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An analysis on abrasion resistance of polyester-/viscose-blended needle-punched nonwovensErdem Koç a & Emel Çinçik ba Department of Mechanical Engineering , University of Ondokuz Mayıs , Kurupelit-Samsun ,Turkeyb Department of Textile Engineering , University of Erciyes , Melikgazi-Kayseri , TurkeyPublished online: 21 Jan 2013.

To cite this article: Erdem Ko & Emel inik (2013) An analysis on abrasion resistance of polyester-/viscose-blended needle-punched nonwovens, Journal of The Textile Institute, 104:8, 852-860, DOI: 10.1080/00405000.2012.760232

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00405000.2012.760232

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An analysis on abrasion resistance of polyester-/viscose-blended needle-punchednonwovens

Erdem Koça and Emel Çinçikb*aDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ondokuz Mayıs, Kurupelit-Samsun, Turkey; bDepartment of Textile

Engineering, University of Erciyes, Melikgazi-Kayseri, Turkey

(Received 24 July 2012; final version received 13 December 2012)

In this study, the influence of fiber composition and process parameters such as mass per unit area and punchingdensity on abrasion resistance of polyester-/viscose-blended needle-punched nonwovens has been investigated. Forthis purpose, five different blend ratios of polyester/viscose webs were produced, cross-lapped, and needled in fourdifferent mass per unit areas and three different needling/punching densities. The abrasion resistance and thicknessof the nonwovens were determined by performing the standard test methods. The structural parameters such asfabric bulk density and fiber volume fraction were calculated and the data obtained from tests and calculationswere analyzed in detail. It was concluded that abrasion resistance of the needle-punched nonwovens decreasedwith the increase of polyester proportion in the mixture and increased with the increase in mass per unit area.Also, an increase in punching density first caused to increase in abrasion resistance and then further increase inpunching density decreased the abrasion resistance.

Keywords: needle-punched nonwovens; abrasion resistance; blend ratio; punching density; fiber volume fraction

Introduction

Nonwoven fabrics are produced directly from rawmaterials by using mechanical, chemical, or thermalbonding techniques, and eliminating conventional tex-tile processes such as roving, spinning, weaving, orknitting. These fabrics have been preferred in variousapplication areas that range from simple wipes to highperformance geotextiles since they offer severaladvantages over woven or knitted fabrics. The mostsignificant advantages of nonwoven fabrics are sim-plicity of fabric formation, higher rate of production,and lower price.

The needle punching is widely preferred mechani-cal bonding method during manufacturing of nonwo-vens in which carded web of fibers are subjected tothe penetrating action of barbed felting needlesthrough the thickness of web (Russell, 2007). Thestructure and features of the needle-punched nonwo-vens are dependent on properties of component fibers,the structural arrangement of fibers in the web and theway fibers are bonded. These kinds of fabrics shouldposses various properties to perform diverse functionsaccording to their application areas. Some of the nee-dled nonwoven fabrics that are used as wipe, cleaningmaterials, personal care materials, underwear equip-ments, and reinforcement materials are exposed to

frictional forces during their use, and frictional proper-ties and abrasion resistance are important propertiesfor these products.

It was observed that there are few studies whichhandled frictional properties and abrasion resistance ofnonwoven fabrics. Of the reported studies, Winchesterand Whitwell (1970) studied performance characteris-tics (including abrasion resistance) of nonwovenfabrics as a function of basic fiber properties, binderproperties, and web construction (mass per unit area,punching density, bonding pressure, bonding time, andbonding temperature). Smith (1972) analyzed the abra-sion resistance of needle-punched woolen blanketsand it was found that abrasion resistance increaseslinearly with increase in the number of penetrations.Martin-Scott, Kerr, and Rigakis (1993) examined theeffects of abrasion on the penetration of liquid pesti-cide through disposable nonwoven coveralls. Theeffects of field-wear abrasion on breaking strength andbarrier properties such as water penetration resistance,oil repellency, and air permeability for nonwovenfabrics used for protective pants were investigated byCloud and Lowe (1995). Roedel and Ramkumar(2003) evaluated frictional properties of cotton-/poly-ester-blended needle-punched nonwovens, and resultsof this study indicated that fiber composition affects

*Corresponding author. Email: emelcincik@erciyes.edu.tr

The Journal of The Textile Institute, 2013Vol. 104, No. 8, 852–860, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00405000.2012.760232

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the frictional properties of the nonwovens. Berkalp,Pourdeyhimi, Seyam, and Holmes (2003) discussedthe appearance of woven and nonwoven fabrics afterabrasion cycles by using grey-scale image analysis fortexture periodicity measurement. The effects of bondroll variables (percent of bond area, bond point con-centration, and side wall angel) and bonding tempera-ture on properties including abrasion resistance ofpolyethylene nonwovens was examined (Smith, Ogale,Maugans, Walsh, & Patel, 2003). It was concludedthat the effect of bond area on abrasion was not sig-nificant and abrasion decreased at higher bonding tem-perature. A new method was developed to evaluatethe surface state of materials and to characterizeroughness-friction of nonwovens (Fontaine, Marsiquet,Renner, Bueno, & Nicoletti, 2005). The abrasion resis-tance of three-dimensional nonwoven samples pro-duced using air-laying and through-air thermalbonding system was investigated by changing thermalbonding temperature, dwell time, hot air velocity, andfabric weight by Wang, Gong, Dong, and Porat(2007). Enomae et al. (2006) studied the effect ofblend ratio of fibers and lamination material onfrictional properties of Manila hemp-/rayon-blendedhydro-entangled nonwovens. Soukupova, Boguslav-sky, and Anandjiwala (2007) utilized abrasionresistance of hydro-entangled nonwovens producedfrom the blends of three types of polyester/viscosefibers and flax/viscose fibers. The pilling and abrasionresistance of nonwovens made from bicomponentfibers were investigated and the results of the studyindicated that fiber type (segmented, island in the sea,and trilobal) and percentage of component fibersplay a large part in determining structure of the non-wovens and abrasion resistance (Sahbaee Bagher-zadeh, 2007). The effects of machine parameters suchas depth of needle penetration, punching density onstiffness, and abrasion resistance of needled nonwovenfabrics have been analyzed by Midha (2011). Theresults derived from the study showed that abrasionresistance of samples is not affected significantly inthe given range of needle punch density and depth ofpenetration, and calendaring improves the fabric abra-sion resistance.

In the present study, the effect of blend ratio, massper unit area, and needling density on the abrasionresistance of polyester-/viscose-blended nonwovenswas investigated. Sixty needle-punched nonwovenswere produced with changing blend ratios of polyes-ter/viscose, mass per unit areas, and needling densi-ties. The abrasion resistance, thickness, fabric density,and fiber volume fraction (FVF) of all the sampleswere determined and the influences of all the parame-ters on abrasion resistance of the samples were ana-lyzed in detail.

Effect of needle-punched nonwovens structureon abrasion resistance

The needle-punched nonwovens are complex aniso-tropic fibrous assemblies which have periodic regionsin their structure that is caused by the interaction offibers with needle barbs. On a micro-structural scale,needle-punched fabrics consist of at least two differentregions. These regions are illustrated in Figure 1. Firstregion is bonded or needle-marked area which con-tains fiber segments that are orientated approximatelyperpendicular to the fabric plane (1). These verticalfibers act like sewing thread and bond the horizontalfibers together. Second is un-bonded region that isbetween impact areas associated with the punchingaction of needles, is not directly affected by needles,and retains a similar structure as original un-bondedweb (2) (Russell, 2007). The fibers in this region areapproximately horizontal to the fabric plane and indisordered orientation. The ends of some of the fibersin this area may be connected to bonded region.

The abrasion resistance of the needle-punchednonwovens is dependent on not only surface charac-teristics of the fibers used but also the structure of thefibers in bonded and un-bonded region of nonwovens.The raw material and surface characteristics of fibersinfluence the friction coefficient of individual fiberswhich is important for abrasion resistance. The higherfriction coefficient of fibers leads to increasing fiberinteraction and inter, intra fiber frictional force whichresist to abrasion. Hence, the needled nonwovensproduced from fibers with higher coefficient of frictiondisplay higher abrasion resistance.

