Frictional properties of thermally bonded 3D nonwoven fabrics prepared from polypropylene/polyester bi-component staple fiber

The frictional properties of the three-dimensional non-woven samples produced using the recently developed air laying and through-air thermal bonding system are evaluated. The samples were made from commercially available polypropylene (PP)/polyester (PET) (sheath/ core) bi-component staple fiber. In particular, the effects of the process parameters on the frictional properties were investigated by employing a statistical approach involving the uniform design of experiments and regression analysis. Stick-slip frictional traces were obtained as a result of the presence of fiber loops, overlapping of fibers at bonding points, and deformation of fibers due to melting. The effect of normal load on both the static and dynamic friction forces can be described using the power-law relationship. Both the static and dynamic friction factors increase with increase of the thermal bonding temperature and the dwell time.