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Fiber Arrangement Characteristics and Their Effects on Nonwoven Tensile Behavior

Sabit Adanur and Tianyi Liao
Textile Research Journal 1999 69: 816
DOI: 10.1177/004051759906901104

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816

Fiber Arrangement Characteristics and Their Effects

on Nonwoven Tensile Behavior
SABIT ADANUR AND TIANYI LIAO
Department of Textile Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama 36849, U.S.A.

ABSTRACT
Our early model for predicting nonwoven fabric stress-strain behavior by the finite
element method is generalized to include the effects of fiber curl, which is shown to have
a great effect on the tensile behavior of the fabric. A numerical method to characterize the
lateral contraction of nonwovens during tensile deformation is presented. The effects of
fiber arrangement characteristics on the mechanical properties of nonwovens are studied
through laboratory experiments and theoretical analysis. The effects of varying thick-
nesses within the nonwovens on fabric strength, modulus, and stress-strain distribution are
also examined. Tensile testing of several nonwoven fabrics verifies the theoretical results.

The mechanical properties of nonwoven fabrics are
determined by the properties of fabric constituents and
the structural arrangement of these components. Among
the important aspects of fiber morphology are fiber ori-
entation, fiber curl, and thickness. Their changes can
affect the mechanical behavior and failure mechanisms.
These parameters can also be varied and controlled more
easily during manufacture to improve fabric design and
performance.
Many researchers have endeavored to construct theo-
retical models from the essential information of fiber
arrangement characteristics to predict the mechanical
performance of nonwoven fabrics. Backer and Petterson
[2] pioneered a fiber network theory for estimating the
tensile properties of a nonwoven fabric based on fiber
orientation, fiber tensile properties, and an assumption
that fiber segments between bonds are straight. Hearle
and Stevenson [9, 10] expanded this theory by taking
into account the effects of fiber curl, since fiber segments
usually are not perfectly straight in the web. Later,
Hearle and Ozsanlav [ 1] ] further developed the model to
incorporate binder deformation. More recently, computer
models to describe behaviors of various nonwovens have
been developed based on these general methods [5-8,
12]. In most of these models, however, Poisson’s ratio is
determined from the experimental tests, which requires
simultaneous measurement of axial extension and lateral
contraction of a fabric under uniaxial stress. This is a
difficult task, and some errors could be introduced during
the process. Most importantly, it is impossible to use
these models to predict the mechanical performance of
new products during design, ’because Poisson’s ratio is
unknown for new products before manufacturing.
We have constructed a new finite element model to
determine the mechanical response of nonwoven fabrics
from measurements of fiber tensile properties and the
distribution of fiber orientation angles. The Poisson’s
ratio of the nonwoven is not required to be known before
simulation. Our previous work [1, 15] assumed the fibers
in the web were straight, but in most nonwoven fabrics.
this assumption is not justified. Our current paper ex-
tends the earlier computer model to take into account the
curl in fibers. The effects of fiber orientation angle, fiber
curl factor, and thickness distribution on the fabric prop-
erties are analyzed with special emphasis on the fabric
Poisson’s ratio. Finally, we compare the calculated and
experimental results for several nonwovens.
Theoretical Analysis
MODEL OF NONWOVEN FABRIC STRUCTURE
For this work, we will adopt the major assumptions of
our previous work [15]
determining the behavior of a
nonwoven fabric under uniaxial strain from the deforma-
tion of individual fiber segments.
The fabric is considered to be made up of a number of
two-dimensional sheets, consisting of fiber networks
with curled fiber segments lying at varying angles to any
given direction in the fabric. For numerical analysis by
the finite element method (FEM), we divide the fiber
network, which is really a continuum, into a series of
discrete cell elements. Each cell unit represents a finite
element for FEM analysis. Within each finite element, the
fabric is made up of a number of fiber layers. All fibers
in one layer are oriented in the same direction, but the
curl factor may be different, following a random or

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 817

known statistical distribution. Each element may have a

different structure and properties, allowing us to consider
structural and property variances in different regions
within the sample. In real fabrics, the binder will link
fibers that cross one another, but for the purpose of this
analysis, we regard the binder as occurring in the mesh
nodes of finite elements. We also assume that all of the
fiber curl between the nodes is allowed to be taken up,
which is accomplished by a force that is negligible com-
pared with that required to stretch the fibers.
IMPLEMENTATION OF FIBER CURL