In un-bonded region of needled nonwovens, as thefibers are located closely to each other, both the fiberinteraction and fiber-to-fiber frictional force increase.This frictional force provides sufficient coherence,withstands abrasion force, and holds the fiberstogether during abrasion action. The higher the num-ber of fibers in this region, the higher the fiber interac-tion comprises which resist to abrasion. Also, FVFwhich determines the position of fibers to each otherin the fabric is crucial for abrasion resistance. TheFVF (%) can be identified as the ratio of the volumeof the fibers constituting the fabric to the whole vol-ume of fabric. It can be calculated as (Payen et al.,2012):

FVF ¼ G

10� t � qf

; (1)

where G is the mass per unit area of fabric (g/m2), t isthe thickness of fabric (mm), and qf is the fiber den-sity (g/cm3). The density of the component fibers wascalculated based on a weighted average as follows(Barker & Heniford, 2011):

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qf ¼ wpqp þ wvtv: (2)

Here, wp and wv define weight fraction of polyesterand viscose fibers (%), respectively. qp is the densityof polyester fiber (g/cm3) and qv is the density ofviscose fiber (g/cm3).

The FVF indicates the compactness of the fabricand the higher FVF results in closely location of fibersto each other. In other words, the air gap betweenfibers decreases in the fabric. Hence, nonwoven fab-rics having higher FVF yield resistance to abrasionwhere the fiber-to-fiber interaction also increases.

In bonded region of needled nonwoven, the tight-ness and strength of bonds are significant for abrasionresistance. If the fibers are entangled tightly and effec-tively, it will be difficult to separate entangled fibersand create hole during abrasion action. The higher thenumber of bonded fibers and bonded area in needlednonwovens, the higher abrasion resistance is obtained.

Experimental study and test results

Preparation of nonwovens

The present study deals with nonwovens producedwith different blend ratios of polyester and viscosefibers, with different fabric mass per unit areas andneedling densities. The properties of polyester andviscose fibers used for preparing webs are illustratedin Table 1.

The needle-punched nonwoven samples wereproduced at Nonwoven Research Group Laboratoriesin the University of Leeds. The fibers were openedand blended by hand by using sandwich technique,and then mixed by blender with five different blendratios as given in Table 2. Blended fiber mass werefed to laboratory model card and the webs formedwere oriented to cross-machine direction using across-lapper to provide web of required fabric weightper unit area.

Table 1. The properties of polyester and viscose fibers.

FiberLength(mm)

Fineness(dtex)

Density(g/cm3)

Strength(cN/tex)

Elongation(%)

Numberof crimps/cm Fiber cross-section

Polyester 38 1.6 1.38 53.9 34.45 4.77 Round

Viscose 40 1.7 1.52 26.30 26.98 4.10 Curly

a) Structure of needle-punched nonwovens b) Cross-section of needle-punched nonwovens

1. Bonded region 2. Un-bonded region

Fabric plane

2. Un-bonded region

1. Bonded region Fabric plane

Figure 1. Structure of needle-punched nonwovens.

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The webs were then fed to the laboratory modelneedling loom containing 2000 needles per runningmeter. The feed speed, stroke frequency, and otherparameters of the needle loom were arranged to get apunch density of 75 punch/cm2 accordingly. The depthof needle penetration was kept at 10mm and the typeof needles was Foster 15� 18� 36� 3RB� F20–9–4NK for all samples. The webs were passed separatelythrough the loom one, two, and three times to getthree different punching/needling densities (75, 150,225 punch/cm2) for each fabric mass per unit area, asshown in Table 3.

In order to investigate only the effect of needlingdensity, the weights of fabrics were tried to be keptconstant after one, two, or three passes through nee-dling loom for fabrics with identical mass per unitareas. For this purpose, the weights of webs producedby card for identical mass per unit area intervals weregradually reduced by adjusting feeding rollers of cardto get the same mass per unit area after each needlingprocess. Sixty different samples were produced by tak-ing into consideration the number of blend ratios (5),the number of weight per unit areas (4), and the num-ber of needling densities (3) for the experimentalstudy (5� 4� 3 = 60).

