Diseño y construcción de un equipo para obtener no tejidos a partir de fibras naturales

Abstract

Nonwovens are layers produced by mechanical entanglement of fibers. Natural fibers are great alternatives to develop nonwovens, due to their interesting properties like weight, strength, absorbency, resiliency and filtration, with automotive, textile and construction industry application. This work describes the design and construction of a prototype that can be used to obtain natural fiber nonwovens, which can be used as reinforcements for polymer matrix composites. A functional analysis is performed to develop the equipment design, which works directly with long fibers, whereas with short fibers a grinding preprocess has been added. The equipment is composed of several systems: speed reduction, carding, fiber input, nonwoven sheet output, electrical system and industrial safety. By using the prototype, various nonwovens were manufactured with abaca, sisal, jute and coconut fibers. The nonwovens were characterized by means of area density, traction, liquid time and absorption capacity tests, according to the ISO 9073 standard. Results are later compared with those presented by other authors. The values obtained for the weight density were 365, 197, 210 and 370 g / m2, respectively. For the ultimate tensile force values obtained were 716, 410, 1145 and 80 N, respectively. The liquid absorption capacity LAC values calculated were 143, 180, 423 and 274, respectively. These are higher or similar to those shown in other research works. The results obtained with the prototype will allow future research related to the characterization of short natural fiber nonwovens.