create bond between fibers of the same polymer. The bond is a result of
the combination of physical and chemical forces which acts on the boundary layer between the
two polymers. Chemical bonding allows nonwovens to be designed for specific and demanding
requirements in a variety of industries and applications. The process of chemical bonding
involves the application of a “chemical binder” to join polyester and rayon fibers to impart
unique and beneficial characteristics to nonwovens(Source: WPT Nonwovens,2019).
Figure 19. Principle of chemical bonding process for nonwoven manufacturing
A variety of useful nonwoven characteristics are offered through chemical bonding. Chemical
bonded nonwoven attributes vary depending on the binder used. Common characteristics sought
for chemical bonded nonwoven fabrics include:
• Strength

• Resistance to Washing or Drying Cleaning

• Resistance to Aging
• Color Retention and Fade Resistance
• Flexibility and Handling
• Flame Resistance
• Temperature Resistance
3.2.2. Binder Polymers and Bonding Technologies

Chemical bonding agents are used particularly when the fabric is question is to be used in
clothing. With present day technology chemical bonding does not seem the logical wav of
binding such web. The fibre to fibre adhesion is far from good. Although the fibres that go to
make the product are in themselves strong, the composite strength is very low. Many bonding
agents lose their effect with ageing or if exposed to moisture. For more than four decades, almost
all nonwovens required a chemical binder in order to provide any measure of structural integrity.
In addition, the binder was called upon to contribute and convey numerous properties that were
necessary for the effective performance of the fabric. During this extended period, binders were
essentially the weak element in developing fully acceptable nonwoven fabrics. The fibers that
were available to the nonwoven industry were the same fibers that were available to the textile
and other fiber-based industries; hence, the fibers were fully acceptable. Generally, the binder
limited the performance of the nonwoven fabric. In the very early stages of nonwovens
development, different types of natural resins and glues were used to bond nonwovens. While
they conveyed some integrity and strength to these webs, they also had many glaring
deficiencies. Consequently, synthetic binders were developed to meet the structural and
performance requirements of nonwoven fabrics.
Polyvinyl acetate was the first successful synthetic binder used in substantial volume. This
material had distinctly superior adhesive properties, strength, and performance compared to the
early natural adhesives. This binder is flexible and it can be applied to fiber webs by many ways
including print bonding. Typical adhesives used are polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polyvinyl chloride,
polyvinyl acetate and acrylic binders, though the number of binders are available, depending on
the type of fiber and end use it is decided.
Properties Desired in a Binder

The construction of a nonwoven with suitable binders is to achieve improved characteristics such
as strength, softness, adhesion, firmness, durability, stiffness, fire retardence, hydrophilicity,
hydrophobicity, anti-microbial properties, organic compatibility, reduced surface tension,
improved dimensional stability and solvent, wash and acid resistance. The following list
illustrates some general considerations required for an ideal binder. The required properties can
be varied depending on the end-uses.
1. Strength: The strength of a nonwoven fabric is more closely related to the strength of the applied
binder.
2. Adhesion to Fibers: Even though the mechanism of adhesion is not completely understood, the
adhesion strength of the binder-to-fiber bond has to be considered.
3. Resistance to washing/ Drying cleaning: Some nonwoven products need durability in cleaning
processes according to their end-uses.
4. Resistance to aging: The binder should be stable and not be degraded in the fabric during
storage and use.
5. Good color and color retention: Diverse ranges of colors are required, and the colorfastness and
yellowing problems should be considered.
6. Flexibility/handle: The some movements of fibers should be allowed, especially when a soft
hand is desired.
7. Minimum film forming temperature: At this temperature a bonding film will dry without
cracking which will occur if the temperature falls below this point. It can be reduced by adding
softeners or optical brighteners.
8. Economical: Minimizing the cost is an ongoing requirement.
9. Glass or brittle temperature is the average temperature of the range in which the polymer
passes from being hard and brittle to being soft and rubber like. This temperature will give an
indication of the feel, the flexibility and the hardness of bonding film.
10. Other special requirements: Such as Flame resistance, resistance to chemicals, air, oxygen,
light, heat, etc. (Source: M. G. Kamath, Atul Dahiya, Raghavendra R. Hegde, 2004).
Saturation Adhesive Bonding:

Fabrics can be produced by total saturation of the dry laid web of fibers in suitable adhesive. This
is the simplest technique of applying adhesives to such

webs, which are often light weight (under 50 gsm). The webs are immersed in a
bath containing adhesives, where the amount take up by the web is controlled by
the concentration of adhesive in the bath and by the degree of squeezing applied
to the impegrated material. When it passes between two pressure roller and
emerge from the liquor.The saturation technique of adhesive bonding is only
suitable for producing stiff highly compressed fabrics for very open and bulky
product.
Figure 20. Principle of saturation adhesive bonding Source: Milin Patel & Dhruvkumar
Bhrambhatt DTT, BE In Textile Technology)
Spray Adhesive Bonding: The bonding by means of spraying the binders is produced into or
onto the textile structure by means of sprayers arranged above the moving web. The binder is
saturated on the surface layers and does not penetrate far in the structure, which is normally quite
thick. Advantages of adhesive bonding are an exact measure of the amount of binders applied,
uniform binder distribution and a soft fabric handle.

Figure 21. Principle spray adhesive bonding (Source: Milin Patel & Dhruvkumar Bhrambhatt
DTT, BE In Textile Technology)
How Binders Work
The process involves three steps:
 Binder application to nonwoven web.

 Removal moisture or solvent.
 Formation of strong bond between binder and nonwoven web.
3.2.3. Application
Common applications for chemically bonded nonwovens include home furnishing fabrics,
healthcare fabrics, personal hygiene products, packaging materials, acoustical materials, cable
wraps, and more (Source: WPT Nonwovens, 2019) .
3.3. Thermal Bonding
3.3.1. Thermal Bonding Technologies

Thermal bonding is a technique for bonding a web of fibers in which a heat or ultrasonic
treatment, with or without pressure, is used to activate a heat-sensitive material, according to
INDA, the association of the nonwoven fabrics industry. The material may be in the form of

homofil fibers, bicomponent fibers, and fusable powders, as part of the web. The bonding may
be applied all over (e.g. through or area bonding) or restricted to predetermined, discrete sites
(e.g. point bonding)(Source: INDA nonwovens-industry,2022) . The first thermally bonded
nonwovens were produced in 1940s. Initial products used rayon as the carrier fiber and
plasticized cellulose acetate (PCA) or vinyl chloride (PVC) as the binder fiber. The viability of
the thermal bonding process is rooted in the price advantage obtained by lower energy costs.
However, the thermal bonding process also addresses the demanding quality requirements of the
market place. The development of new raw materials, better web formation technologies and
higher production speeds have made thermal bonding a viable process for the manufacture of
both durable and disposable nonwovens. Thermal bonded fabrics are produced by using heat in a
variety of ways, often in addition to other bonding processes.
Thermal bonding is the conglutination of thermoplastic fibers with each other or with other fibers
by means of thermoplastics. Thermoplastic binding fibers can be added during fiber production.
Thermal activation is achieved using hot air (thermofusion) or a calender (thermobonding). The
nonwoven can also be partially bonded ultrasonically. In all processes, the nonwovens are
compacted using a calender. Typical area weights are below 100 g/m2. When a structured roller
is used, the nonwoven obtains an imprint. Thermal bonding process is economical, environment
friendly and 100 % recycling of fibers components can be achieved. In thermal bonding
technique generally hot calendar rollers are used to bind the fibrous sheet.(Source: Mazharul
Islam Kiron,2022). Thermal bonding is a widely-used bonding technology in the nonwovens
industry, especially in spunbond, meltblown, airlay and wetlay manufacturing, as well as with
carded web-formation technologies. Considerable effort has been spent to optimize the web-
formation processes, bonding processes, and feed-fiber properties to achieve the desired end-use
properties while reducing the cost of manufacture.
Principle of Thermal Bonding: Thermal bonding requires a thermoplastic component to be

