Needle punching technology continues to make progress in the nonwovens industry. Compared with other technologies, this technology requires a lower start-up investment and is known for its flexibility. Manufacturers can achieve multiple goals with only one production line.
Gale Shipley, automotive sales manager at North Carolina-based Dalco Nonwovens, believes that versatility and cost-effectiveness are the driving forces driving the growth of needle-punched nonwovens. She said: "Acupuncture products can be customized for longitudinal and transverse strength/stretch, while a'locking' on the'Z' axis to improve durability."
She said, for example, that many products now use needle punched non-woven fabrics on visible surfaces due to the continuous improvement of needle shapes, manufacturing processes, and raw materials that provide wear resistance comparable to other technologies, and the aesthetics are also constantly improving. "Long, messy needling products are a thing of the past," she assures."
Dalco's needle-punched nonwovens have higher physical properties than spunbond products used in geotextiles and certain automotive applications due to the "locking" of the fibers in combination with heat fusion. "Most spunbonded nonwovens have good strength in only one direction, and Dalco's needle punching technology has advantages in all aspects." Shipley said, "In contrast to technologies such as spunbonding and spunlacing that limit gram weight, