Nonwoven Sailcloth - Product and Process Development, 1999 Nonwovens Conference Proceedings

Joss Fitzsimons

Moy Isover Ltd.

Sea trials using a nonwoven sailcloth made using bicomponent fibres mixed with high modulus fibres are in progress. The development of this sailcloth and the process for manufacturing it are described.

Sailcloth needs to have high stiffness if it is not to stretch and deform under strong winds. It also needs to be light weight and durable. Using bicomponent fibres alone, these requirements could not be satisfactorily met. However, the addition of high modulus fibres such as Vectran* and Kevlar* dramatically increased the stiffness to compare with commercially available “laminated’ sails.

A (patented) high speed nonwoven process has been developed for the production of the sailcloth, tarpaulins and architectural cloth:

-The fibres are mixed together and wet laid using an inclined wire former. A through air dryer evaporates the remaining water and lightly bonds the bicomponent fibres together to form a light porous mat. A number of rolls of this porous mat are laid upon each other before being passed through a second through air heater, which softens the outer sheaths of the bicomponent fibres. The hot mat is then calendered using high pressure and low temperature rolls to form the sailcloth. The resulting cloth is strong, stiff and non porous.