What is spunbond fabric used for?

29 Apr.,2024

 

What is spunbond fabric used for?

Non Woven Spunbond Fabric is otherwise known as Spunlaid. It is manufactured in a continuous process in which the fibers used are spun at the beginning, and later with the help of a deflector, they are spread in the sheet. It is faster to manufacture polymer nonwovens as the technique results in speedier belt speeds and produces low-budget products. 

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The nonwoven materials are produced with the help of meltdown techniques and have lower inherent strength than the spunbond. That is the reason the melt-blown fabrics are mixed with the spun bond fabrics to make stronger and more tough nonwoven products through the technique of Spun-melt-spun, also known as SMS fabrics. These fabrics are made with waterproof polypropylene and can be used for use and throw purposes.

Differentiation between woven and nonwoven fabrics?

Rather than using yarn to produce woven materials, several other factors differentiate nonwoven fabrics from woven ones. Those few main differences between them are as follows: 

  • There are different types of yards, such as textured, novelty, and plain yards, which are essential to make any variations in the woven fabrics. In contrast, the distinctions in the material are made using different bonding methods and fibers in the case of nonwoven fabrics.  

  • Unless the fabric is thick by type, the woven fabrics cannot absorb shocks, but the nonwovens are shock resistant. 

  • Moreover, fabrics are made from yarns that need finishing. But, that is not the situation with nonwovens. They don’t need any weaving, finishing, or sewing. 

  • The thing that makes the nonwoven fabric unique from woven fabric is that it has high tear strength, whereas woven fabric can or cannot get easily torn; it depends on the fabric. However, the woven materials have less tear strength than nonwoven fabrics.  

  • Nonwoven fabrics are water-resistant and sound resistant, while wovens are not; therefore, it adds a point to the benefits of the nonwoven materials, making them the favorite of many. 

Importance of Spunbond Nonwoven Fabrics 

The nonwoven spunbond fabrics don’t need sewing or yards for their construction. The manufacturing process is easier than woven fabric; this leads to the product’s cost-effectiveness and durability. This makes them the best suitable option for people, furniture manufacturing organizations, fashion enterprises, healthcare, and sanitary producers. 

There are a few reasons why the importance of Non Woven Spunbond Fabric has grown numerous over the years; they are as follows: 

  • Due to their high tear strength, they become more resilient than any other material. As they have great power, they are considered the most suitable option to be used as carrying bags. 

  • These fabrics are biodegradable, making them environmentally friendly, and these can be recycled for multiple uses.

  • The fabric is layered, which makes them more long-lasting. 

  • Moreover, polypropylene nonwoven fabric is highly awful to liquids and has high stretchable strength and flexibility. 

  • The fast-production method makes them budget-friendly and ready to consume in case of various purposes for people. 

  • Compared to any other nonwoven material, the spunbond fabrics have great physical properties, making them a suitable pick. 

These benefits show why the fabric industry forecasts a heavy increment in the market for Non Woven Spunbond Fabric. Still, many manufacturers and industries have switched to using nonwoven products and the advantages linked with their use. 

Applications of Spunbond Nonwovens 

Non Woven Spunbond Fabric can be used for several purposes: use and throw gloves, child diapers, disposable masks, house wraps, sanitary napkins, etc. The application of nonwovens fabrics is not only limited to the uses but also needs several other motives like: 

  • Several industries use the product for dumping purposes like masks, bandages, sanitary napkins, towels, wipes, disposable dresses, child diapers, carry bags, dust cloths, etc. 

  • With the help of the dewatering property of the fabrics, it is widely used for the closing of cement and concrete.

  • As the nonwovens are long-lasting, they also have an important use in producing home furnishing products like drapes, upholstery, mattress paddings, table covers, chair covers, carpets, and household goods.  

  • The fabric is also used to make tea bags, gel bags, filtering products, and other similar products. 

  • The nonwoven fabric is also used for agricultural purposes such as covering crops, weed control fabrics, crop protecting fabric for crops, root covers, etc. 

Therefore from all the applications of spunbond nonwoven materials, what makes them different is their environmental properties. In today’s times, when the world faces climatic changes at such a high rate, the industries must check their surroundings and adapt themselves to more sustainable ways of manufacturing their products.

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Fiber Selection for the Production of Nonwovens

This chapter focuses on the effects of fiber type, applied force, mass per unit area, contact surface, and fabric direction on the friction behavior of % PP and PES spunbond nonwoven fabrics. These samples have been used in medical packages, aprons, cleaning cloths, make up cleaning pads, protective cloths, wet towels, and home textiles. Therefore, it is important to evaluate friction behavior of nonwoven fabrics. Spunbonded nonwoven fabric samples (100 % polypropylene (PP) and polyester (PES)) were tested. While evaluating samples, Textile-Test Methods For Nonwoven-Part 3: Determination of Tensile Strength and Elongation and Textile-Test Methods For Nonwoven-Part 2: Determination of Fabric Thickness, ISO 9073-2, 1995 standards are used under standard test conditions. Some of the physical characteristics of nonwoven fabrics are given in Table 6. Before friction tests, a digital stereo microscope connected to computer (Figure 9) is used to examine surface view of samples [42].