Testing of nonwovens

All the fabrics were conditioned 24 h at standardatmospheric conditions (20 ± 2° temperature and % 65± 2 relative humidity) prior to testing. The standardtests were performed to determine mass per unit area,thickness, and abrasion resistance of fabrics at stan-dard atmospheric conditions. Mass per unit area was

determined by following EDANA test standardsERT40.3–1990 by testing 30� 30 cm of 10 samples.The mean of the results were calculated for meanmass per unit area. SDL Atlas M034A Digital Thick-ness Gauge with pressure 1 kPa was used to measurethe thickness of 10 samples for each fabric accordingto EDANA standard ERT 30.5–1999. The abrasionresistance of the samples was conducted on James H.Heal Martindale abrasion tester, following ISO12,947–2:1998 test standard and using woolen fabricas an abradant. The abrading cycles that create a holein the fabric was reported to determine abrasion resis-tance of the nonwoven samples. Six pieces of sampleswith 38mm diameter were cut from different parts ofeach fabric and measurement was done using 9 kPapressure between specimen and abradant. The meanabrasion resistance of each fabric was reported. Thefabric bulk density was calculated by dividing meanof measured mass per unit area by mean of measuredthickness. Also, FVF of each fabric was obtained byusing Equations (1) and (2).

All the experimental results and calculated resultsare represented in Table 4. The letters in fabric typeindicated the kinds of blend ratio (as in Table 2), thefirst number showed the mass per unit area, and sec-ond number represented the needling density of eachsample (as in Table 3). For instance, for fabric A21, Areferred that the blend ratio of fabric was 100% poly-ester, 2 referred that mass per unit area was 75 g/m2,and 1 expressed that the needling density was75 punches/cm2.

Results and discussion

In order to determine the effects of chosen parameters(blend ratio, mass per unit area, and punching density)on abrasion resistance of the fabrics objectively, theanalysis of variance (ANOVA) has been conducted byusing data derived from tests in “Design Expert”software. The ANOVA table for abrasion resistance ispresented in Table 5. Here, “linear mixture” repre-sented the linear effect of each of the blend compo-nents (blend ratio of polyester and viscose). TheANOVA table also indicated that the effect of blendratios and interaction of blend ratios, mass per unitarea, and needling density had significant effect onabrasion resistance at a significance level of 5%(p< .0001). In the table, the greater sum of squaresand contribution values of specific parameters demon-strated that the effect of those parameters on abrasionresistance was higher. As seen from the table, theparameters which had higher effect on the abrasionresistance were linear mixture (P and V-36.46%) andinteraction of blend ratio of viscose and mass per unitarea (VM-35.97%), respectively.

Table 2. Blend ratios used for the study.

Blend ratios (%)

Polyester Viscose

A 100 0B 75 25C 50 50D 25 75E 0 100

Table 3. Levels of process factors changed during sampleproduction.

Mass per unit area(g/m2)

Punching density(punches/cm2)

1 50 1 752 75 2 1503 100 3 2254 125

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Table 4. Experimental test results and calculated results.

Fabric type

Measured massper unit area (g/m2) Thickness (mm)

Bulk density(g/cm3)

Fiber volumefraction (FVF) (%)

Abrasion resistance(cycles)

Average CV (%) Average CV (%) Average CV (%)

