Here i discussed about Nonwoven fabric. Also discussed about it's characteristics, classification, manufacturing process, application etc.

1. Name: Jahid Khan
Lecturer,
Department: Textile Engineering
Port City International University
Name: Md. Shahadat Hosen
ID: BTE 01205766
Batch: 12-B-Day
Program: B.Sc in TE
PORT CITY INTERNATIONAL
UNIVERSITY
ASSIGNMENT
ON
.............................................................................................................................................................................
Course code: TEX 474
Course title: Special Fabric Manufacturing
SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:
Date: 15-09-2020
Non-woven fabric

2. Non-woven Fabric:
Non-wovens are flexible, porous, products consisting of one or more fibre layers. The separate
fibres may either be preferentially oriented in one direction or may be deposited in a random
manner. They are bonded by chemical, thermal or mechanical processes into textile products.
Non-wovens are mainly planar structures. This relatively young branch of the textile industry
has expanded enormously after the second world-war because of the high production rates and
the resulting cost savings.
Contemporary non-woven fabric dates to the early1930s. At that time, a few textile companies
began experimenting with bonded materials as a way of utilizing cotton waste. The first
commercial production of the products now called non-wovens began in 1942 in the United
States in an effort to produce fabric directly from fibres. The market for non-woven products
has experienced tremendous growth and has potential for more.
Characteristics of Non-Woven Fabric:
a. The appearance of non-woven fabrics may be paper like, felt like, or similar to that of
woven fabrics.
b. They may have a soft, resilient hand, or they may be hard, stiff, or broadly with little
pliability.
c. They may be as thin as thin as tissue paper or many times thicker.
d. They also may be translucent or opaque.
e. Their porosity may range from low tear and burst strength to very high tensile strength.
f. They may be fabricated by gluing, heat bonding, or sewing.
g. The drapability of this type of fabrics varies from good to none at all.
h. Some fabrics have excellent launderability; others have none. Some may be dry-
cleaned.
i. Non-woven fabrics do not fray
j. Non-woven fabrics Can be made into moulded shapes
k. Non-woven fabrics can be made from recycled fibres
Classifications of non-woven:

3. Bonded Fabrics:
Nonwoven web formation methods are classified according to the form of raw materials chosen
for the specific application. Staple fiber and filaments are used to fabricate nonwoven webs.
• Dry laid: Dry-laid web formation is one of the old techniques and is very similar to the
felting process. For the production of dry-laid web, carding machines and web lappers
are used to layer the fibrous batt. The fibrous web layers are subsequently felted using
heat, moisture, and agitation. These materials may be of natural or synthetic
polymer composition and can be processed alone or in blends. Carded webs are
produced from either short-staple fiber (20–60 mm) or long-staple fiber (50–
150 mm).The dry-laid web formation technique, such as fiber preparation, blending,
carding, and garnering are innovations of the textile industry. These processes prepare
staple fibers, blend them, and layer the fiber batt in a dry state. In dry-laid web
formation, the fibers are collected into a web form by parallel lapping, cross-lapping,
or aerodynamic (air-laid) lap forming and then bonded by means of mechanical needles,
hydro-entanglement, chemical adhesives, and thermal bonding methods.
Fig: Dry laid nonwoven.
Raw material: Cotton fiber, synthetic Fiber, Viscose fiber, Short cotton fiber.
Application: Diapers, Baby wipes, Feminine Napkins, Tampons, Adult Incontinence Products,
Medical textile.
• Wet-laid: Wet-laid forming, which can be regarded as being analogous to conventional
papermaking processes but with use of chopped synthetic or staple fibers, continues to
draw attention as an advantageous way to prepare advanced nonwoven textile products.
The wet-laid web forming system is designed to fabricate short fibers dispersed in
liquid, which are subsequently layered. The wet-laid method is specifically suitable for
the large scale production of disposable products, such as tea bags, aprons, gloves,
napkins, and surgical gauze.
Fig: Wet laid nonwoven.