present in the form of a homofil fiber, powder, film, web, hot melt or as a sheath as part of a
bicomponent fiber. In practice, heat is applied until the thermoplastic component becomes
viscous or melts. The polymer flows by surface tension and capillary action to fiber-to fiber
crossover points where bonding regions are formed. These bonding regions are fixed by
subsequent cooling. In this case, no chemical reaction takes place between the binder and the

base fiber at the bonding sites. When binders melt and flow into and around fiber crossover
points, and into the surface crevices of fibers in the vicinity, an adhesive or mechanical bond is
formed by subsequent cooling. Such an adhesive bond is a physio-chemical bond at the interface
of two dissimilar materials. In the thermal bonding context, a mechanical bond is formed as a
result of thermal shrinkage of the bonding material, which while in the liquid state encapsulates
the fiber crossover points. In contrast, if at the binderfiber interface both components soften or
melt, inter-diffusion and interpenetration of the molecules across the interface can occur and the
interface may disappear. This arises where compatible polymers are present with nearly
comparable solubility parameters. Bonds formed in this way may be called cohesive bonds
(Source: Mazharul Islam Kiron,2022).
Figure 22. Principle of thermal bonding
The different methods of thermal bonding are as follows
Hot calendaring
Belt calendaring
Through-air thermal bonding
Ultrasonic bonding
Radiant-heat bonding, etc.
Hot Calandering

There are three main types of hot calendaring.
Area bonding
Point bonding
Embossing
3.3.2. Factors Influencing the Properties

Thermally bonded fabrics are produced both from entirely thermoplastic materials and from
blends containing fibers that are not intended to soften or flow on heating. The non-binder
component may be referred to as the base fiber component and commercially, a variety of base
fiber types are used. The binder fiber component normally ranges from 5–50% on weight of fiber
depending on the physical property requirements of the final product.
1. Fibers types:
The base fiber contributes to key physical, chemical and mechanical properties of the fabric
derived from the polymer from which it is constituted. This influences dyeing
characteristics, flame resistance, tensile and attritional properties, hydrolytic resistance,
biodegradability amongst many other properties. The commonly used base fibers include natural
fibers (regenerated cellulosic fibers, bast, vegetable and protein fibers such as wool), synthetic
fibers (polyester, polypropylene, acrylic, nylon, aramid and many others), mineral fibers (e.g.,
glass and silica) and metallic fibers. Sometimes the base fiber (carrier fiber) is the core of a
bicomponent fiber, with the sheath component being the binder portion.
2. Binder materials:
Binder components are produced in many different forms including fiber or filament
(homogeneous or bicomponent; sheath/core or side-by-side type melt-bonding fibers), powder,
film, low melt webs, and hot melts. The physical form of the binder affects its distribution
throughout the fiber matrix which has a significant impact on fabric properties. The amount of
binder also plays an important role in determining the properties of the resultant nonwoven
fabric. If the binder content is more than 50% of the total blend the fabric behaves like a
reinforced plastic. At a binder content of 10% the fabric is a bulky, porous and flexible structure

with relatively low strength. To minimise energy costs it is desirable that binder fibers have a
high melting speed, a low melting shrinkage and a narrow melting point range.
3. Bicomponent binder fibers:
Bicomponent fibers and filaments, which are also referred to as conjugate fibers, particularly in
Asia, are composed of at least two different polymer components. They have been commercially
available for years; one of the earliest was a side-by-side fiber called Cantrece developed by
DuPont in the mid-1960s followed by Monsanto’s Monvel, which was a self-crimping
bicomponent fiber used by the hosiery industry during the 1970s. Neither of these fibers was
commercially successful because of complex and expensive manufacturing processes. Later in
1986, commercially successful bicomponent spinning equipment was developed by Neumag, a
producer of synthetic fiber machinery. Use of bicomponent fibers accelerated dramatically in the
early 1990s partly because of the need to uniformly bond the entire thickness of nonwoven
fabrics, which in heavy weight per unit area structures could not be satisfactorily accomplished
by chemical bonding. More recently the market for bicomponent fibers has been greatly
developed by Japan and Korea.
Bicomponent fibers are commonly classified by the structure of their cross-section as side-by-
side, sheath-core, island in the sea or segmented pie. Of these, the side-by-side and sheath-core
arrangements are relevant for thermal bonding applications (Source: Mazharul Islam
Kiron,2022).
3.3.3. Applications.
Some of the Applications of Thermal Bonded Nonwoven.(Source: Mazharul Islam Kiron,2022):
1. Cover stock, medical and sanitary webs 7. Industrial textiles

2. Interlining 8. Coating substrates
3. Filtration webs 9. Protective material
4. High-loft webs or needled webs 10. Insulating material
5. Geotextiles 11. Decorative webs
6. Carpet backing 12. Nonwoven covers

13. Webs for upholstery industry 18. Needle-punched carpets

14. Nonwoven wall coverings 19. Roofing felts
15. Padding material fiber fill webs 20. Light-weight webs
16. Wiping cloths 21. Tea bag paper
17. Waste-fiber webs for various 22. Technical products etc.
applications
3.4. Polymer–Laid Web and Fabric Formation
3.4.1. Manufacture of Spun Bonded Fabrics
Spunbonding: Spunbonding is a one-step manufacturing process from either the chemical or

polymer stage to the finished nonwoven products on a roll. The major steps in the spunbonding
process are web formation, web bonding, and winding into rolls. Melted polymer is first fed into
an extruder and forced through a spinneret; the fibres are then stretched after cooling. The web is
made by continuously placing fibres to a depth slightly larger than the final product onto a
moving conveyor belt. The fibres form loose web, which may be bonded together by one of three
bonding techniques: mechanical bonding, thermal bonding, or chemical bonding.
In spunbonding process, fabrics are produced directly from a thermoplastic polymer such as
polyester, nylon, polypropylene, or polyethylene. The molten polymer is extruded through a
spinneret, cooled slightly in the air, and laid on a moving conveyor belt to form a continuous
web. As the web cools, the fibers bond.
Spunbonding Method for Nonwoven Production: Spunbonding method is used for man-made
filament fibers that melt under heat, such as polyester. Spunbond fabrics are produced by
depositing extruded, spun filaments onto a collecting belt in a uniform random manner followed
by bonding the fibers. Spunbond fabrics are characterized by tensile, tear, and burst strengths,
elongation-to-break, weight, thickness, porosity and stability to heat and chemicals. Spunbond
products are employed in carpet backing, geotextiles, and disposable medical/hygiene products.
Since the fabric production is combined with fiber production, the process is generally more
economical than when using staple fiber to make nonwoven fabrics.

