How are nonwovens made?
The production of nonwovens takes place in three stages, although modern technology allows an overlapping of some stages, and in some cases all three stages can take place at the same time.
The three stages are:
Web formation
Nonwovens manufacturing starts by the arrangement of fibres in a sheet or web. The fibres can be staple fibres or filaments extruded from molten polymer granules.
Illustrations of some of the methods used to form a web:
Web bonding
Webs have a limited initial strength right after the web formation (depending on various bonding mechanisms). The web needs therefore to be consolidated in one or the other way. The choice of the web consolidation method strongly depends on functional properties that are needed as well as on the type of fibres used..
There are three basic types of bonding: