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EFFECT OF BLENDING RATIO OF WATER HYACINTH FIBERS ON THE

PROPERTIES OF NEEDLE PUNCHED NONWOVEN FABRICS

Article  in  International Journal of Technical Research and Applications · March 2017

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 International Journal of Technical Research and Applications e-ISSN: 2320-8163,
www.ijtra.com, Volume 5, Issue 2 (March - April 2017), PP. 90-94

EFFECT OF BLENDING RATIO OF WATER

HYACINTH FIBERS ON THE PROPERTIES OF
NEEDLE PUNCHED NONWOVEN FABRICS 1
M. BHUVANESHWARI, 2 Dr. K. SANGEETHA
1,2
Dept. of Textiles and Apparel Design, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore – 641 046, India
1
[email protected] & [email protected]

Abstract — Water hyacinth (Eichhornia Crassipes) is a free for greater economic benefits [5]. As a result, research activity
floating aquatic plant. When not controlled, grows rapidly, has attracted towards an aquatic plant named Water hyacinth
covers the water sources and creates a serious threat to bio- due to its congested growth and fast spread which lead to
diversity. The plant is rich in cellulose content; hence it can be serious problems. The Water hyacinth plants grow vigorously
effectively utilized by extracting the fibers from its stem part and
used as reinforcement for textile applications. This paper is an
with double their population in two weeks [6]. When the plant
investigative study on the manufacture of nonwoven fabrics from is looked as a resource, it consists of many unique properties.
the Water hyacinth fibers. It has been seen that the techniques The utilization of Water hyacinth plant has bloomed in past
used were carding for web formation and needle punching for decades and the areas of application were fertilizer, biogas,
web bonding. Water hyacinth fibers were blended with furniture, paper making and waste water effluent [7].
Sansevieria stuckyi fibers in order to investigate the acoustic The goal of this research is to produce fibers from the
performance of this newly known natural fiber. For this, the natural resources and to utilize in textile industry as a
different blend ratios of Water hyacinth/Sansevieria stuckyi reinforcement of synthetics and other commercial fibers. As a
fibers were prepared. The physical, mechanical and functional
result, Water hyacinth fibers were extracted from the dried
properties of needle punched nonwoven fabrics have been
analyzed. The influence of blend proportion of Water hyacinth
stalks of Water hyacinth plants (Eichhornia Crassipes), a free
fiber on the properties of nonwoven such as thickness, areal floating perennial plant native to South America. The plant is
density, bulk density, porosity, stiffness, air permeability and available in abundance; it can be successfully utilized as an
thermal conductivity have been reported. alternative to other textile fibers by incorporating in the value
added products such as nonwoven for technical applications [8]
Index Terms — Natural fiber, Needle punching, Nonwoven, [9].
Sansevieria, Water hyacinth. The nonwoven fabrics have the applications such as
acoustics, thermal insulation, biomedical devices and
I. INTRODUCTION membranes. The raw materials used for the production of
Environmental awareness has prompted the population and nonwoven include natural and synthetic fibers. Nonwovens
industries for the procurement of better use of natural have the tailored characteristics such as lightweight, flexibility,
renewable resources. The industries, particularly in developed mold ability, low process and material cost, sound efficiency,
countries are now constantly focusing to develop new performance ratio and recyclability [10]. The Water hyacinth
sustainable and environmental friendly products and materials fibers have the good physical and mechanical properties it has
using such precious renewable resources [1]. In past decades, been developed into a needle punched nonwoven fabric by
efforts were made to produce environmental friendly products blending with Sansevieria stuckyi fibers. The study aimed to
by recycling of wastes to capitalize the green movement [2]. analyze the properties of the nonwoven fabrics and its
Now the time has changed, the industries are looking for inputs influence on various blend proportion.
from direct natural resources in more positive way. Natural
inputs are considered as technically valid components as well II. MATERIALS AND METHODS
as contribute more in pricing the premium final products A. Fiber Extraction
because of their superiority in environment and social
The Water hyacinth fibers were extracted from the matured
responsible attributes like production and disposals [3].
stalks of Water hyacinth plant (Figure 1 (a)) which produces
In technical applications of textiles, naturally derived fibers
good number of fibers than the younger ones. The fibers were
are increased in proportions thereby utilizing the renewable
extracted from the dried stalks of Water hyacinth plants us by
resources to replace synthetic fibers in wide range including
scrapping the stalks using needles [8], [9]. The morphology of
nonwoven products [4]. The natural fibers include Cotton,
the Water hyacinth fibers were shown in the Figure 1 (b) and
Jute, Hemp and Bamboo are well known and commercially
Figure 1 (c). The Sansevieria stuckyi plants (Figure 1 (d)) are
available. There emerges the possible risk of overconsumption
procured from the local sources around Coimbatore, Tamil
and depletion of resources. Hence the research concerned with
Nadu, India and the fibers were extracted from the leaves using
expansion of uses and value addition to the products prepared
decortication method. The structural appearance of the
using farm, forestry and wetlands is technologically advanced