Figure-23: Spunbonding sequence
The spunbonding sequence is shown in Figure-1. The melt, dry or wet extrusion spinning
techniques can be adapted in a spunbonding process. However, melt spinning is the prominently
used technique. The hopper feeds the polymer chips to an extruder where they are melted. The
molten polymer is filtered and is extruded through the spinneret to form the filaments.
Depending upon the fabric width, two or three spinnerets are laid side by side to increase the
number of filaments. The extruded filaments are quenched by a stream of cold air and are
subjected to either mechanically or pneumatically attenuation for orienting the molecules thereby
increasing the strength.
Figure-24: Web forming by the Spunbonding method
The pattern of the spun-bonded fabric and arrangement of the fibers can be varied in several
ways. The spinneret can be rotated to deliver filaments in different patterns and arrangements; a
jet of air (a controlled stream of air) can be introduced to tangle the filaments; the conveyor can

be moved at variable speeds to collect different quantities of filaments at selected locations; and
applying an electrical charge to make the fibers loop and crimp.
Spunbonded fabrics are strong because of the filament fibres and are not easily torn. They are
used for a wide variety of products ranging from apparel interlinings, carpet backing, furniture
and bedding to bagging and packing material. Spunbonded fabrics may be used in geotextiles to
control erosion or in constructing road. Some spunbonds made from olefins are used as a tough,
especially durable substitute for paper in wallcoverings, charts, maps, tags and the like. Fabrics
made by this process include Mirafi 140, made from nylon and polypropylene; Celestra
polypropylene; Reemay polyester; Tyvek polyethylene; Typar polypropylene; Bondtex
polyester; Cerex nylon; and Bidim polyester (Source: Mazharul Islam Kiron,2015;2020).
3.4.1.1. Fiber Orientation in Spun Bonded Fabrics
A melt solution of a fiber forming polymer is extruded through a systems of spinnerets in a high
velocity current of air or other gas. The fibers formed are deposited on to a support, which may
be conveyor, a scrim (a very open weave fabric) or screen drum (condenser cage), to form a web.
If necessary the extruded filaments are drawn and internally oriented prior to web formation,
either by rollers or high velocity air current, in order to increase their strength. The support than
carries the web to a bonding stage where consolidation of web occurs
3.4.1.2. Characterization of Web/ Filament Arrangement
Characteristics and properties of spun bonded webs are:
. Random fibrous structure
. Generally the web is white with high opacity per unit area
. Basis weight range between 10 - 200 k/m2
. Fibre diameter range between 15 and 35 micrometer
. Web thickness range typically 0.2 - 1.5 mm
. High strength to weight ratios compared to other nonwoven, woven and knitted structures.

. High tear strength (for area bonded webs only)
. Planar isotropic properties due to random lay down of the fibres
. Good fray and crease resistance.
3.4.2. Manufacture of Melt Blown Fabrics

The melt blown process is a nonwoven manufacturing system involving direct conversion of a
polymer into continuous filaments, integrated with the conversion of the filaments into a random
laid nonwoven fabric. Meltblowing is a one-step, solvent-free and high-throughput fabrication
process that converts a solid polymer directly into a nonwoven mat. First developments in this
field of technology in the industrial area started around 1945. The general process description is
similar to the spunlaid process, but in detail, both types of processes are quite different. Using
the melt blown technology, the spun filaments are accelerated by means of hot, fast-flowing air
that is directly blown onto a moving substrate, creating a self-bonded web. Figure 24 show
principles and sketches of the different melt blown technologies. The hot air temperature is close
to the used melt temperature. The achieved filament diameter is one magnitude lower compared
to the spunlaid process, 1–5 μm. The calculated filament speed out of throughput and measured
filament diameter is resulting in filament speed higher than sonic speed. Since the used air
geometries are not suitable to create supersonic speed, the air speed cannot the single source of
forces for the downsizing of the filaments (Source: H.-G. Geus, 2016).
Figure 25: Melt Blown Process

Properties of Melt blown Nonwoven Fabric (Source: Suno Tex, 2021)

1. Higher-strength. 7. Safe direct contact with skin.
2. Comfortable, soft feel good. 8. High stretch.
3. Good environmental health 9. Flame retardant.
uniformity. 10. Liquid repellent.
4. Super absorbency power. 11. Ultra-softness.
5. Hydrophobic lipophilic. 12. Washable, and so on.
6. Act as a bacterial barrier.
3.4.2.1. Fiber Formation (Web) and Attenuation
Nonwovens manufacturing starts by the arrangement of fibres in a sheet or web. The fibres can
be staple fibres or filaments extruded from molten polymer granules. Uniform melt delivery to
the die assembly was done by metering pump. It ensures consistent flow of clean polymer mix
under process variations in viscosity, pressure, and temperature for the fiber formation by
attenuation the polymer. One of the distinctive features of the MB process is the ease with which
fine fiber diameters may be produced.
3.4.2.2. Processing Parameters and Their Effect of on Fabric Characteristics
Typical melt blowing process consists of the following elements: extruder, metering pumps, die
assembly, web formation, and winding. These processes parameters, Operational and materials
variables were significantly affect the overall characteristics of the nonwoven materials.
Extruder: The polymer pellets or granules are fed into the extruder hopper. Gravity feed
supplies pellets to the screw, which rotates within the heated barrel. The pellets are conveyed
forward along hot walls of the barrel between the flights of the screw, as shown in Figure 25. As
the polymer moves along the barrel, it melts due to the heat and friction of viscous flow and the
mechanical action between the screw and barrel. The screw is divided into feed, transition, and
metering zones. The feed zone preheats the polymer pellets in a deep screw channel and conveys
them to the transition zone. The transition zone has a decreasing depth channel in order to
compress and homogenize the melting polymer. The molten polymer is discharged to the
metering zone, which serves to generate maximum pressure for extrusion. The pressure of
molten polymer is highest at this point and is controlled by the breaker plate with a screen pack

placed near the screw discharge. The screen pack and breaker plate also filter out dirt and infused
polymer lumps. The pressurized molten polymer is then conveyed to the metering pump.
Metering pump: The metering pump is a positive-displacement and constant-volume device for
uniform melt delivery to the die assembly. It ensures consistent flow of clean polymer mix under
process variations in viscosity, pressure, and temperature. The metering pump also provides
polymer metering and the required process pressure. The metering pump typically has two
intermeshing and counter-rotating toothed gears. The positive displacement is accomplished by
filling each gear tooth with polymer on the suction side of the pump and carrying the polymer
around to the pump discharge, as shown in Figure 26. The molten polymer from the gear pump
goes to the feed distribution system to provide uniform flow to the die nosepiece in the die
assembly (or fiber forming assembly).
Figure 26: Schematic diagram of metering pump
Die Assembly: The die assembly is the most important element of the melt blown process. It has
three distinct components: polymer-feed distribution, die nosepiece, and air manifolds.
Feed Distribution: The feed distribution in a melt-blown die is more critical than in a film or
sheeting die for two reasons. First, the melt-blown die usually has no mechanical adjustments to
compensate for variations in polymer flow across the die width. Second, the process is often
operated in a temperature range where thermal breakdown of polymers proceeds rapidly. The
feed distribution is usually designed in such a way that the polymer distribution is less dependent
on the shear properties of the polymer. This feature allows the melt blowing of widely different

polymeric materials with one distribution system. The feed distribution balances both the flow
and the residence time across the width of the die. There are basically two types of feed
distribution that have been employed in the melt-blown die: T-type (tapered and untapered) and
coat hanger type. Presently, the coathanger type feed distribution is widely used because it gives
both even polymer flow and even residence time across the full width of the die.
Die Nosepiece: From the feed distribution channel the polymer melt goes directly to the die
nosepiece. The web uniformity hinges largely on the design and fabrication of the nosepiece.
Therefore, the die nosepiece in the melt blowing process requires very tight tolerances, which
have made their fabrication very costly. The die nosepiece is a wide, hollow, and tapered piece
of metal having several hundred orifices or holes across the width. The polymer melt is extruded
from these holes to form filament strands which are subsequently attenuated by hot air to form
fine fibers. In a dies nosepiece, smaller orifices are usually employed compared to those
generally used in either fiber spinning or spunbond processes. A typical die nosepiece has
approximately 0.4-mm diameter orifices spaced at 1 to 4 per millimeters (25 to 100 per inch).
There are two types of die nosepiece used: capillary type and drilled hole type. For the capillary
type, the individual orifices are actually slots that are milled into a flat surface and then matched
with identical slots milled into a mating surface. The two halves are then matched and carefully
aligned to form a row of openings or holes as shown in Figure 26. By using the capillary type,
the problems associated with precise drilling of very small holes are avoided. In addition, the
capillary tubes can be precisely aligned so that the holes follow a straight line accurately. The
drilled-hole type has very small holes drilled by mechanical drilling or electric discharge
matching (EDM) in a single block of metal, as shown in Figure 27. During processing, the whole
die assembly is heated section-wise using external heaters to attain desired processing
temperatures. It is important to monitor the die temperatures closely in order to produce uniform
webs. Typical die temperatures range from 2l5oC to 340OC.

