Hydroentanglement
Hydroentanglement is a bonding process for wet or dry fibrous webs made by either carding, airlaying or wet-laying, the resulting bonded fabric being a nonwoven. It uses fine, high pressure jets of water which penetrate the web, hit the conveyor belt (or "wire" as in papermaking conveyor) and bounce back causing the fibres to entangle.[1]
Hydroentanglement is sometimes known as spunlacing, this term arising because the early nonwovens were entangled on conveyors with a patterned weave which gave the nonwovens a lacy appearance. It can also be regarded as a two-dimensional equivalent of spinning fibres into yarns prior to weaving. The water pressure has a direct bearing on the gsm, and strength of the web, and very high pressures not only entangle but can also split fibres into micro- and nano-fibres which give the resulting hydroentangled nonwoven a leatherlike or even silky texture. This type of nonwoven can be as strong and tough as woven fabrics made from the same fibres.[2][1]
Composition
Different types of staple length fibers and blends can be used in hydroentangled nonwoven fabrics. Polyester and cellulosic (regenerated cellulosic fibers such as viscose) blend is most commonly used in these fabrics.[3]
Characteristics
The spun-lace fabrics have variable thickness and properties since they are produced by varying processing parameters such as waterjet pressure, delivery speed, web mass and web composition. Primarily these fabrics are water absorbent and holds many other properties like water retention, water vapor permeability and capillary. They are lightweight , soft, flexible and silky texture. They are disposable and affordable than peers. [4][5]
Use
They are suitable for many types of wet wipes, kitchen wipes and aprons. By altering physical properties with lamination, coating, etc. these fabrics offer variety of products suitable in use of hygiene care and medical textiles for instance sanitary napkins, baby wipes, face masks and range of medical gowns used as a part of PPE.[6][7][8]
References
- ^ a b Xiang, P.; Kuznetsov, Andrey V.; Seyam, A. M. (2008). "A Porous Medium Model of the Hydro entanglement Process". Journal of Porous Media. 11 (1): 35–49. doi:10.1615/JPorMedia.v11.i1.30. ISSN 1091-028X.
- ^ [1], "Process and apparatus for preparing a molded, textured, spunlaced, nonwoven web", issued 2007-08-03
- ^ [2], "Process for making spunlaced nonwoven fabrics", issued 1992-05-13
- ^ Hajiani, F.; Hosseini, S. M.; Ansari, N.; Jeddi, A. A. A. (2010-08-01). "The influence of water jet pressure settings on the structure and absorbency of spunlace nonwoven". Fibers and Polymers. 11 (5): 798–804. doi:10.1007/s12221-010-0798-x. ISSN 1875-0052. S2CID 135803290.
- ^ Jain, Ravi Kumar; Sinha, Sujit Kumar; Das, Apurba (2018-01-01). "Structural investigation of spunlace nonwoven". Research Journal of Textile and Apparel. 22 (3): 158–179. doi:10.1108/RJTA-07-2017-0038. ISSN 1560-6074.
- ^ "How Surgical Masks are Made, Tested and Used". www.thomasnet.com. Retrieved 2020-11-06.
- ^ "How to Make PPE (Personal Protective Equipment)". www.thomasnet.com. Retrieved 2020-11-06.
- ^ Zhang, Yinjiang; Deng, Chao; Wang, Yuxiao; Huang, Chen; Zhao, Yi; Jin, Xiangyu (2019-02-01). "A new dispersible moist wipe from wetlaid/spunlace nonwoven: Development and characterization". Journal of Industrial Textiles. 48 (7): 1136–1150. doi:10.1177/1528083718757524. ISSN 1528-0837. S2CID 139500588.
Bibliography
- M. G. Kamath; Atul Dahiya; Raghavendra R. Hegde (April 2004). "Spunlace (Hydroentanglement)". University of Tennessee's College of Engineering. Archived from the original on 2013-12-08. Retrieved 2013-11-25.
- Horrocks, Richard A.; Annex, Brian H. (2000). Handbook of Technical Textiles. Elsevier. pp. 150–151. ISBN 9781855738966.