4. Raw Material: A wide range of natural, wood pulp, mineral, synthetic and man-made fibers
of varying lengths can be used such as glass, polyester, polyamide, and regenerated fiber.
Applications: Filter paper, Tea Bag Fabric, Napkin, Surgical gauze.
• Spun-melt: Spun-melt is a generic term describing the manufacturing of nonwoven
webs directly from thermoplastic polymers. It encompasses 2 processes,
a. Spun-bond Non-woven
b. Melt-Blown Non-woven
a. Spun-laid (bonded) Non-woven: Polymer granules are extruded into filaments
through so called spinnerets. The continuous filaments are stretched and quenched
before being deposited on conveyor belt to form a uniform web. The spun-laid process
results into nonwovens with an increased strength compared to carding, due to the
attenuation of the filaments. The downside is that the choice of raw materials is more
restricted. Co-extrusion of two components leads to bico fibers, either adding more
properties to the web or allowing air-through bonding. Please note that the word
spunbond is reserved for thermo bonded spun-laid.
Fig: Spun-laid (bonded) Non-woven.
Raw material: PP (polypropylene), Pet, Nylon, PE, Polyester. (Synthetic Thermoplastic
Resin).
Application: Packaging (Shopping Bag), PPE for medical,
b. Melt-blown non-woven: Meltblown, like spun-laid, starts with extruding a low
viscosity polymer. But instead of quenching the filaments when they leave the
spinneret, the filaments are being attenuated by hot air streams, keeping the filaments
in a partially molten state. This leads to much thinner filaments, with low tensile
strength. The filaments hit a belt or a conveyor belt where they form a web.
Fig: Melt-blown non-woven.

5. Application: Filter paper, N95 mask (as filter fabric), PP Gown, surgical mask, Napkin,
Teabag fabric, water filter, Face Mask, Package, Teabag, Silica gel bag, Sanitary materials,
Warm filling material, Filtering material, Diapers and sanitary pads
Felted Fabrics:
Wool felt is the most common non-woven fabric and is produced by using short staple fibres
from wool or other animal hairs (such as camel). Wool is an ideal fibre because its surface has
natural hooks like scales, which when moisture, heat and vigorous movement are applied,
interlock with each other. The heat and damp conditions cause the fibres to curl up, and the
scales locking together prevents the fibres from straightening out again. When you wash a
natural wool jumper and it shrinks in size the jumper is actually felting and you can’t make it
bigger again no matter how hard you try to stretch it back.
• Needle-punched: A physical method of mechanically interlocking fibres webs by
using barbed needles to reposition some of the fibres from a horizontal to a vertical
orientation. Thousands of needles interlock fibers in a web.
Fig: Needle-punched.
Application: Marine Hulls, Headliners, Shoe Felts, Blankets, Automotive Carpeting &
Insulation, Filters, Vinyl Substrate, Insulator, Primary Carpet Backing, Fiberglass
Insulation Felts, Fiberglass Mats, Wall coverings, Composites, Blood Filters, Tennis Ball
Covers, Synthetic Leather, Carpet Underlay Pads, Auto Trunk Liners, Interlinings,
Papermaker Felts, Felts, Padding, Shoulder Padding, Ceramic Insulation, Kevlar Bullet
Proof Vests.
Different types of non-woven fabrics over-view:
The non-woven fabrics can be divided into 8 types according to different manufacturing
processes:
1. Spunlace nonwovens:
It is a non-woven cloth, it is the direct use of polymer slices, short fibers or filaments into a
network of fiber by air or mechanical, spunlace, acupuncture, or hot-rolled reinforcement, and
finally after finishing the formation of spunlace nonwoven fabric.
Application: It is well-known for its great uses for facial mask fabric, medical non-woven
fabric, wet wipe fabric, non-woven filter fabric and etc.

6. Fig: Spunlace nonwoven.
2. Heat-bonded nonwoven fabrics:
This type of non-woven fabric is mainly manufactured in several processes: adding fibrous or
sticky reinforcement material into the fiber network, and then reinforcing the network into cloth
via heating and cooling.
Fig: Heat-bonded nonwoven.
3. Pulp air-laid nonwovens:
Air-laid nonwovens can also be called the dustless paper or dry paper nonwovens. It uses the
air-laid technology to open the wood pulp fiberboard into a single fiber state, then uses the
airflow method to make the fiber agglomerate on the net curtain, and then consolidates the fiber
web into cloth.
Fig: Pulp air-laid nonwoven.