A11 50.40 4.319 1.730 3.901 0.0291 2.109 175 0A21 76.77 3.546 2.250 5.229 0.0341 2.471 780 4.21A31 100.49 3.263 2.710 4.935 0.0371 2.688 2475 0A41 124.21 3.094 3.121 8.251 0.0398 2.884 8550 0.37A12 50.51 3.527 1.670 6.632 0.0302 2.188 525 3.01A22 74.78 3.140 2.097 3.548 0.0357 2.587 1700 3.22A32 99.87 2.578 2.340 4.187 0.0427 3.094 5075 0.44A42 125.09 2.074 3.000 2.160 0.0417 3.022 16,517 0.16A13 50.63 3.240 1.562 5.173 0.0324 2.348 420 2.61A23 74.13 3.224 1.868 3.649 0.0397 2.877 1489 1.07A33 100.7 3.388 2.091 2.978 0.0482 3.493 4250 3.22A43 125.04 1.679 2.589 2.439 0.0483 3.500 22,125 0.35B11 50.7 2.912 1.497 4.225 0.0339 2.396 240 4.56B21 75.73 2.122 2.051 2.762 0.0369 2.608 904 1.13B31 101.01 2.240 2.552 2.726 0.0396 2.799 3750 0B41 126.33 3.857 3.311 4.798 0.0382 2.700 10,175 1.35B12 50.41 2.536 1.540 3.076 0.0327 2.311 550 2.51B22 75.48 2.033 2.041 2.135 0.0370 2.615 1938 0.71B32 99.76 2.765 2.422 2.011 0.0412 2.912 6817 0.38B42 125.17 2.122 2.598 3.3555 0.0482 3.406 14,725 0.52B13 50.07 4.194 1.461 6.481 0.0343 2.424 458 0.89B23 74.21 3.958 1.839 4.231 0.0404 2.856 1707 0.61B33 99.20 3.086 2.188 4.680 0.0453 3.201 5725 0.87B43 123.2 2.278 2.412 2.700 0.0511 3.611 19,125 5.48C11 51.11 6.674 1.469 6.673 0.0348 2.400 307 3.37C21 76.1 3.160 2.000 3.916 0.0381 2.628 992 1.30C31 99.91 4.004 2.250 4.537 0.0444 3.062 4150 3.73C41 125.33 3.295 3.011 5.231 0.0416 2.869 13,058 0.16C12 50.19 4.149 1.560 4.956 0.0322 2.221 575 2.75C22 74.86 5.524 2.059 9.904 0.0364 2.510 2092 0.62C32 100.62 2.453 2.232 4.034 0.0451 3.110 7292 1.63C42 125.13 2.386 2.860 2.622 0.0438 3.021 17,521 0.11C13 50.10 5.136 1.160 0.068 0.0432 2.979 500 0C23 73.97 2.603 1.692 0.050 0.0437 3.014 1800 2.49C33 98.71 2.135 2.092 0.073 0.0472 3.255 6058 0.34C43 124.67 2.612 2.431 0.070 0.0513 3.538 22,167 0.58D11 50.42 5.140 1.430 6.114 0.0353 2.377 340 0D21 76.93 4.366 1.879 5.784 0.0409 2.754 1125 1.99D31 100.32 3.733 2.491 4.867 0.0403 2.714 5075 0.54D41 127.22 2.766 3.048 3.912 0.0417 2.808 17,075 0.09D12 50.72 4.175 1.361 5.037 0.0373 2.512 625 2.53D22 76.02 3.410 1.783 4.796 0.0426 2.869 2250 0.99D32 101.15 4.022 2.152 5.297 0.0470 3.165 8957 0.14D42 124.84 2.364 2.717 3.849 0.0459 3.091 20,858 0.06D13 49.85 3.297 1.317 4.251 0.0379 2.552 483 2.67D23 75.03 3.176 1.746 3.704 0.0430 2.896 2079 1.18D33 99.39 2.305 2.051 3.027 0.0485 3.266 6163 0.62D43 124.86 3.867 2.319 4.834 0.0538 3.623 25,117 0.16E11 50.89 3.316 1.315 5.415 0.0387 2.546 383 6.74E21 77.13 2.813 1.792 3.566 0.0430 2.829 1400 0E31 100.87 2.698 2.303 3.668 0.0438 2.882 6750 0.91E41 125.07 1.859 2.600 4.576 0.0481 3.165 19,963 0.11E12 49.34 5.355 1.482 6.618 0.0333 2.191 700 6.39E22 75.72 3.735 1.733 4.495 0.0437 2.875 2500 2.28E32 100.71 3.274 1.982 3.445 0.0508 3.342 10,808 0.60E42 124.90 2.360 2.252 5.381 0.0555 3.651 24,575 0.38E13 50.06 3.270 1.269 3.915 0.0394 2.592 600 9.13

