Three-Dimensional Structural Characterization of Hydroentangled Nonwovens, 2011 Innovative Nonwovens Conference

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Hydroentangling, a nonwoven mechanical bonding technology is regarded as energy transfer process. The energy is expended in forming a mechanically strong nonwoven fabric, wherein fibers penetrate, twist and/or intertwine upon the impact of a curtain of water jets emanating from a pressure vessel. The resulting products from this process are finding a gamut of applications due to the uniqueness in the obtained structures. In spite of such wide range of applications, there are no direct means of characterizing the obtained structures. We propose techniques to characterize the hydroentangled web structures by utilizing Digital Volumetric Imaging – a three dimensional visualization technique. Digital Volumetric Imaging (DVI) technique, originally used for imaging in the biological field, has been successfully employed as a platform to visualize and characterize a typical hydroentangled structure. This technique is a block-face imaging technique (based on micro-tomography principle), employed for sectioning the hydroentangled web structure that has been stained and embedded in a polymer matrix for sequential processes. The techniques introduced in this work evaluate the hydroentangled web structures with respect to the changes within the structures in three mutually perpendicular directions.