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 International Journal of Technical Research and Applications e-ISSN: 2320-8163,
www.ijtra.com, Volume 5, Issue 2 (March - April 2017), PP. 90-94
Sansevieria stuckyi fibers were shown in Figure 1 (e) and 1 (f). Blend ratio of fibers in nonwoven
The properties of the extracted fibers were given in the Table I. Sample fabric (%)
Sample
code Sansevieria Water hyacinth
TABLE I. FIBER PROPERTIES stuckyi (S) (WH)
Fiber 1 S100 100 -
Fiber Properties Fiber Properties
Properties 2 S75/WH25 75 25
Staple Length (mm) 79.3 + 5.33 79.67 + 4.55 3 S50/WH50 50 50
Fiber Diameter (µm) 819.5 + 39.96 367.8 + 17.26 4 S25/WH75 25 75
Fiber Fineness (tex) 3.88 + 0.31 7.67 + 0.27
Density (g/cm3) 1.22 + 0.05 1.37 + 0.05 C. Preparation of Needle Punched Nonwoven Fabrics
Single fiber Strength Both fibers are pre-cut to 6 to 9 cm in length. The fibers are
220.5 + 76.51 379.5 + 11.74
(g/tex) then manually opened in order to prevent any undesirable
Elongation at break damages and to decrease the probability of reduction in fibers
2.8 + 0.81 2.99 + 0.35
(%) length. Four different blends of the Water hyacinth and
(Mean + Standard Deviation) Sansevieria fiber are prepared at required weight ratios as
given in Table II and mixing is done manually to ensure
homogenous web. The blended fiber web is then fed into the
Dilo nonwoven plant consisting of card, circular drums and
needle loom. The pre-needled web was prepared and the layers
of web were parallel laid, overlapped and are needle punched
where the fibers are entangled by needle barbs. Needle
punching was performed on 60 cm wide sample needle loom
which uses regular barb needles. The needles are arranged in
(a) (b) (c)
offset lines. The penetration of needles is 12 mm on both sides.
Increase in needle penetration depth results in deeper
interlocking and entanglement of fibers. The details of the
needle punching operation are given in the Table III and the
prepared nonwoven fabric samples are shown in Fig. 2.

TABLE III. DETAILS OF NEEDLE PUNCHING OPERATION

(d) (e) (f)
Fig. 1: Plants and Fibers (a) Water hyacinth Plant (b) Digital Parameter Values
image of Water hyacinth Fiber (c) Scanning Electron Machine width 100 cm
Microscopic view of Water hyacinth Fiber (d) Sansevieria Working width 60 cm
stuckyi Plant (e) Digital image of Sansevieria stuckyi Fiber
(f) Scanning Electron Microscopic view of Sansevieria stuckyi No. of needle board 2
Fiber No. of needles 2500
Needle penetration
B. Material Properties and Blend Proportion 12 mm
depth
The properties of nonwoven fabric mainly depend on the Punch density 25 punch/cm2
characteristics of the fiber and the method of manufacturing.
Since Water hyacinth is a hollow fiber the influence of its In feed speed 0.75 m/min
properties over the nonwoven fabric is analyzed by mixing Draw off speed 0.60 m/min
with other stalk fiber called Sansevieria stuckyi fibers at Stroke frequency 225 strokes/min
different ratios varying from 25 % to 75 %. The processing of Needle motion Down stroke
100% Water hyacinth fiber is not practically possible due to
less cohesiveness, breaking of fibers and falling of web during Type of Lay Parallel
web formation in carding and hence it is blended with other No. of Lay 30
fibers. The Water hyacinth fibers are blended with Sansevieria
stuckyi fibers, an emerging fiber with good physical properties
in acceptable rate [11] and to analyze the same by changing its
ratios within the sample. The constructional details of the
nonwoven with blend ratios are given in Table II.

TABLE II. NOMENCLATURE OF NONWOVEN FABRIC

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 International Journal of Technical Research and Applications e-ISSN: 2320-8163,
www.ijtra.com, Volume 5, Issue 2 (March - April 2017), PP. 90-94
A. Effect of fiber blend proportion on Areal Density and
Thickness
The Figure 3 shows the influence of fiber blend proportion
on Areal Density and Thickness of nonwoven fabric. From the
figure, it is clear that the increase in proportion of Water
hyacinth fiber in the blend tends to increase the Areal Density
and thickness of the nonwoven fabric. There is a linear
relationship between increase in Water hyacinth fiber blend
proportion with Areal density and thickness of nonwoven
(a) (b) which is clearly shown in the correlation equation (1) and (2)
with the Regression value (R2) of 0.9907 and 0.9894
respectively. This could be due to the lower density of Water
hyacinth fibers compared to Sansevieria stuckyi fibers and
leads to more number of fibers per unit area of the nonwoven
fabric. The increase in thickness of the samples with the
increase in blend proportion of Water hyacinth fiber thus leads
to result in the decrease of Bulk Density of the nonwoven
fabric.
y = 6.2x + 524.5 ---- (1)
y = 0.071x + 6.12 ---- (2)
(c) (d)
Thus it is concluded that the areal density, thickness
Fig. 2: Needle punched Nonwoven fabrics
and bulk density are the interrelated physical parameters of
(a) S100 (b) S75/WH25 (c) S50/WH50 (d) S25/WH75
needle punched nonwoven fabrics which simultaneously
D. Testing and Evaluation of Nonwoven Fabrics changes due to the needling operation [13].