7. 4. Acupuncture nonwovens:
Acupuncture nonwoven is a type of dry nonwoven fabric. The fluffy fiber is reinforced into
cloth by needle puncture.
Fig: Acupuncture nonwoven.
5. Stitch nonwovens:
Stitched nonwoven is another type of dry nonwoven fabric. The manufacturing process uses a
warp knitted loop structure to reinforce the fiber web, yarn layer, non-woven materials (such
as plastic sheeting, plastic foil and etc.) or a combination thereof so as to form a nonwoven
fabric.
Fig: Stitch nonwoven.
Manufacturing of non-woven fabric:
Raw Materials: Polyester is the most frequently used fibres in the United States; olefin and
nylon are used for their strength, and cotton and rayon are used for absorbency. Some acrylic,
acetate, and vinyon are also being used.
Fibres are selected on the basis of their properties and expected performance in end uses. New,
first quality fibres are preferred over reused or reprocessed fibres. Both staple and filament
fibres are used, and it is possible to blend fibres of different lengths as well as fibres of different
generic groups. The selection of fibres depends on the product proposed, the care typically

8. Fig: Manufacturing Flow chart of non-woven fabric.
given it, and the expected or desired durability. As in the manufacture of all fabrics, the cost of
the fibres used is important, as it in turn influences the cost of the final product.
Natural fiber: cotton, jute, linen
Regenerated fiber: Bamboo fiber, viscous fiber, Tencel, modal fiber.
Synthetic polymer: PP, PE, PET, NYLON, PA, polyester, PCL, PLA
Applications of Non-Woven Fabrics:
• Personal care and hygiene
baby diapers, feminine hygiene products, adult incontinence items, dry and wet pads,
but also nursing pads or nasal strips, bandages and wound dressings
• Healthcare
like operation drapes, gowns, and packs, face masks, dressings and swabs, osteomy bag
liners, isolation gowns, surgical gowns, surgical drapes and covers, surgical scrub suits,
caps
• Clothing
interlinings, insulation and protection clothing, industrial workwear, chemical defence
suits, shoe components, etc.
• Home

9. wipes and dusters, tea and coffee bags, fabric softeners, food wraps, filters, bed and
table linen, etc.
• Automotive
boot liners, shelf trim, oil and cabin air filters, moulded bonnet liners, heat shields,
airbags, tapes, decorative fabrics, etc.
• Construction
roofing and tile underlay, thermal and noise insulation, house wrap, understanding,
drainage, etc.
• Geotextiles
asphalt overlay, soil stabilization, drainage, sedimentation and erosion control, etc.
• Filtration
Hevac, Hepa, Ulpa filters, gasoline, oil, and air – including HEPA filtration, water,
coffee, tea bags, liquid cartridge and bag filters, vacuum bags, allergen membranes or
laminates with non-woven layers
• Industrial
cable insulation, abrasives, reinforced plastics, battery separators, satellite dishes,
artificial leather, air conditioning, coating.
• Agriculture, home furnishing, leisure and travel, school and office
soil stabilizers and roadway underlayment, foundation stabilizers, erosion control,
canals construction, drainage systems, geomembranes protection, frost protection,
agriculture mulch, pond and canal water barriers, sand infiltration barrier for drainage
tile
Development:
Nonwovens are engineered to provide particular properties suited to desired end uses. For
example, diapers can be constructed of two different layers of non-woven fabrics: an outer
layer composed of wetting-agent treated polyester that will permit rapid fluid penetration, but
with minimal lateral weaking, and an inner layer of absorbent rayon. Thin, high-filtration non-
woven fabrics for surgical masks can be composed of micro denier fibres. Research continues
in order to achieve or perhaps exceed certain properties of conventionally constructed cloth.
New technology in non-woven fabrics:
Non-woven fabric production such as felting and bonding is often used by manufacturers when
producing fabrics with some of the new vegetable-based yarns, as these tend to have shorter
staple fibres. Designers are able to design their own original fabrics with the felting method.
The industrial application of non-woven fabrics is ever-increasing and includes filtration
systems, medical used and insulating purposes.

10. The development of micro-encapsulation technology (enabling active substances to be fixed to
the surface of the fibre or fabric) means many non-woven fabrics can be perfumed or anti-
bacterial. Newer fibres like Lyocell can be made into non-woven fabrics, giving better
absorption and high wet strength for products such as medical swabs.
Nonwoven fabric is a fabric-like material made from staple fiber (short) and long fiber
(continuous long), bonded together by chemical, mechanical, heat or solvent treatment. The
term is used in the textile manufacturing industry to denote fabrics, such as felt, which are
neither woven nor knitted.