Figure 27: Schematic diagram of Die Nosepiece
Air Manifolds: The air manifolds supply the high velocity hot air (also called as primary air)
through the slots on the top and bottom sides of the die nosepiece, as shown in Figure 28. The
high velocity air is generated using an air compressor. The compressed air is passed through a
heat exchange unit such as an electrical or gas heated furnace, to heat the air to desired
processing temperatures. They exits from the top and bottom sides of the die through narrow air
gaps, as shown in Figure 28. Typical air temperatures range from 230oC to 360oC at velocities of
0.5 to 0.8 the speed of sound.
Figure 28: Schematic diagram of primary and secondary air flow and web formation
Web Formation: As soon as the molten polymer is extruded from the die holes, high velocity
hot air streams (exiting from the top and bottom sides of the die nosepiece) attenuate the polymer
streams to form microfibers. As the hot air stream containing the microfibers progresses toward

the collector screen, it draws in a large amount of surrounding air (also called secondary air) that
cools and solidifies the fibers. The solidified fibers subsequently get laid randomly onto the
collecting screen, forming a self-bonded nonwoven web. The fibers are generally laid randomly
(and also highly entangled) because of the turbulence in the air stream, but there is a small bias
in the machine direction due to some directionality imparted by the moving collector. The
collector speed and the collector distance from the die nosepiece can be varied to produce a
variety of melt-blown webs. Usually, a vacuum is applied to the inside of the collector screen to
withdraw the hot air and enhance the fiber laying process.
Winding: The melt-blown web is usually wound onto a cardboard core and processed further
according to the end-use requirement. The combination of fiber entanglement and fiber-to-fiber
bonding generally produce enough web cohesion so that the web can be readily used without
further bonding. However, additional bonding and
finishing processes may further be applied to these melt-blown webs.
Bonding: Additional bonding, over the fiber adhesion and fiber entanglement that occurs at lay
down, is employed to alter web characteristics. Thermal bonding is the most commonly used
technique. The bonding can be either overall (area bonding) or spot (pattern bonding). Bonding
is usually used to increase web strength and abrasion resistance. As the bonding level increases,
the web becomes stiffer and less fabriclike.
Finishing: Although most nonwovens are considered finished when they are rolled up at the end
of the production line, many receive additional chemical or physical treatment such as
calendering, embossing, and flame retardance. Some of these treatments can be applied during
production, while others must be applied in separate finishing operations.
Process Variables: The process variables can be divided into two categories : a) operational
variables and b)material variables. By manipulating operational and material variables one can
produce a variety of meltblown fabrics with desired properties. Each of these variables play a
significant role in process economics and product reliability.
Operational variables: This can be classified as: a) on-line and b) off-line variables. The on-line
variables are those which can be changed according to requirements during production. The

polymer throughput rate, air throughput rate, polymer/die temperatures, air temperature and die-
to-collector distance are the five basic on-line operational variables. These variables are easy to
change and dictate the major fabric properties. The polymer and air throughput rates basically
control the final fiber diameter, fiber entanglements and the extent of zone of attenuation.
The polymer/die and air temperatures in conjunction with air flow rate affect the appearance and
hand of the fabric, fabric uniformity and fabric defects in the production. The die-to-collector
distance generally affects the openness of the fabric and fiber-to-fiber thermal bonding. The fiber
diameter increases slightly with increase in die-to-collector distance. The offline processing
variables are those variables which can only be changed when production line is not in operation,
such as die hole size, die set-back, air gap, air angle, web collection type and polymer/air
distribution. Most of the offline process variables are set for particular product line. The die hole
size, die design parameters and die set-back are believed to affect the fiber size. The die hole size
should be large enough to pass the polymer melt without plugging. The back pressure generated
by the polymer feed distribution typeand the ratio of orifice length to diameter should be high
enough to give good distribution and controllable flow of the polymer melt. The air gap affects
the air exit pressure and is also believed to affect the degree of fiber breakage.
Material Variables: The material variables include the polymer type, molecular weight,
molecularweight weight distribution, polymer additives, polymer degradation and polymer
forms. Basically, any fiber-forming polymer that can give an acceptably low-melt viscosity at a
suitably processing temperature and can solidify before landing on the collector screen ca be
melt blown into fine-fibered webs. Some of the processed polymers are : Polypropylene is easy
to process and makes good web. Polyethylene is more difficult to melt-blow into fine fibrous
webs than is polypropylene. Polyethylen is difficult to draw because of its melt elasticity. PBT
processes easily and produces very soft, fine-fibered webs. Nylon 6 is easy to process and makes
good webs. Nylon 11 melt-blows well into webs that have very unusual leather like feel.
Polycarbonate produces very soft-fiber webs. Polystyrene produces an extremely soft, fluffy
material with essentially no shot defects. Usually polymer in pellet form is used for processing,
but the present trend is to use polymer granules. It is beloved that the granules melt faster and

give a more even heat distribution. The melt blown process requires low molecular weight and
narrow molecular weight
Web Characteristics and Properties
Uniformity: The uniformity of the web is controlled by two important parameters: uniform
distribution of fiber in the air stream and proper adjustment of the vacuum level under the
forming wire or belt. Non-uniform distribution of fiber in the air stream can result from poor die
design and from non-uniform ambient airflow into the air stream. The vacuum under the forming
media should be adjusted to pull the total air stream through the media and lock the fibers in
place. Generally, the closer the die is to the forming drum or belt, the better the web uniformity.
Filtration media: This market segment continues to be the largest single application. The best
known application is the surgical face mask filter media. The applications include both liquid
filtration and gaseous filtration. Some of them are found in cartridge filters, clean room filters
and others.
Medical fabrics: The second largest meltblown market is in medical/surgical applications. The
major segments are disposable gown and drape market and sterilization wrap segment.
Sanitary products: Meltblown products are used in two types of sanitary protection products
feminine sanitary napkin and disposable adult incontinence absorbent products.
Oil adsorbents: Melt blown materials in variety of physical forms are designed to pick up oily
materials. The best known application is the use of sorbents to pick up oil from the surface of
water, such as encountered in an accidental oil spill.
Apparel: The apparel applications of melt-blown products fall into three market segments:
thermal insulation, disposable industrial apparel and substrate for synthetic leather. The thermal
insulation applications takes advantage of microvoids in the structure filled with quiescent air,
resulting in excellent thermal insulation. distribution resins to produce uniform fine-fibered
webs(Source: fibre2fashion.com, Sandip V. Purane & Narsingh R. Panigrahi).
3.4.3. Applications
The general application of Spun bonded nonwovens was summarized below:

Table 4: Application of Spun bonded nonwovens
Web forming Web bonding Properties Applications