(Continued)

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Effect of blend ratio and fabric mass per unit area

The abrasion resistance results versus the changingblend ratio of polyester (P) and viscose fibers (V) inthe mixture which range from 0 to 100% for four dif-ferent mass per unit areas are illustrated in Figure 2 topresent the effects of both blend ratio and fabric massper unit area on abrasion resistance of nonwovens.Here, the needling density of fabrics was fixed to75 punches/cm2 and fabric mass per unit areas wasdetermined as 50 g/m2 (a), 75 g/m2 (b), 100 g/m2 (c),and 125 g/m2 (d).

As seen from Figure 2; for all fabric mass per unitareas, the abrasion resistance of the fabrics decreasedwith the increase in the blend ratio of polyester inblend. The trend of the abrasion resistance was samefor other fabrics. Also, FVF generally decreased withthe increase in polyester proportion (Table 4), whichindicated that viscose-rich fabrics displayed morecompact structure than polyester-rich ones for identicalmass per unit areas and needling densities. Therefore,fiber-to-fiber frictional forces which provide sufficientcoherence and hold fibers together during abrasionaction were higher for viscose-rich nonwovens. Fur-thermore, the curly cross-section of viscose increasedthe contact area of fibers, and friction coefficient ofviscose fibers was generally higher than that of poly-ester fibers (Belser & Taylor, 1968; Howell, Mieszkis,& Tabor, 1959). These two factors also ascended interand intra fiber friction which resisted the rubbingaction.

Besides these, the higher bending rigidity, stiffness,and low packing density of polyester fiber contributedto less effective web consolidation and looser fiberentanglement for identical needling densities. It waseasier to damage and create hole for bulkier andlooser structure of polyester-rich fabrics by the effectof rubbing during abrasion test.

It can be also inferred from these figures that themore fabric mass per unit area, the higher abrasionresistance of the fabrics was, when the needlingdensity kept constant. This effect could be seen inFigure 3 more clearly. The similar effect of mass perunit areas was observed for other punching densities.Fabrics with higher mass per unit area had highernumber of fibers in the cross-section and higher thick-ness. Also, since the number of fibers was higher forhigher mass per unit areas, the interaction and fric-tional forces between high numbers of fibers increasedand this provided higher abrasion resistance.

Effect of punching density

In order to elucidate the effect of punching density,abrasion resistance of fabrics with different punchingdensities for 100 and 125 g/m2 mass per unit areaare demonstrated in Figure 4, respectively. For thenonwovens except 125 g/m2 fabrics, the abrasionresistance initially increased with an increasein punching density and then there was asmall decrease in abrasion resistance when it was

Table 4. (Continued)

Fabric type

Measured massper unit area (g/m2) Thickness (mm)

Bulk density(g/cm3)

Fiber volumefraction (FVF) (%)

Abrasion resistance(cycles)

Average CV (%) Average CV (%) Average CV (%)

E23 74.38 4.615 1.460 5.226 0.0509 3.349 2088 7.22E33 100.67 4.385 1.909 7.807 0.0527 3.467 8446 0.91E43 125.05 2.462 1.932 5.169 0.0647 4.257 27,150 0.23

Table 5. ANOVA for abrasion resistance.

Source Sum of squares Contribution (%) Degrees of freedom Mean square F value p value Significance

Model 5.8416 99.50 7 0.8345 1442.372 <0.0001 SignificantLinear mixture 2.1406 36.46 1 2.1406 3699.833 <0.0001 SignificantPM 1.4623 24.91 1 1.4623 2527.454 <0.0001 SignificantPPd 0.0566 0.96 1 0.0566 97.761 <0.0001 SignificantVM 2.1119 35.97 1 2.1119 3650.257 <0.0001 SignificantVPd 0.0189 0.33 1 0.0189 32.721 <0.0001 SignificantPPd2 0.0363 0.62 1 0.0363 62.781 <0.0001 SignificantVPd2 0.0149 0.25 1 0.0149 25.797 <0.0001 SignificantResidual 0.0295 0.50 51 0.00058Cor total 5.8711 100.00 58

P: blend ratio of polyester in the mixture, V: blend ratio of viscose in mixture, M: fabric mass per unit area, and Pd: punching density.

