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Abstract:
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It is a well known fact that polypropylene cannot be dyed
like other conventional fibers because it has no dye sites and
no affinity for dye. The principal method to color the fib~rs
is to introduce pigments into the melt before the fiber is
extruded. When this is done, foreign material enters the melt,
and the resulting fiber properties are affected.
In needlepunch manufacturing, fiber property changes
caused by pigments are realized most in the carding process.
Unlike yarn manufacturing, in needlepunching, carding is the
only opportunity to align the fiber and reduce weight
variation. One of the greatest opportunities for improvement
in this area is to determine why there is so much variation in
processing performance among polypropylene fibers with various
pigment colors. This was the basic opportunity upon which
this research was designed.
The bottom line conclusion is that different pigments do
affect fiber cohesion and weight uniformity in needlepunch
fabric formation. These changes are associated with the
changes in fiber morphology, as found in this thesis. Based
on this study, it is recommended to producers and users of
pigmented polypropylene that each pigmented fiber be
characterized, and appropriate adjustment in your process made
to achieve maximum quality and efficiency.
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