Spun Thermal • Improved • Medical gowns
bondpolypropylene strengthbreathabil • Shoe cover
-lightweight ity • Sterilisable
• Resistance to packs
fluidpenetrationLi • Baby diaper
nt free cover stock
• Sterilisable • Feminine
(somesystems)Ca hygiene
n be made • Adult
impervious incontinence
Composites-
protectiveclothing.
Spun bond Thermal Needle Chemical/ Physicalstability • Building wrap
Polypropylene- punch High strength /Cost ratio • Geotextile-
heavy weight drainage
• Stabilization
• Erosion control
• Automotive
trim
• Carpet backing
Spun Thermal/Thermalse High temperature stability Roofing substrates
bondpolyester- t Porosity/strength Geotextiles (some
heavyweight Needle punch soiltypes)
Spun bond Thermal High strength/Low Cover stock
Bicomponent webweight very soft withlow
temperature bonding
Source: Zeichen Journal, 2021

Exercise
1. Compare and contrast all the types’ non-woven fabric forming techniques?
2. In nonwoven fabric industry the top managers were decided to use needle punching method.
As a textile engineering students, what special characteristics will the top manager needed and
offered for nonwoven product?
3. Diagrammatically explain hydro-entanglement and stitched bonding technology?
4. Compare and contrast thermal bonding and chemical bonding in nonwoven technology?
5. Explain the principle of thermal bonding processes in detail? What are effects of fiber
structure on properties of thermally bonded fabrics?
6. What are the mechanisms of chemical bonding? What are the commonly applied methods of
binder applied in nonwoven technology? In which application areas used chemically bonded
nonwoven products?
7. What does it Bicomponent fiber and filament?
8. Diagrammatically explain the manufacturing process of spun bonded fabric? What are the
characteristics and properties of spun bonded webs?
9. Mentioned the processing parameters and their effect of on fabric characteristics of melt
blowing process?
10. Explained the web characteristics and properties of nonwoven technology?

CHAPTER FOUR: FINISHING AND CHARACTERIZATION OF BONDED FABRICS

Nonwoven fabrics are finished in exactly the same way as other textiles such as
wovens and knitted fabrics. This is certainly true in many cases and there is no
storage of examples of particular methods or types of machine being used for
both kinds of textile fabrics. There are, however, many instances in which
nonwoven fabrics require different treatment to obtain the desired results. Nonwovens may be
given one or more of a variety of finishing processes as a means of enhancing fabric performance
or aesthetic properties. Nonwoven fabrics require certain desirable properties. Mechanical
finishes like splifting and winding. Perforating, drying, compressive finishing, calendaring,
Singeing, shearing, flocking, raising, sueding, polishing, softening and heat sefting are carried
ouf as permanent and temporary finishes on nonwoven fabrics. Performance properties include
functional characteristics such as moisture regain and transport, absorbency, or repellency; flame
retardancy; electrical response; resistance; and frictional behavior. Aesthetic properties include
various attributes such as appearance, surface texture, color, and odor. Finishing of Nonwoven
bonded fabricscan be classified from different ways. Some people believe Nonwoven-finishing
processes can be categorized as being chemical, mechanical, or thermal-mechanical. Chemical
finishing involves the application of chemical agents as coatings to fabric surfaces or the
impregnation of fabrics with chemical additives or fillers. Mechanical finishing involves altering
the texture of fabric surfaces by physically reorienting or shaping fibers on or near the fabric
surface. Thermal-mechanical finishing involves altering fabric dimensions or physical properties
through the use of heat and pressure. Generally, finishing of Nonwoven bonded fabrics are
classified as (I) Dry finishing and (II) Wet finishing (Source: Parikshit Parikshit, 2004).
Characteristics and properties of nonwovens fabrics

Soft: Non-wovens are made out of fine fibers, making the final product soft and comfy.
Lightweight: Non-wovens are mostly made of polypropylene resin, which is just three-fifths the
weight of cotton, making them fluffy and pleasant to the touch.
Water repellent:Polypropylene chips are water-repellent and non-absorbent. The resulting
product has no water content and is water-repellent.
Air-permeable: it is made entirely of fiber and has excellent air permeability, making it simple
to keep the fabric dry and clean.

Non-toxic and non-irritant: the non-woven fabric is stable, non-toxic, odorless, and non-
irritating because it is made from FDA food-grade raw materials and does not contain extra
chemical components. This feature of non-woven fabric makes it ideal for making cosmetics
such as facial masks, makeup cotton, and wet wipes, among other things.
Good physical properties: non-wovens are spun from polypropylene and heat-bonded together.
Non-woven materials have a higher strength than traditional staple fiber products. The strength is
non-directional, and it is comparable in vertical and horizontal directions.
Antibacterial and anti-chemical agents: This material may isolate microorganisms and insects
present in liquids while preventing non-wovens from eroding. Non-wovens are also antibacterial
and anti-corrosion, making the completed items water-repellent and mold-resistant. Erosion will
not affect the ultimate product’s strength.
Eco-friendly: Non-woven fabrics are widely employed in various fields because of their eco-
friendliness, which has increased in recent years as people place a greater emphasis on
environmental conservation. Because polypropylene’s chemical structure is weak, the molecular
chain can readily be broken, allowing it to be destroyed and returned to the environment in a
non-toxic state(Source: seofavouritehub, favouritehub.com) . Spunbonded webs offer a wide
range of product characteristics ranging from very light and flexible structure to heavy and stiff
structure.
 Random fibrous structure
 Generally the web is white with high opacity per unit area
 Most spunbonded webs are layered or shingled structure, the number of layers increases
with increasing basis weight

Basis weights range between 5 and 800 g/m2, typically 10-200 g/ m2
 Fiber diameters range between 1 and 50 um, but the preferred range is between 15 and 35
um
 web thicknesses range between 0. 1 and 4.0 mm, typically 0.2-1.5mm
 High strength-to-weight ratios compared to other nonwoven, woven, and knitted
structures
 High tear strength (for area bonded webs only)
 Planar isotropic properties due to random lay-down of the fibers

 Good fray and crease resistance
 High liquid retention capacity due to high void content
 High in-plane shear resistance, and low drapeability.
 The appearance of non-woven fabrics may be paper like, felt like, or similar to that of
woven fabrics.
 They may have a soft, resilient hand, or they may be hard, stiff, or broadly with little
pliability.
 They may be as thin as thin as tissue paper or many times thicker.
 They also may be translucent or opaque.
 Their porosity may range from low tear and burst strength to very high tensile strength.
 They may be fabricated by gluing, heat bonding, or sewing.
 The drapability of this type of fabrics varies from good to none at all.
 Some fabrics have excellent launderability; others have none. Some may be dry-cleaned.
Spun bond fabrics are characterized by tensile, tear, and burst strengths, elongation-to-break,
weight, thickness, porosity and stability to heat and chemicals. These properties reflect fabric
composition and structure (Source: Mazharul Islam Kiron,2015; EiTex Lecture Note; B.J.Group,
Mawna, Gazipur, 2020).
Nonwovens may be a limited-life, single-use fabric or a very durable fabric. Nonwoven fabrics
provide specific functions such as absorbency, liquid repellency, resilience, stretch, softness,
strength, flame retardancy, washability, cushioning, filtering, bacterial barriers and sterility.