Curl in a fiber segment refers to its degree of curva-

ture. In this research, a fiber curl factor C is defined as

where L,. is the curve length of a fiber segment that spans
two selected points. L,s is the straight distance between
these two points. The distribution of fiber curl factor
(DCF) is expressed by the function D(x), the relative
frequency of fiber numbers at a curl factor x over the total
number of fibers in the web. The stress-strain relation-
ship for a nonwoven web with various curl factors is
derived asfollows.
FIGURE 1. Schematics of fiber extension with different cnrls:
(a) first step, (b) second step, (c) general case.
state ratherthan being extended. The fiber extends and
becomes the load carrier only when the web is extended
beyond its curled length L~,. The strain Ef that the fiber
sustains is .

First, suppose that the fiber stress-strain curve is cr

= f ( e). Considering the nonlinear stress-strain behavior
of a fiber, in general, this function cannot be defined
explicitly. However, the fiber stress values for corre- On the other hand, the web’s strain E is
sponding strains can be read from the fiber stress-strain
graphs obtained from experimental measurements.
Figure 1 shows a fiber layer consisting of fibers with
different levels of curl. Generally speaking, when the
fiber web is extended, only some of fibers with low C By substituting Equations 1 and 3 into Equation 2, the
sustain the strain and are the main carriers of the load. fiber strain can be expressed as follows:
The fibers with high C keep their curled state. Each fiber
in the layer will not experience the same average value of
the strain. Figure 1 a shows that the web length is x« and
the fiber segment A is straight before the web is sub- Therefore, the fiber’s stress is
jected to tensile force. The straight distance of the fiber
with various curl factors within the web is L,. Figure 1 b
demonstrates the fiber states after the web is extended to
X, . In this case, all the loads are applied to the fiber A, The contribution of all fibers I within the web to the web
which is extended S,. Fiber B has just straightened from
stress is
the curled state and begins to carry the stress. Other
fibers are still in the curled state and do not carry any
stress.
Generally, when the fabric is extended to X, as shown
in Figure I c, the amount of extension of fiber I is Si X =
where N is the ’total number of fibers within the fiber
-

Let’ where Let is the curled length of fiber I. This is web. The web layer stress is the result of forces gener-
because when the web layer is extended from Xo to L~.;, ated from the fibers whose is lower than X. Therefore,
fiber I is just brought from the curved state to the straight the layer loading force F(E) is

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818

Let be the equivalent fiber stress-strain curve,

f~(x)
Which represents the dverage stress of fibers within the
web under the assumption that all fibers are load carriers
when the web is subjected to external force:

For a real nonwoven fabric, fiber curl factors vary

continuously between zero and a maximum. It is advan-
tageous to convert the continuous form into an integra-
tion for experimental testing and numerical calculations.
Therefore, Equation 2 can be written in an integration
form as

where mrepresents the curl factor that is smaller than the

, extension strain of the web layer. Di is the percentage of FIGURE 2. Synthesizing procedure of equivalent fiber stress-strain
fibers whose curl factor is t. ’

For clarity, Figure 2 shows the synthesizing procedure
of an equivalent fiber stress-strain curve. The stress-
strain curve of each individual fiber with a different curl
factor, the web layer, and the equivalent fibers are shown
in the figure. The starting positions of extension for the
fibers are different due to the different curl factors,
although the shape of the stress-strain curve for every
fiber is the same. Therefor, the contribution to the
synthesizing curve varies for each fiber. The initial mod-
ulus and the strength of the equivalent curve are smaller
than that of the original single fiber, since some of the
fibers in the bundle have not started carrying the load.
The time between the maximum strength to final failure
is longer for the equivalent curve compared with the
single fiber.
In this way, the tensile stress of the fiber layer can be
expressed as the product of the number of fibers within
the layer and the equivalent fiber stress. In other words,
we could treat the fiber web with curled fibers as the web
curve:(a) curl factor between 0 and 10%, (b) curl factor between 0 and
20%.
equivalent curve to replace the original fiber modulus Ep.
The effects of fiber curl thus introduced into the
are
computer program through the equivalent curve.
Since the fiber layers, in which fibers do not orient
parallel to the loading direction, could be considered to
have the same distributions of fiber curl factor, the equiv-
alent fiber stress-strain curve derived above is also ap-
plicable to the fibers oriented in other directions. During
computation, for all the fibers oriented in all directions,
we use a fiber. modulus Eefi of the equivalent curve to
replace the original fiber modulus E~. In this way, the
effects of fiber curl oriented in all directions are consid-
ered and introduced into the calculation program. There-
fore, this model is general and holds for all fibers ori-
ented at any angle to the extension direction.

