Effects of Fiber Linear Density on Acrylic Carpet Performance

Abstract

The appearance of cut-pile carpets deteriorates due to foot traffic and long term heavy loadings. This deterioration is generally seen as a fuzzy appearance due to loose fibers and fuzz on the carpet surface or as thickness loss. The fiber fineness has important effects on a number of yarn properties including cohesion, evenness, strength, stiffness and luster. In this study, three acrylic yarns with different fiber finenesses at the same yarn linear density were used to produce cut-pile carpet samples. The effects of fiber linear density on the amount of loose fibers and fuzz on the carpet surface, thickness loss under prolonged heavy static and dynamic loadings and compression recovery after loading-unloading were investigated. The carpet produced with finest fibers yarns had the lowest amount of loose fibers due to higher cohesion. The carpet samples with the finest fibers exhibited the highest resiliency and lowest thickness loss under static loading. However, the carpet samples with the coarsest fibers showed the least thickness loss under dynamic loading and higher compression recovery after loading-unloading.