Figure 29. Classification of Finish Applied to Nonwoven Fabric
4.1 Dry finishing

4.1.1 Shrinkage
The compaction that accompanies shrinkage is useful in obtaining greater basis weight or GSM
(grams per squaremeter) and density, more bulk, higher strength and improved cleavage
properties. Shrinkage occurs when the fibersare wet or dry depending on the type. Shrinkage by
exposure to heat is suitable for a nonwoven fabric made predominantly of synthetic fibers and is
especially effective if fibers are prone to shrinkage. The web is fed throughthe heating zone on
screen driers. They are usually perforated cylinder driers with a rotating over feed, whereby
theweb is fed faster onto the roll than it is drawn off.A second shrinkage is carried out if the web
contains significant amounts of natural fibers. The web is immersed in atank of hot water to
promote shrinkage and is dried without tension. Some special synthetic fibers shrink both
whenthey are wet and when heated. A variation of wet shrinkage, which aids in saving energy, is
shrinkage in steam. Needling together two types of webs where one shrinks and the other is

shrink-proof results in the formation ofdecorative raised patterns when shrunk. This technique is
used in the production of sculptured wall and floorcoverings. Nonwoven fabrics are subjected to
tensile strain, predominantly in a longitudinal direction, during the manufacturing process, which
means the strain is not the seldom occurrence. In adhesive bonding the web always has to be
dried and so if the drying process is carried out correctly with suitable machinery, it is relatively
easy to remove any signs of strain by appropriate relaxation. If bonding takes place purely in dry
state (stitched bonding) a special shrinkage process may be required to ensure dimensional
stability afterwards.
4.1.2. Wrenching Finish

Wrenching Finish: The Clupak process, invented by Sanford Cluett, is similar to the sanforising
process, is used for wet-laid nonwoven bonded fabrics.The machinery (fig. 1) consists of a
continuous rubber belt, about 25 mm thick, with an intermediate woven layerlying on a heated,
chromium-plated and polished drying cylinder. The web is pressed against the cylinder at the
first point of contact by a non-rotating clamping bar. The rubber cloth is compacted lengthwise,
which affects the web between it and the cylinder in the same way thus causing compacting and
crimping of the fibers in the weblongitudinally. The web is fed moist, through the gap between
the belt and the cylinder. The compacting is fixed bydrying. The degree of wrenching is
increased if the moisture content is high - about 20% - but if the bonding agent is more than 50%
such increases are unattainable. Thermoplastic bonding agents assist wrenching but the web
tends to adhere to the cylinder. Elastomer bonding agents due to their elastic nature almost
cancel the wrenching effect.
(Source: Ronik J, https://www.scribd.com/document/65420087/1-Dry-Finishing)
4.1.3. Crabbing ,Calendering, Pressing, Perforating and Slitting
These methods are used to improve the surface characteristics of the fabrics, the most important
features beingsmoothing and patterning. The processes used are continuous and usually involve
one or several pairs of rollersoperating under pressure.
i. Moire or goffering calender:
The calenders are common in nonwoven finishing and are used in the compacting ofthe webs
made of natural and synthetic fibers. This type of calendering can be considered to be both a
bonding andfinishing process. Webs composed of longitudinally oriented cotton or viscose fibers

with a GSM of about 10-30g/m2 can be stiffened and compacted sufficiently by passing them
through a goffering calender when slightly damp.Hot embossing of synthetic fiber webs, even
when the fibers are longitudinally oriented, produces a productremarkably strong due to the
fibers melting at the embossed areas.The embossing effect is used to obtain special effects such
as leather graining, simulated weave, plaster, brushstrokes, cord and mock tiling. Another area in
which heated calenders are used is in the manufacture of laminates.Here thermoplastic fibers,
layers of thread or film are placed between two layers of non-plastic web and are fusedtogether
by heat and pressure. Such laminates are used as tablecloths, seat and cushion covers. Calenders
are alsoused in the transfer printing of the bonded webs.
ii. Roller presses:
The oldest form of improving the surface of nonwoven bonded fabrics is the pressing of
woolfelts, especially felts for collar linings. This gives a smoother surface finish and also
improves strength and luster.
Miscellaneous Dry Finishing
Perforating:
The Artos method is a method of perforating in which the web, which has been bonded by
usingchemicals, is perforated with hot needles. This process not only punches holes but also
reinforces as a result of cross-linking and condensation of the bonding agent.
Slitting:
Slitting, originally developed to improve the softness and drape of films was used by the
Breveteamcompany for interlinings, in particular for adhesive fixable interlinings.The slitting is
accomplished by a roller with small blades mounted on it.
Splitting:
When nonwovens are substituted for leather, the thick layer of needled fabric is split similar to
the splittingof leather to make thinner fabrics. The fabrics used are thick, high strength, firmly
bonded, closely needled andusually shrunk. Splitting is done by machines in which a continuous

rotation hoop knife is guided with great precisionin the gap between two conveyor rollers, the
distance between them depending on the thickness and type of fabricrequired.
Grinding and Velouring:
Splitting is followed by either ironing and friction calendering or moire calendering and possibly
also grinding and polishing to make the surface even, giving the fabric the appearance of velour
or suede.The process is known as velouring.
Singeing:
It belongs to the category of a dry finishing process. It is essentially the burning off of
protruding fibersfrom nonwoven fabrics, particularly needled fabrics. The process is exactly the
same as traditional singeing and iscarried out on gassing frames where the fabric is passed over
an open gas flame. The surface is made smoother,which simplifies the dusting of filter
fabrics(Source:M. G. Kamath, Atul Dahiya, Raghavendra R. Hegde (Praveen Jana & Xinli Liu)).
4.2. Wet finishing

Chemical finishes like antistatic, antimicrobial, lubrication, flame proof, water proof, softening,
stiffening and UV protection are applied by different methods. These methods are dyeing,
printing, padding, coating and lamination. Suitable methods are used to create desirable effects.
Some non-conventional techniques are also applied to give special finishes. These are ultrasonic
welding, plasma and microencapsulation techniques. The purpose of washing is to remove
unwanted substances from the fabric (Source: Yashovardhan Indi, 2020)..
4.2.1 Washing
In a wet process a suitable washing machine, using water as the washing medium and
occasionally a detergent, intensifies the effects required. Some anionic washing agents also have
the effect of softening the fabric; nonionic agents have the advantage of being universally
compatible but are more efficient at specific temperatures. As in all wet and dry processes the
fabric should be subjected to as little tension as possible when being washed and, lengthwise,
stretching is undesirable(Source: EiTex Lecture Note).

4.2.2 Dyeing
Dyeing of nonwoven fa.brics is carried by dyes and pigments like any woven and knitted
fabrics.Dyeing of nonwoven fabric is carried oui in open wioirirorm to avoid crease formation.
There areprincipally three methods of colouration which have been OiscusseO Oiiefly in this
section.'Dope dyeing is one of the procedures where the dy.e or pigments are added to the molten
polymerbefore melt extrusion- This method provides excellent toiour fastness but the colour has
to beachieved at a very early stage of fabric production (Source: FINISHING OF
NONWOVENS, publication/344099975).
4.2.3 Printing
Printing of nonwoven fabric is mostly carried out for its application in home iurnishing area.
printing isdone by pigments being applied in varying form. The ,rrious tecnniques of printing
il1g1", and flatscreen printlng, discharge printing, transier printing and ink jet printing. eigmenis
,iu ,ppii"o "rt",combining suitable binder, thickener, cross linking 6atatysts roi fli" sort"neri and
uinoerilFiinting isfollowed by drying and curing to remove the binde'rs ano fix tne pisr""t. to the
fabric (Source: FINISHING OF NONWOVENS, publication/344099975).
4.3. Chemical Finishes