made from straight fiber segments by replacing the fiber
stress-strain curve with the equivalent fiber curve. All the
element constitutive equations, element equilibrium
equations, and the system equilibrium equation derived
in our previous work [15] could be adopted here. The
only modification is to use the fiber modulus Efi of the
DESCRIPTION OF FIBER ORIENTATION
The examination of several web structures in our study
and the results of investigations by other researchers [2,
8, 9, 16, 17] indicate that the distribution of the orienta-
tion angles (DOA) within a nonwoven can be expressed as

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where t(x) is the relative frequency at an orientation
angle X, and a, b, and n are constants. Parameter a
reflects the ratio of randomly oriented fibers, b represents
the peak height of the DOA curve, and n controls the peak
range of the DOA curve. a is the lapping angle of the card
web or spinning gun.
This equation can be used to describe fiber orientation
for various web structures. When a
=
0, the equation
represents the theoretical DOA of a parallel laid web, in
which the web is formed by laying down a number of
card webs on top of one another, all lying in the machine
direction. When b =
0, the equation represents a per-
fectly random distribution where the probabilities of all
the angles are the same. When 0 < a < 90°, the equation
describes the structures of a cross-laid nonwoven formed
by laying down card webs or spraying a bundle of
filaments onto a moving lattice.
Measurements
’
Experimental
We used two spun bonded fabrics, Lutradur&reg;
Lu 11 OTH and Lutradur&reg; Lu2 l OTH, and one needle
punched fabric, Datex4’ AP 110, in this study. The stress-
strain curves of the constituent fibers came from tests on
25 fiber samples on an Instron tensile testing machine.
The test length was 1 cm, and fibers were strained at
60%/minute. The stress-strain curves of 20.32 X 7.62 cm
fabric strips were determined by the Instron tensile test-
ing machine under uniaxial loading at a strain rate of 40
mm/min.
We measured the fiber orientation and curl factor of
each individual fiber element with a microscope. We
used a Sony color video camera to capture images from
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819
the microscope, and analyzed each image on a commer-
cially available image analysis system, NIH Image soft-
ware. The relative frequency of the fiber curl factor is
shown in Figure 3 for all the fabrics studied. The histo-
grams and fitted curves of the relative frequency of fibers
per 5° orientation angle interval with respect to the
machine direction are shown in Figure 4. It is clear that
these samples represent three typical nonwovens: (a)
parallel laid, (b) random laid, and (c) cross-laid.
Results and Discussion
EFFECT OF CURL FACTOR
Figure 5 shows the predicted and experimental stress-
strain curves for the machine direction of fabric AP 110.
The predicted curve is in good agreement with that from
tensile tests. Curves I-IV are the predicted stress-strain
curves of fabrics with the same structural parameters of
fabric API 10, except for a different DCF. The corre-
sponding curl factor distributions are plotted in Figure 3.
From 5 we see that the initial modulus of a
Figure
nonwoven stress-strain curve is very sensitive to DCF.
There is an increase in the value of the fabric initial
modulus as do, the relative frequency of straight fibers,
increases. From Figure 3, we know that an increased do
results in a decreased percentage of fibers with higher
curl factors. The number of segments with smaller curl is
dominant. Thus, on extending a sample, the stress would
initially be higher.
At an extension greater than that at which the maxi-
mum load is attained, the samples with different curl
factor distributions differ considerably. Computed tensile
curve IV, the sample with the lowest do, does not have a
clearly defined maximum load, and the point at which
FIGURE 3. Relative frequency of fiber curl factor
for different fabrics.
820
FIGURE 4. Orientation distribution of fabric studied: (a) fabric
API 10, y =
1.45 + 5.89 X COS12 (x), (b) fabric Lut 10. y 2.778, (c)
=
fabric Lu210, y = 1.95 + 1.84 X 1COS12 (x + 55) + COS12 (x - 55)].
rupture is also not very clear. Curve I, with the
occurs
largest do, breaks quite sharply at the maximum load,
and there is an instantaneous drop in the load to zero.
Fabrics with intermediate do show a progressive ten-
dency to less slippage as the do increases. The higher
rupture extension in the fabric with lower do could be
attributed to the greater number of segments with high
curl factor. Because of their higher curl, the contribution
of the crimped fibers to the fabric stress would com-
mence at a later stage of deformation than fibers with less
curl.
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Curves I and IV in Figure 5 are two typical stress-
strain curves of nonwoven fabrics. The tensile curves of
spunbonded nonwovens usually have a shape similar to
curve I, with a short extension after maximum load. But
for needle punched fabrics (curve IV), the load normally
drops down slowly and, exhibits quite a long extension
after maximum stress. One explanation for this behavior
is the different patterns of curl factor distribution. Gen-
erally speaking, needle punched nonwovens possess a
higher percentage of curled fibers than spunbonded fab-
rics. In the later stage of tensile testing, the curls are
removed and the fibers begin to burden the stress. There-
fore, the fabric extension lasts longer than in spunbonded
fabrics.
EFFECT OF ORIENTATION ANGLE
We computed the stress-strain curves of nonwoven
Lu210 with different lapping angles using the methods
described in our previous paper [15]. Figure 6 shows
these plots at 15° angular increments of a lapping angle.
All these fabrics possess the same structural parameters
as fabrics Lu210, but they have different lapping. The
experimental curve of fabric Lu210 is also plotted in
Figure 6, and is located between the predicted curves of
lapping angles 45° and 60°. From Figure 4, we know the
lapping angle of fabric Lu210 is 55°, so the predicted
curves are quite accurate.
When the lapping angle is 0°, there is only one peak in
the DOA curve, and its position coincides with the exten-
sion direction. Therefore, the corresponding fabric ten-
sile curve possesses the highest load and lies on top in
Figure 6. There is a decrease in the load value at all
extensions up to the rupture point. As the lapping angle
increases, there is little change in the shape of the curves,
indicating that the nature of the deformation is un-
changed with the lapping angle. There is, however, a
substantial decrease in the slope of the curves at low
strains, showing a considerable increase in flexibility at
low deformations. The effects of peak width and height
of the DOA on fabric tensile behavior are shown in Figure
7. A wider peak width decreases the initial modulus and
stress, but its influence is not as significant as the lapping
angle.
Figure 8 shows the Poisson’s ratio distribution within
fabric Lu210TH at 10% longitudinal strain. Poisson’s
ratios vary from position to position within the sample,
and those developed near the two free sides of the test
strip are much higher than at the center. Normally, the
Poisson’s ratio is very low for some materials and cer-
tainly less than 0.5 for isotropic elastic materials. Non-
woven fabrics invariably have much higher Poisson’s
ratios; values of up to 4 are common. For the elements

