Nonwovens in automotive applications, 2011 Innovative Nonwovens Conference

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Nonwoven fabrics are increasingly used in the automotive industry. Furthermore they offer very good thermal and acoustic insulation and they can be designed to provide specific thermal or noise-absorbent properties. At ITA, a headliner made out of recycled fibers, has been produced as part of a research project. The testing was carried out according to standards from the automotive industry. The mechanical properties are very good but the odor generation when exposed to higher temperatures poses a problem. Apart from that, two technologies for measuring the homogeneity of the nonwoven as well as for the determination of the fibre orientation have been developed. A di-electric measuring system has been developed for determining the distribution of fibre in a multi-component nonwoven structure. Thus, it is possible to judge the localised homogeneity of a nonwoven fabric. The other development is an algorithm for image processing. Processed images of nonwoven structures allow to determine the percentage of thick and thin areas and the unevenness coefficient. The rising quality demands of the automotive industry necessitate online measuring systems.