Functionalizing nonwovens with wet finishing
Manufacturers and finishers of nonwovens must continuously work on the ongoing development
of their products to successfully hold their ground in the market and to meet the requirements of
diverse industry sectors. Nowadays nonwovens with functional properties are in great demand. It
is especially important that the finishing process is both gentle on the nonwoven and economical
in handling energy and chemistry to be applied. Furthermore, efficient application even for small
batches must be possible to produce the flexibility customers expect today.
Antimicrobials: These are used to control populations of bacteria, fungi, algae and viruses on
the substrate. The treatment usually prevents the biological degradation of the product or
prevents the growth of undesirable organisms. Broadly classed, the antimicrobials are either
fixed or leachable. The fixed treatments are durable, but the leachable treatments may transfer to
the surrounding environment through migration, solubility or abrasion. A generic list of the
treatments include alcohols such as isopropanol or propylene glycol, halogens such as chlorine,

hypochlorite, iodine, N-chloramine and hexachlorophene, metals such as silver nitrate, mercuric
chloride and tin chloride, various peroxides, phenols quaternary ammonium compounds, pine oil
derivatives, aldehydes and phosphoric acid esters. Care should be taken in the application of
these compounds to prevent inactivation, loss of durability or masking of the active ingredient
with other finishes.
Table 5: Finishing and refining with functionalising liquids is encountered in many areas of
application, e.g.
Finishing Uses
Antimicrobial finishing Medical supplies, e.g. surgical gowns,
surgical drapes, face masks
Hydrophilic/hydrophobic finishing Hygiene articles, e.g. diapers, female hygiene,
incontinence products
Oleophilic/oleophobic finishing Wiping and absorbing cloths, e.g. oil
absorption fleeces
Finishing with soft feel agents Personal hygiene, e.g. towels, cotton pads
Finishing for improved sliding properties - Before downstream processes such as
nonwoven reinforcement
- Tufting carriers for floor coverings and
carpets
Perfuming and fragrance finishing - Hygiene articles, e.g. sanitary towels
- Clothing, e.g. insoles
Source: Mrs. Carolin Russ, https://www.weko.net/en/functional-nonwoven-finishing.html)
UV stabilizers: UV stabilizers are used to protect the adhesives and polymers used as binders in
the fabric frombeing degraded by harmful ultra violet light. The hindered amine stabilisers form
complex reactionprotecting the polymers from chemical break down.
(Source: FINISHING OF NONWOVENS).
Flame retardants: The finishing of fabrics with flame retardants can reduce the tendency to
burn or reduce the tendency to propagate the flame. The flame retardants may char the fuel,
quench the reaction of combustion, absorb heat or emit cooling gases or replace oxygen. Flame

retardants are durable or nondurable. Durable retardants include decabromodiphenyl oxide,

antimony oxide, phosphates, brominated esters, PVC and other chlorinated binders. Nondurables
include borates, boric acids, zinc borate, sulfamic acid sulfamates, ammonium phosphates, urea,
etc. Hydrated alumina and zinc borate act as smoke supressants. Problems in the application
include odor, yellowing, loss of tensile strength, stiffening, skin irritation and color change or
loss.
Soil release: The soil release chemicals reduce the problem of soiling in two ways: repel the
stains and soil using repellants such as flourochemicals or create a surface that aids the removal
of soils when cleaning or laundering using chemicals based on polyacrylic acid.
Optical brighteners: Optical brighteners or fluorescent whitening agents are organic chemicals
that are used like dyes or pigments to add brightness to fabrics. These chemicals are colorless but
can absorb UV light and reemit it to the visible range usually as a blue or blue-green. These
products produce very white fabrics or brighten colored fabrics.
Coating: Coating is a basic and exceptionally important form of finishing for non-woven bonded
fabrics. The way in which the coating is carried out depends on the substrate, the machinery
available, and the substance that is to be applied and, also on the effect desired.
• Slop padding: It is one of the best known methods of direct coating. The coating is put on
with a rotary roller, the surface of which is covered in the substance to be applied. The
slop padding roller is fed directly with the laminating float by being dipped into it or
using special feed rollers.
• Powder point method
• Coating by rotary screen printing
• Spreading or squeeze
• Non-contact coating
• Release coating

Laminating
Laminating is the permanent jointing of two or more prefabricated fabrics. Unless one or other of
the fabrics develops adhesive properties in certain conditions, an additional medium is necessary
to secure bonding.
• Wet laminating: Adhesives used in the wet process are dissolved or dispersed in a
suitable solvent. The simplest form of wet laminating consists of applying the adhesive to
one of the lengths of material that is to be joined, and to put the second length on it with
the required amount of pressure. Then drying, hardening or condensing the material that
has been joined together is carried out. The solvents can be macromolecular natural or
synthetic substances and water.
• Dry laminating: All Kinds of thermoplastics are used for dry laminating. These include
powders, plastisols, or melt adhesives, and are applied to the substrates that are to be
joined together using suitable machinery. Dry laminated non-woven fabrics have a soft
feel (Source EiTex Lecture note).
4.4. Safety Measures to Be Taken at the Nonwoven Industry

The nonwoven factories consist of a number of units engaged and a number of other processes
that are required to convert fibre into a finished nonwoven fabric. Safety and health measures
play an important role in any industry. It is essential that the workers be aware of the various
occupational hazards in the industry. At the same time, it is necessary that the management take
the necessary steps to protect workers from potential hazardous situations. The following
suggestions can be made to improve the safety and health conditions in textile units (Nonwoven
Factories):
 The seats of the workers and the tables should be well aligned in height so that there is no
musculoskeletal strain.
 There should be proper lighting at the place of work so that eye strain can be avoided.
 Machinery should be well maintained in order to reduce the level of noise. If necessary, certain
parts of machines can be replaced.
 In case the noise level cannot be controlled, workers should be provided with earplugs so that
exposure to noise can be reduced.

 Workers can be rotated within jobs so that they are not faced with continuous noise exposure for
a long period of time.
 There should be proper ventilation at the place of work.
 In order to reduce the exposure to dust, workers should be provided with masks.
 Trained medical personnel and first aid facilities as well as safety equipments such as fire
extinguishers and fire alarms should be available at the place of work.
 In units where there is heavy exposure to dangerous chemicals, workers should be provided with
safety gloves.
 Proper dust control equipment should be set up and maintained to reduce the workers exposure
to cotton dust.
 Medical examinations should be conducted by the employers for the workers from time to time.
If significant occupational health problems are observed, appropriate measures should be taken by the management.

Exercise
1. Department textile engineering need to decorate their offices with nonwoven mat made from
natural fibers like jute and cotton and the department decided to finish the nonwoven products
with antimicrobial or biocidal chemicals. As a textile professional, what is the reason to finish
the nonwoven products with antimicrobial or biocidal? Explain in detail.
2. What are the properties and characteristics to be consider for nonwovens fabrics
3. Mentioned at least 5 widely applied finishing processes allied in bonded fabrics? Compare
and contrast the types of finishing processes with woven products?
4. Why fabric inspection is an important and developing area relevant to nonwoven finishing?
Explain with examples?
5. A wide variety of chemical finishes are applied to nonwoven fabrics, among these mention and
explain commonly applied chemical finishing processes in nonwoven technology?
6. Kombolcha institute of technology need to cove the football field with natural grass. As a
textile professional what of fibers are you recommended? Why? What kinds of finishing applied
on the selected fibers? Why? Explain in detail.
7. What are the safety measures to be taken at the nonwoven industry?