near the two free sides of the sample, the Poisson’s ratio
is as high as 8. In the center, however, the Poisson’s ratio
is 0.5, which is similar to isotropic materials. Many
researchers have not achieved much success when they
attempted to get Poisson’s ratios for nonwovens through
theoretical analysis [4, 13, 14]. They derived the micro-
mechanical behavior of a piece of a sample and used this
result to determine the behavior for the whole fabric.
Actually, Poisson’s ratios differ from position to position
during extension, and this is the main reason for their
failure.
In order to compare the contraction behavior of fabrics
with different DOA patterns, we determined three contour
plots of Poisson’s ratios within samples at a 10% strain
level for three fabrics representing three typical nonwov-
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821
FIGURE 5. Stress-strain curves of nonwovens
with various distributions of fiber curl factors.
ens :parallel laid, random laid, and cross laid. As shown
in Figure 9, the Poisson’s ratio variations are rather
considerable, indicating that fabric contraction definitely
depends on fiber orientation distributions. The parallel
laid fabric has a lower contraction ratio and less area that
is affected (Figure 9a). The cross laid fabric possesses a
higher Poisson’s ratio and the contraction areas spread
wider than in the other two fabrics (Figure 9c).
It is apparent that, as the fabrics are strained, the stress
distributions a1-e closely related to their fiber orientation
distributions (Figure 10). For parallel laid fabric, the
stresses in the width direction in the regions near
clamped boundaries are much less than the other two
fabrics, particularly in the four comers of the sample.
This causes the stress directions of each element within
FIGURINE 6. Stress-strain curves of nonwovens
with different lapping angles.
822
the sample to be relatively parallel to the fabric extension
direction. For the cross laid nonwoven, stresses in the
width direction are much higher because most of the
fibers are oriented in this direction. The directions of
resulting stresses near the jaws are toward the two free
sides of the sample.
’
EFFECTS OF WEB UNIFORMITY
Although web weight uniformity has traditionally
been used as a quality index for nonwoven webs, it is
still difficult. to predict theoretically the effects of
variations in web weight or structure on web mechan-
ical properties. This is because in the previous models
[2, 3, 9-11 ], the fabric properties were derived from
those of constituent &dquo;unit cells&dquo;, and the properties of
all these unit cells were considered to be the same.
Using the finite element method, the characteristics of
the fabric, which are really a continuum, are repre-
sented by a network of discrete elements. Each ele-
ment may have a different structure and property,
FIGURE 8. Distribution of Poisson’s ratio within
the sample Lu210TH.
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FIGURE 7. Stress-strain curves of nonwovens
with different DOA shapes.
which makes it possible to introduce the web weight
variation into the prediction model.
For each element, we assigned a thickness value ran-
domly in such a way that the thickness distribution was
approximately normal. The distribution of thickness
within the sample is characterized by a mean value and
a root mean square deviation cv. Samples with different
variations are represented by various cv values. The
effects of thickness variation on rupture strength for
fabric Lu210TH are shown in Figure 11. From the curves
of different lapping angles, we can clearly see that vari-
ations in fabric thickness considerably influence strength
and rupture elongation. For fabrics with the same mean
FIGURE 9. Contour plots of Poisson’s ratios within three typical
samples: (a) parallel laid, (b) random laid, (c) cross laid.
 823

