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Abstract:
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Fiber characteristics greatly influence the level of fiber openness, the uniformity of
the carded web, and ultimately the quality of the nonwoven needlepunched fabric. With
technological advancements in nonwoven manufacturing, production speeds of
nonwoven machinery are increasing, and the control of the web weight for web
uniformity becomes more challenging. Manufacturers are faced with higher raw
material costs to achieve desirable web properties. Optimization of fiber properties
will reduce the need to use additional raw materials to compensate for the strength of
nonwoven fabrics due to nonuniform webs. The purpose of this thesis was to study the
effects of fiber openness, chip content, finish level, and crimps per inch on web
uniformity and fabric strength, elongation, weight, and air permeability.
The results indicated that bale conditions with a higher finish, chip content, and
crimp level produced lower openness values. The poorest web uniformity was found
for the high chip, high crimp, and medium finish bale conditions. The nonwoven
fabric strength increased with increasing crimps per inch up to an optimal level,
beyond which the strength decreased. Low chip content bale conditions produced a
high fabric elongation with increasing crimps per inch as compared to high chip content
conditions. Heavier fabric was produced for medium crimp, high chip, and low bale
openness conditions. Results for air permeability were found to be inconclusive, with
no practical significance.
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