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Abrasion Resistance for Different Fabric Mass per Unit Areas and 75punches/cm2 Punching Density

0

2000

4000

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8000

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12000

14000

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20000

%100P 75P/25V 50P/50V 25P/75V 100% V

Blend Ratio

Abr

asio

n R

esis

tanc

e (C

ycle

s)

50g/m275g/m2100g/m2125g/m2

Figure 3. Abrasion resistance for different fabric mass per unit areas and for 75 punches/cm2 punching density.

0

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100% V 75% V 50% V 25% V 0% V

Blend Ratio

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Pd: 75punches/cm2

0% P 25% P 50% P 75% P 100% P

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M: 75g/m2

Pd: 75punches/cm2

0% P 25% P 50% P 75% P 100% P

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M: 125g/m2

Pd: 75punches/cm2

0% P 25% P 50% P 75% P 100% P

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Figure 2. Relation between blend ratio and abrasion resistance for different fabric mass per unit areas and for 75 punches/cm2

punching density: (a) for 50 g/m2 and 75 punches/cm2 fabrics, (b) for 75 g/m2 and 75 punches/cm2 fabrics, (c) for 100 g/m2 and75 punches/cm2 fabrics, and (d) for 125 g/m2 and 75 punches/cm2 fabrics.

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continued to increase the punching density as shownin Figure 4(a). Increased punching density providedbetter interlocking of the fibers and fabrics resistedto abrading action for first step increment of punch-ing density. On the other hand, by increasing thepunching density, the number of fibers migratedfrom un-bonded region of the web towards to inte-rior of fabric increased. Since the mass per unit areawas constant in our study, the number of fibers infabric was also constant. Further increase in punch-ing density also caused the number of fibers in un-

bonded region to decrease and the thickness of un-bonded region to be thinner. Hence, un-bondedregions got weaker for abrasion action with theeffect of further increase in punching density. For125 g/m2 fabrics as illustrated in Figure 4(b), abra-sion resistance continued to increase with furtherincrease in punching density. This increment mightbe attributed to higher number of fibers in 125 g/m2

fabrics. There might be enough fibers to resist rub-bing action in un-bonded region of these fabricsafter more increase in punching density.

Abrasion Resistance for different Punching Densities and 100g/m2

Mass per Unit Area

0

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4000

6000

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%100P 75P/25V 50P/50V 25P/75V 100% V

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Abrasion Resiatance for Different Punching Densities and 125g/m2

Mass per Unit Area

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%100P 75P/25V 50P/50V 25P/75V 100% V

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(a)

(b)

Figure 4. Abrasion resistance for different punching densities: (a) for 100 g/m2 mass per unit area and (b) for 125 g/m2 massper unit area.

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Conclusion

An experimental study was conducted to determinethe effect of two mixture components (polyester andviscose blend ratios) and two process variables (fabricmass per unit area and needling density) on abrasionresistance of needle-punched nonwovens. TheANOVA table which has been acquired by using dataderived from experiments indicated that all the chosenfactors in this study had significant effects on theabrasion resistance at a significance level of 5%. Itwas found that the parameters which had higher effecton the abrasion resistance were linear mixture(36.46%) and interaction of blend ratio of viscose andmass per unit area (35.97%), respectively.

According to the results obtained from this study,the abrasion resistance of the fabrics decreased withthe increase in blend ratio of polyester in blend. Itwas also observed that the higher the fabric mass perunit area, the better abrasion resistance was achieveddue to higher number of fibers which provided highercohesion forces. It was also determined that there wasa trend of increasing abrasion resistance when thepunching density was increased for constant mass perunit areas. For lower mass per unit areas, abrasionresistance decreased while abrasion resistance contin-ued to increase for higher mass per unit areas owingto further increase in punching density.

AcknowledgementsThe authors would like to express their sincere gratitude tothe University of Leeds, the Nonwoven Research Centerstaff, and Prof. Dr Stephen Russell for allowing them to usethe facilities and for their support.

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