New progress in spunlace technology

Memis Acar from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Loughborough University in the UK has demonstrated that the spunlace technology can process fiberglass and produce industrial fabrics. However, due to the non curling nature of fiberglass, traditional beliefs suggest that dry non-woven processes are difficult to process.

Most fiberglass nonwoven fabrics are generally processed by needle punching or wet technology, but North Carolina State University (NCSN) in the United States has successfully developed a spunlace nonwoven fabric that blends fiberglass and polyester. Coarse denier fiberglass with a diameter of 16um is difficult to process by spunlacing. If mixed with fine denier fiberglass with a diameter of 6.5um, it is beneficial to improve the strength of spunlace nonwoven fabrics. Therefore, when mixed with different fiber sizes, fine denier fibers are conducive to spunlace, while coarse denier fibers are conducive to improving the strength of spunlace nonwoven fabrics. If fiberglass is mixed with textile staple fibers such as polyester, it can enhance the ability of spunlace’s entanglement. Mixing fiberglass with low melting point polyester can produce fiberglass reinforced polyester composite materials.

Researchers from Auburn University in the United States have discovered using NGSN equipment that the spunlace method can produce geo-textiles, which are currently produced through needle punching and hot rolling processes. Researchers have found that changing the spunlace pressure and the duration of water needle action on the fiber mesh can alter the pore size of geotextiles. Aperture is a key indicator of geotextiles, especially when used as a sand filter layer, allowing water to flow through and preventing soil movement. Extending the time of water needle action on the fiber mesh or increasing the water needle pressure can enhance the spunlace’s entanglement effect of the fiber mesh and reduce the pore size of the fabric. The aperture size can be adjusted online without stopping, thereby improving production speed and being more flexible and simple than other processing techniques of geotextiles.