Abstract
Hydroentanglement describes a versatile process for manufacturing nonwoven fabrics using fine, closely spaced, high-velocity jets of water to entangle loose arrays of fibers. The resultant fabrics rely primarily on fiber-to-fiber friction to achieve physical integrity and are characterized by relatively high strength, flexibility, and conformability. These technologies can use efficiently the majority of all types of fibers and produce fabrics that could achieve properties equivalent to wovens.
To develop a method for predicting the mechanical performance of hydroentangled nonwovens, one must first gather critical information about the materials, the web and the process to establish a detailed knowledge base. The first step in this process is to establish the role that the hydroentangling process parameters play in controlling the performance of the product. One must establish how efficient entanglement is attained, how such entanglement is translated into tensile and other physical properties as well as understanding the role of the intrinsic fiber properties that interact with the process.
This is the first in a series of papers planned for dealing with structure-process-property relationships in hydroentangled nonwovens.