An investigation into factors affecting mechanical properties of multi-axial nonwoven structure

Abstract

Multi-axial fabrics are among new species of technical class of textile fabrics. These fabrics have found extensive use as composites reinforcement element. In this work, a novel method for production of multi-axial fabrics by incorporation of nonwoven layers into a basic thread-like structure was employed. Integration of fibrous into the basic structure was achieved using conventional needling operation. Effect of parameters such as yarn fineness, areal density of nonwoven fibrous layers and punch density were examined. It was found that, as far as fabric strength is concerned, the test samples behaves similar in various directions. Statistical analysis using ANOVA indicated that not only yarn fineness is the most influential factor affecting the strength of fabric but also reduction in yarn fineness results in increases in fabric strength. It is concluded that, an increase in areal density of nonwoven fibrous layers can improve fabric strength when fine yarns and lightly needled layers are used. In addition to above it was found that, generally the amount of punch density used during integration operation cannot influence the mechanical behavior of the resultant fabric.