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Frictional properties of nonwoven fabrics have been tested by using horizontal working principle device. This device is named as “horizontal platform experiment device.” The mechanism is developed which is shown in Figure 10 by designing and extra changes upon conventional universal tensile tester in order to perform friction experiments. The designed and manufactured device consists of anti friction rollers (3,4), non-stretch yarn (5), a sled (6), and a sled bed (7). A non-stretch yarn (5) is passed through rollers (3,4) to upper carrier claw (1) of tensile tester. Fastening the sample to the circular sled (6) made of circular 50mm diameter Delrin material is ensured by using a clip in proper dimensions. Nonwoven fabric (10) sample which is covered on sled (6) is lay out in the same direction (MD and CD) with horizontal platform [42].

Sled bed (7) is designed with the aim of stretching the fabric (10) on experiment table (8) so as to hold it stable and to prevent slipping, curling, twisting, or folding during the experiment. While the upper carrier claw (1) of developed device is moving at a specific speed, it also pulls Delrin sled (6), and as a result, a friction occurs between two surfaces. At the same time, the load changes stemming from fabric surface structure created during the movement are perceived by load cell (2) and created in graphical and numerical values by the computer (42).

All nonwoven samples were conditioned according to ISO139 before tests, and tests were performed in the standard atmosphere of 20±2°C temperature, and 65±5% relative humidity.

Design Expert 6.01 statistical package program is used to analyze data obtained by experimental works according to variance analysis at α = 0.05 significance. Obtained analysis of variance (ANOVA) table is summarized in the following section, where p value less than 0.05 means that mentioned assessed factor has significant impact. Regression models were formed to define the relationship between independent variables (mass per unit area, fiber type, applied force, contact surface, and fabric direction), and response variables (static and kinetic friction coefficient).

While conducting statistical analysis, fiber type, contact surface, and fabric direction were accepted as categorical, whereas fabric mass per unit area and applied force were accepted as numerical factors. The frictional behavior of samples was used to analyze the general factorial design. The analysis of variance, lack of fit tests, and residual analysis were performed to select the proper model for the friction behavior.

3.1. Results and discussion

Friction tests were conducted under five loads (7.4, 10.2, 14.5, 17.3, and 20.2 N) and from three points of the fabric for machine direction (MD) and cross direction (CD) of samples and under three friction environment (fabric-abrasive wool fabric, wood, and metal). At the end of friction tests, the highest value for the movement at its start was accepted as static friction resistance, whereas the average of values read thereafter were accepted as kinetic friction resistance. Attention was paid to ensure that the sample attached to Delrin part which was placed on horizontal platform was slightly strained and rubbed to different parts of the fabric. Figures obtained using the test results of friction behavior of nonwoven fabric obtained in the tests are given Figures 11-14 [42].

In Figures 11 and 12, the change against applied force (load) of static friction forces obtained as a result of friction tests conducted at machine direction (MD) and cross direction (CD) under three friction platforms of 100% PP- and PES-based nonwoven surfaces of three weights is shown [42].

When these figures are examined, it can be observed that when the force in normal direction (vertical direction) applied on the sample increased, static friction coefficient values tended to decrease. The result for this effect is interpreted to be the more uniform fabric surface created by fabric friction interaction as load increased, as a result of which friction coefficient tended to decrease [42].

When the impact of fiber type on friction coefficient is viewed, it can be seen that friction coefficient values of polypropylene (PP)-based nonwoven fabrics had much lower values than those of polyester (PES)-based samples. This is believed to have been caused by the fact that polypropylene-based samples had a tougher surface. As the surface is smoother, less force is required for sliding action so as to move when compared to polyester-based nonwoven fabrics, in which case friction coefficient values were measured much lower [42].

In addition, we can see that fabric mass per unit area has a significant impact on friction values. As the fiber orientation of nonwoven fabrics with low weight is not smooth, they showed fluctuations in behaviors, and it has been seen that they had higher friction coefficient. However, it has been found out that as weight increases, friction coefficient values started to decrease as fiber orientation on nonwoven fabric surface was more stabile. When one looks at microscope views in Figure 9a and 9b belonging to fabric samples, it can be seen that fiber orientation distributed irregularly, and that as fabric weight increased (Figure 9c and 9d), surface smoothness deteriorated. This structure of the used samples helps us in understanding the obtained findings [42].