REFERENCE:
1. Nonwoven Technology For Unconventional fabrics By Milin Patel & Dhruvkumar

Bhrambhatt DTT, BE In Textile Technology M.S.Univrsity, Vadodara
2. The contribution of nonwovens to a suitable world, by Pierre Wiertz, EDANA, ICTN-2008,

presented at, IIT-Delhi, India.
3. Book- “nonwoven boneded fabrics”, by J.Lunenschloss & W.Albrecht.
4. Book- “Manuals of nonwovens”, by prof. Dilp. INg. Dr Radko krcma.
5. Book- “nonwoven fabrics”, by Francis M. Buresh
6.. The motivate series By A.Wynne
7. Fiber and fiber consumption in Non-Woven BY INDA researcher groups
8. Non-woven fabric manufacturing By Dr. Rashid K.
9. Turbak, Albin.F., Nonwovens: Theory, Process, Performance And Testing.
10. Street, R.L., "Mechanical Web Formations," 1981 fiber Fill ConferenceProceedings, INDA,
Charlotte, NC, p.1.
11. Oldrich Jirsak and Larry C. wadsworth; "Nonwoven textiles", Carolinaacademic Express,
1999
12. F. Leifeld; "Carding Micro-Fibers", Textile Technology, Melliand English,2/1993 E43
13. Krishma Suresh Desai, 2016. Development Of System For Online/Offline Quality Control Of
Nonwoven Fabrics/Functional Fabrics Using Digital Image Processing Techniques, Phd Thesis,
Gujarat Technological University Ahmedabad

GENERAL QUESTIONS
1. What are the basic properties of non-woven to be considering when the nonwoven materials
used in technical textile applications such as buildtech, geotextile, and automotive sectors?
2. What is the basic sequence used for non-woven fabric manufacturing?
3. What are the two main stages for the production for nonwoven products?
4. What are the basic production methods used for the manufacturing nonwoven fabrics? explain
these methods with some common examples?
5. Which fibers are widely used for non-woven manufacturing? Why?
6. Why do the non-woven manufacturing preferred than woven? Explained in terms of economy,
rate of production.
7. What are the basic application areas used non-woven materials rather than using other
conventional fabric manufacturing methods?
8. What does it mean chemical bonding in non-woven technology? Explained the processes with
example.
9. What are nonwoven bonding techniques?
10. What is difference between nonwoven fabrics with knitting and woven for the manufacturing
of sound proof materials? Explain in terms of their fabric structure.
11. How do you test non-woven fabric? what parameter to be consider during nonwoven test?
12. Which technique is used to form a nonwoven web?
13. What are the disadvantages or limitation of non-woven fabrics and technology compared
with woven and knitting onece?
14. Are non-woven fabrics waterproof? Explain why?
15. What is the scope of non-woven fabric?
16. Which type of printing is done for nonwoven products? Why?
17. How long does it take for non-woven fabric to decompose? For what type of fibers? Explain
18. What kind of finishing process are applied for non-woven fabric?
19. Mentioned most commonly applied applications of non-woven products with their methods of
manufacturing? Explain their advantage and limitation for those specific areas?

20. What type of the raw materials are used for non-woven bag productions? How can the non-
woven bag produce?
21. What are the advantages of using nonwoven fabric?
22. Which country is the biggest producer of non-woven textiles?
23. What kind of equipment and process will be required to develop non-woven textiles?
24. What are the desired requirements of non-woven?
25. As a textile professional, suggest the favorable properties of nonwoven fabrics for apparel
sector.
26. What are the basic classifications of nonwovens?
27. What does it mean bonded fabrics?
28. List out the desired properties in a bonding agent used in nonwoven manufacturing.
29. How to choose the right fibers and binders for your nonwovens fabrications?
30. Describe types of webs and their forming techniques?
31. How to monitoring and control the quality of web and nonwoven products?
32. What are the non-woven fabric forming techniques?
33. Explain mechanical bonding, stitched bonding technology, and hydraulic entanglement
diagrammatically?
34. What are the principles of thermal bonding? How to select raw materials for thermal
bonding?
35. Explain the manufacturing processing of spun bonded fabrics?
36. What kind of fibers orientations in spun bonded fabrics is used?
37. List out the properties of melt blown nonwoven fabric?
38. What are the effects of processing parameters applied on nonwoven fabric characteristics?
39. Explain the characteristics and properties of nonwovens fabrics used for drainage purpose?
40. What type of quality control applied on nonwoven fabrics? What kinds of safety
measurements applied in nonwoven manufacturing industries? Explain in detail.

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Wollo University, Kombolcha Institute of Technology, Department of Textile Engineering

Prepared By: Dr. Alhayat Getu (Assistant Professor)

Non-woven Technology (TEng4202) Module Prepared By: Dr. Alhayat G. Page 0

• Know the technology of nonwoven fabrics

• Understand the manufacturing processes of nonwoven

• Understand the bonding processes of nonwoven

• Understand finishing processes of nonwoven

• Know the end uses of nonwoven

• Know nonwoven manufacturing machines

Key terms and concepts

Non-woven Technology (TEng4202) Module Prepared By: Dr. Alhayat G. Page 1

CHAPTER ONE- INTRODUCTION TO NON-WOVENS MANUFACTURING ....................... 4

Non-woven Technology (TEng4202) Module Prepared By: Dr. Alhayat G. Page 2

3.4. Polymer–Laid Web and Fabric Formation ............................................................................. 61

Non-woven Technology (TEng4202) Module Prepared By: Dr. Alhayat G. Page 3

CHAPTER ONE- INTRODUCTION TO NON-WOVENS MANUFACTURING

Non-woven Technology (TEng4202) Module Prepared By: Dr. Alhayat G. Page 4

Figure.1: Conventional Fabric Manufacturing Techniques

1.1. Definitions, Terms and Systematic Classification of Nonwovens

Non-woven Technology (TEng4202) Module Prepared By: Dr. Alhayat G. Page 5

It is an unfortunate fact that there is no internationally agreed definition of nonwovens, in spite of

c) Fusing fibers by first dissolving, and then resolidifying their surfaces.

d) Creating physical tangles or tuft among the fibers.

e) Stitching the fibers or filaments in place.

Non-woven Technology (TEng4202) Module Prepared By: Dr. Alhayat G. Page 6

Nonwoven are a manufactured sheet, web of directionally or randomly oriented fibers,

1.2. Classification of Non-woven Fabric

A. Classification of Non-woven Fabric according to the Methods of Production:

Figure 2: Types of non-woven fabric

Non-woven Technology (TEng4202) Module Prepared By: Dr. Alhayat G. Page 7

E. 5 Popular Nonwoven Fabric

 Heat-bonded nonwoven fabrics: This type of non-woven fabric is mainly manufactured in

Non-woven Technology (TEng4202) Module Prepared By: Dr. Alhayat G. Page 8

Non-woven Technology (TEng4202) Module Prepared By: Dr. Alhayat G. Page 9

Figure 3: Fig: Classification of nonwoven fabric based on manufacturing techniques

1.3. Raw Materials Used for Non-Woven

Figure 4: Fiber Used for Nonwoven

Non-woven Technology (TEng4202) Module Prepared By: Dr. Alhayat G. Page 10

 The required profile of the fabric

To produce nonwoven bonded fabrics

 chemical fibers of both cellulosic and synthetic origin as well as

Non-woven Technology (TEng4202) Module Prepared By: Dr. Alhayat G. Page 11

FIBERS RESULTANT PROPERTY

Non-woven Technology (TEng4202) Module Prepared By: Dr. Alhayat G. Page 12

Non-woven Technology (TEng4202) Module Prepared By: Dr. Alhayat G. Page 13

•High elasticity pilling

•Good absorption •High shrinkage

power •Low strength

1.4. Characteristics Features and Properties of Nonwoven Fabrics

Characteristics of Nonwoven Fabric: Nonwovens may be a limited-life, single-use fabric or a

Non-woven Technology (TEng4202) Module Prepared By: Dr. Alhayat G. Page 14

Non-woven Technology (TEng4202) Module Prepared By: Dr. Alhayat G. Page 15

Basic properties to Consider in Choosing Nonwoven Fibers

Non-woven Technology (TEng4202) Module Prepared By: Dr. Alhayat G. Page 16

• Bacterial barrier • Softness

• Flame retardancy • Stretch

• Liquid repellency • Washability

Non-woven Technology (TEng4202) Module Prepared By: Dr. Alhayat G. Page 17

1.5. Advantages and Limitation of Nonwoven

Non-woven Technology (TEng4202) Module Prepared By: Dr. Alhayat G. Page 18

Non-woven Technology (TEng4202) Module Prepared By: Dr. Alhayat G. Page 19

Briefly explain the following questions

2. Wollo University, Kombolcha Institute of Technology need to build a model drainage