Manufacturing and Properties of Nonwovens Based on Waste from Elastic Fibers

The article proposes and implements the use of highly flexible combined filament yarns (Nylon 6.6/Lycra) as the main raw material for the production of needle-punched nonwoven materials for technical purposes. It has been found that the addition of PET fibers to the feedstock makes it possible to regulate the mechanical properties of the resulting nonwoven materials over a wide range. It is shown that an increase in the content of PET fibers from 20 to 50 wt. % increases the relative strength of non-woven fabric samples by a factor of 1.5÷3. In this case, the anisotropy of this index along and across the direction of carding decreases substantially, which indicates an increase in the homogeneity of the material. The addition of other fibrous components to the initial mixture makes it possible to adjust the amount of water absorption of the nonwovens. The greatest positive effect on the value of this indicator is the addition of hemp fibers (increases ~ 1.7 times), and the largest negative – PET fibers (reduces ~ 2 times). The introduction of a 50 wt. % flax fibers into the starting mixture by 20% reduces the overall heterogeneity of the distribution of fibers in the nonwoven material. The obtained results can be used to produce elastic nonwoven materials intended for insulating surfaces of complex shape under dynamic loading conditions.