When these figures are examined, it can be observed that kinetic friction coefficient values in CD direction of samples at different friction surfaces (abrasive wool fabric, wood and metal) are slightly higher when compared to MD direction. The reason for this result can be the fact that fiber orientation in CD direction is more preventive for friction movement in the formation of samples [42].

When each load group of same type of sample is examined in itself, it can be observed that as the force in applied normal direction (vertical direction) increases, kinetic friction coefficient values tend to decrease. The result for this effect is interpreted to be the more uniform fabric surface created by fabric friction interaction as load increased, as a result of which friction coefficient tended to decrease [42].

When we look at the impact of different friction environments on friction behavior, the lowest friction coefficient values were witnessed in fabric-metal friction environment, and the highest friction coefficient values were obtained in abrasive wool fabric friction environment. As metal surface is more smooth and slippery compared to wooden and abrasive wool fabric, it is observed that metal showed smaller resistance to friction, hence lower values for friction of metal in this interaction. In addition, in fabric-abrasive fabric friction environment, as a result of the tests applied in both machine and cross directions, higher kinetic friction coefficient values were measured, especially in 17 g/m2 mass per unit area nonwoven fabric sample, compared to other samples. This is interpreted to have been caused by irregular distribution of fiber orientation in samples with low weight [42].

As a result of friction tests realized under fabric wooden friction environment, kinetic friction coefficient values were higher for polyester-based samples (especially 100 g/m2) as weight of surface structure in both machine and cross directions increased and gained a softer structure. As for polypropylene-based samples, on the other hand, as mass per unit area increased, surface structure became smoother and therefore friction coefficient tended to decrease [42].

In fabric-metal friction environment, as mass per unit area increased, friction coefficient values for both samples tended to increase as well, which is interpreted to have been caused by the softening of surface [42].

The statistical analyses show that the best fitting model is the quadratic model for spunbond nonwoven fabrics (Tables 7 and 8).

Source P Value Adjusted R2 Predicted R2 Linear <0.0001 0.6361 0.6214 2FI <0.0001 0.7905 0.7680 Quadratic ≤ 0.0001 0.8586 0.8485 Cubics <0.0001 0.7719 0.7605

Table 7.

Model summary statistics (static)

ANOVA results for friction coefficient of nonwoven fabric samples are given in Table 9. When ANOVA table is examined, it can be seen that weight, fiber type, applied force, and contact surface of nonwoven fabrics have significant impact on friction coefficient values, whereas fabric direction showed no significant impact. In addition, according to the table, the R2 value of the model turned out to be some 0.86. In this case, terms in the model can explain the model at 86% ratio. This case shows that the model created for friction coefficient can express with rather high accuracy the relation between independent variables and dependent variable and that experimental work results were acceptable as accurate [42].

Source P Value Adjusted R2 Predicted R2 Linear <0.0001 0.6451 0.6290 2FI <0.0001 0.7765 0.7536 Quadratic ≤ 0.0001 0.8554 0.8456 Cubics <0.0001 0.7726 0.7611

Table 8.

Model summary statistics (kinetic)

Factor Static Kinetic F Value Prob>F F Value Prob>F Model 91.58 <0.0001 89.28 <0.0001 Mass Per Unit Area 5.40 0.0213 4.22 0.0415 Fiber Type 138.62 <0.0001 111.04 <0.0001 Applied Force 38.32 <0.0001 31.58 <0.0001 Contact Surface 318.75 <0.0001 333.38 <0.0001 Fabric Direction 3.32 0.0701 7.395E-004 0.9783 Weight2 72.95 <0.0001 83.57 <0.0001 Weight × Applied Force 86.79 <0.0001 57.47 <0.0001 Weight × Contact Surface 50.17 <0.0001 48.94 <0.0001 Fiber Type × Contact Surface 7.83 0.0006 9.40 0.0001 R2 0.8681 0.8651 Adjusted R2 d 0.8586 0.8554 Predicted R2 pre 0.8485 0.8456

Table 9.

ANOVA table

The regression equation of the quadratic model for spunbond nonwoven sample is as follows;

Static Friction Coefficient = 0.24 + 0.00364×A - 0.019×B-0.015×C + 0.045×D + 0.003×E - 0.001931×AC - 0.023×AD + 0.005×BD - 0.16×A2

Kinetic Friction Coefficient = 0.24 + 0.004678×A - 0.017×B - 0.013×C + 0.047×D - 0.004×E + 0.00012×AC - 0.022×AD + 0.0060×BD - 0.17×A2

According to model performance values, the correlation coefficient between predicted and observed air permeability values is 0.85, indicating a strong predictive capacity of the regression model for spunbond nonwoven samples.

Figure 15 gives normal distribution graph of residuals for quadratic model. As can be seen from the figure, no problems are observed in normal distribution in the chosen model. This analysis also supports the conformity of chosen model.

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