FIGURE 10. Stress distribution of nonwovens with different fiber

orientations: (a) parallel laid. (b) random laid, (c) cross laid.

FIGURE I 1. Effect of thickness variation on rupture strength of

fabrics with different lapping angles.
FIGURE 12. Distribution of stress in extension direction within the
sample with different thickness CV values: (a) CV =
0%. (b) CV
thickness, a higher thickness cv results in lower stress =
20%. (c) CV 40~. =

and strain at break.

Figure 12 plots the distributions of stresses in the tensile
direction for three fabrics with different thickness cv val-
ues. Figure 12a represents the stress state of a perfectly even
fabric whose thickness cv is zero. The curve surface is
smooth and flat. The stress distribution pattern of the fabric
with 40% cv is shown in Figure 12c. The curve surface is
highly irregular and patchy in appearance, indicating un-
even stress concentrations in different parts. This is no
doubt caused by the irregularity that is present in the fab-
ric’s real density. These uneven stress concentrations are the
cause of reduced strength and elongation. Stresses in thin
positions, where the fabric has less resistance to tensile load,
are larger than in thick places. The consequence is that the
broken area enlarges quickly, and catastrophic rupture oc-
almost
curs instantly.
Conclusions
We offer a new approach to predicting the tensile
behavior of nonwovens with the finite element method,

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824
which takes into account the curl factor distribution of
the fiber web. The distribution curve of the fiber curl
factor affects the shape of the fabric’s stiess-strain curve,
including the initial modulus and the failure mode after
maximum load. Fabrics with higher curl factors behave
like needle punched nonwovens. They rupture at no
specific point, but break down over a wide strain range.
The tensile behavior of lower curl factor fabrics resem-
bles that of spunbonded nonwovens.
Nonwoven anisotropy is mainly determined by the
fiber distribution angle within a nonwoven web. For most
of the applications, the nonwoven is expected to have the
same properties in any direction in the plane of the
fabric. However, the anisotropy and variation of proper-
ties with direction is desirable for some purposes. For
example, the control of filament orientation is necessary
to concentrate the strength of a polypropylene carpet-
backing fabric in the warp and weft directions to provide
greater resistance to stretching and neckdown during
carpet processing. The proper anisotropy can be obtained
by adjusting the way in which the fiber web is originally
laid down, such as the spray pattern of filaments emerg-
ing from the gun and the lapping angle. Optimal distri-
bution of orientation angle and curl factor can be deter-
mined to satisfy the requirements of specific end uses by
the novel approach described here.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This research was supported by the United States
Department of Commerce through the National Textile
Center (grant 99-27-027400), which we appreciate. We
also extend thanks to Freudenberg Spunweb Company
for providing the fabrics; . We would like to thank Pro-
fessors William K. Walsh and Roy Broughton for their
valuable suggestions for this work.
°
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Manuscripts received June 29, 1998; accepted October 12. 1998.