Spunlace (Hydroentanglement) : So Far, There Are Many Different Specific Terms For Like,, and or

SPUNLACE
(HYDROENTANGLEMENT)
So far, there are many different specific terms

for spun laced no woven like jet entangled,
water entangled, and hydro entangled or
hydraulically needled. The term, spun lace, is
used more popularly in the no woven industry. In
fact, the spun lace process can be defined as:
the spun lace process is a nonevents
manufacturing system that employs jets of water
to entangle fibers and thereby provide fabric
integrity. Softness, drape, conformability, and
relatively high strength are the major
characteristics that make spun lace no woven
unique among nonevents.
2. PROCESS
Fig. 1: Spun lace process [23]
The steps characteristic for producing hydro

entangled no woven fabric include:
· Precursor web formation
· Web entanglement
· Water circulation
· Web drying
The water pressure generally increases from the

first to the last injectors. Pressures as high as
2200 psi are used to direct the water jets onto
the web. This pressure is sufficient for most no
woven fibers, although higher pressures are
used in specialized applications. It has been
argued that 10 rows of injectors (five from each
side of the fabric) should achieve complete
fabric bonding [12]. Injector hole diameters
range from 100-120 m m and the holes are
arranged in rows with 3-5 mm spacing, with one
row containing 30-80 holes per 25 mm
Hydro entanglement carried out at standard

conditions (six manifolds of needles, 1500 psi,
and web weighing 68 g /m2) requires 800 pounds
of water per pound of product. For that reason it
is necessary to develop a new filtration system
able to effectively supply clean water with this
high throughput; otherwise, water jet holes
become clogged. This system consists of three
stages: chemical mixing and flocculation,
dissolved air flotation and sand filtration. Spun
laced fabrics have led to a lot of speculation
regarding their manufacture because most of the
manufacturing process details are considered as
proprietary.
3. MATERIALS USED IN SPUNLACED

TECHNOLOGY
As previously mentioned, hydro entanglement

could be carried out using dry-laid (carded or air-
laid) or wet-laid webs as a precursor. Most
commonly, precursors are mixtures of cellulose
and man-made fibers (PET, nylon, acrylics,
Kevlar (P84, (imide) etc). In general, cellulose
fibers are preferred for their high strength,
pliability, plastic deformation resistance and
water insolubility. Cellulose fibers are
hydrophilic, chemically stable and relatively
colorless. Another advantage is that cellulose
has an inherent bonding ability caused by a high
content of hydroxyl groups, which attract water
molecules. As the water evaporates from the
fabric, the hydroxyl groups on fiber surface link
together by hydrogen bonds.
Influence of cotton micromere on fabric

properties has been studied. Generally, low
micromere cotton is not recommended for hydro
entangled nonevents because of higher number
of neps and small bundles of entangled fibers,
resulting in unsightly appearing fabric. In spite of
this, fabrics made with lower micromere fiber
show higher strength, probably caused by a
higher number of fine fibers and greater surface
area.
3.1 THE CHOICE OF FIBERS

The fiber used in spun laced no woven should
think about following fiber characteristics.
· Modulus: Fibers with low bending

modulus requires less entangling energy
than those with high bending modulus.
 Fineness: For a given polymer type, larger
diameter fibers are more difficult to entangle
than smaller diameter fibers because of their
greater bending rigidity. For PET, 1.25 to 1.5
deniers appear to be optimum.
 Cross section: For a given polymer type and

fiber denier, a triangular shaped fiber will
have 1.4 times the bending stiffness of a
round fiber. An extremely flat, oval or
elliptical shaped fiber could have only 0.1
times the bending stiffness of a round fiber.
 Length: Shorter fibers are more mobile and

produce more entanglement points than
longer fibers. Fabric strength, however, is
proportional to fiber length; therefore, fiber
length must be selected to give the best
balance between the number of
entanglement points and fabric strength. For
PET, the fiber length from 1.8 to 2.4 seems
to be best.
 Crimp: Crimp is required in staple fiber

processing systems and contributes to
fabric bulk. Too much crimp can result in
lower fabric strength and entanglement.
 Fiber wet ability: Hydrophilic fibers entangle
more easily than hydrophobic fibers because
of the higher drag forces.
WEB FORMATION
The general properties of web forming from
other process are listed as following:
 Isotropic precursor webs can be produced

by air laying system.
 Carding webs can result in final products,

which have higher MD strength than CD
strength.
 Melt blown webs can be produced with good

‘squareness’ of the web. Wet formed webs
can especially be produced with good
machine direction / cross direction
characteristics.
 The combinations of various types of

precursor webs provide numerous options
for using in the spun lace process to create
various different composites.
WEB SUPPORT SYSTEM (CONVEYOR

WIRE)
The web support system plays an important part
in most no woven processes. Especially for the
spun lace process, it has a critical role in this
process because the pattern of the final fabric is
a direct function of the conveyor wire. By special
design for the wire, we can have following varied
products:
 Ribbed and terry cloth-like products
 Aperture products
 Lace patterns or company logo can be

entangled into fabrics
 Production of composites
 3-D fabric formation

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SPUNLACE

So far, there are many different specific terms

The steps characteristic for producing hydro

· Precursor web formation

· Web entanglement

· Water circulation

· Web drying

The water pressure generally increases from the

Hydro entanglement carried out at standard

3. MATERIALS USED IN SPUNLACED

As previously mentioned, hydro entanglement

Influence of cotton micromere on fabric

3.1 THE CHOICE OF FIBERS

· Modulus: Fibers with low bending

 Cross section: For a given polymer type and

 Length: Shorter fibers are more mobile and

 Crimp: Crimp is required in staple fiber

 Isotropic precursor webs can be produced

 Carding webs can result in final products,

 Melt blown webs can be produced with good

 The combinations of various types of

WEB SUPPORT SYSTEM (CONVEYOR

 Ribbed and terry cloth-like products

 Lace patterns or company logo can be

 3-D fabric formation

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