The standard test procedures were used to evaluate the

properties of the nonwoven fabrics such as Areal density
(ASTM D 6242), Thickness (ASTM D 5729), Bulk density
(ASTM D 3776), Porosity (ASTM B 809), Stiffness using
Shirley stiffness tester, Air permeability (ASTM D 737) [12]
and Thermal Conductivity using Lee’s Disc Method.
III. RESULT AND DISCUSSION
The properties of needle punched nonwoven fabrics made
from Sansevieria stuckyi and Water hyacinth fiber blends are
shown in Table IV.

TABLE IV. PROPERTIES OF NEEDLE PUNCHED NONWOVEN

FABRICS
Fig. 3: Effect of fiber blend proportion on Areal density and
Sample Code Thickness
Properties
S100 S75/WH25 S50/WH50 S25/WH75 B. Effect of Fiber Blend Proportion on Areal Density and Air
Permeability
Areal Density (g/m2) 530 538 543 549 The Figure 4 shows the influence of fiber blend proportion
Thickness (mm) 6.19 6.27 6.32 6.41 on Areal Density and Air Permeability of nonwoven fabric.
From the figure, it is clear that the increase in proportion of
Bulk Density (g/cm3) 0.089 0.087 0.086 0.085 Water hyacinth fiber in the blend tends to increase the air
permeability of the nonwoven fabric. There is a linear
Porosity (%) 93.50 93.41 93.33 93.20
relationship between Water hyacinth fiber blend proportions
Machine with air permeability of nonwoven which is clearly shown in
7.86 7.42 7.34 7.25
Stiffness Direction
(inch) Cross
the correlation equation (3) with the Regression value (R2) of
7.60 7.20 6.85 6.25 0.9939. Hence it is concluded that when the mass of the fabric
Direction
Air Permeability
31.99 41.49 54.00 62.10
increases the air permeability also increases which is due to the
(cc/s/cm2) density of the fiber in the blend proportion and the porous
Thermal Conductivity
0.044 0.035 0.030 0.020 structure of the fabric. In this study, the sample S25/WH75
(W/mK )
shows the high air permeability compared to other samples

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 International Journal of Technical Research and Applications e-ISSN: 2320-8163,
www.ijtra.com, Volume 5, Issue 2 (March - April 2017), PP. 90-94
with the decreasing order of S50/WH50 > S75/WH25 > S100. that there is a negative correlation between Water hyacinth
These differences may due to the higher diameter and less fiber blend proportions and thermal conductivity of the
density [14] of the Water hyacinth fiber. nonwoven fabric. The higher thermal conductivity of the S100
y = 10.284x + 21.685 ---- (3) is due to higher thickness of the fabric and decreases in the
order of S75/WH25 > S50/WH50 > S25/WH75.
y = -0.0077x + 0.0515 ---- (6)

Fig. 4: Effect of fiber Blend proportion on Areal density

and Air Permeability
C. Effect of Fiber Blend Proportion on Fabric Stiffness
The Figure 5 shows the linear relationship between the
fiber blend proportion and stiffness of nonwoven fabric. The Figure 6: Effect of fiber Blend proportion on Thermal
stiffness of nonwoven fabric decreases with the increase in Conductivity
Water hyacinth fiber proportion. This difference is due to the
higher fiber strength of Sansevieria stuckyi fiber compared IV. CONCLUSION
with Water hyacinth fiber. The equation (4) and (5) shows that The following are the conclusion emerges from the study.
there is a negative correlation between the stiffness and Water 1. The areal density, thickness and bulk density are the
hyacinth blend proportion of the nonwoven fabric in both interrelated physical parameters of needle punched nonwoven
machine and cross directions respectively. fabrics which simultaneously changes due to the needling
y = -0.201x + 7.995 ---- (4) operation and can be controlled with the carding and needling.
y = -0.44x + 8.075 ---- (5) 2. The increase in diameter of the Water hyacinth fiber
increases the air permeability of the nonwoven fabric thus
helps to transmit sound waves and may results in high sound
absorption of the material. Thus the fabric with Water hyacinth
fiber may be used for acoustic materials in automobiles and
room interiors.
3. The stiffness of nonwoven fabric decreases with the
increase in Water hyacinth fiber proportion thus shows that the
fabric with Water hyacinth fiber is easy to handle and are much
comfort.
4. The thermal conductivity of the nonwoven fabric with
Water hyacinth fiber blend proportions shows that the fabric is
suitable for insulation materials.
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