Studies on the Process of Ultrasonic Bonding of Nonwovens: Part 2: Experiments and Results

Bicomponent PET fibers and a spunbonded PET fabric were used for the experimental studies of the ultrasonic bonding process. There were five different bonding process settings and they were grouped as the speed and pressure groups. From calculations the highest heat generation rate was found to be in the middle of the bonding positions. The rate of temperature rise was also found to be the highest in the middle of the bonding positions. The calculated temperature results were found to be close to the experimental measurements. For the speed group settings the slower speed resulted in fabrics that were stiffer, and stronger, and the degree of bonding was also higher. The middle speed setting produced the fabrics with the highest elongation. For the pressure group settings the higher pressure resulted in making fabrics stiffer, and stronger, and the degree of bonding was also higher. But for elongation the middle speed setting resulted in the highest value. The SEM micrographs of the cross-section of fabrics made with different settings showed that the degrees of bonding of fabrics were correlated with temperature changes and the processing conditions.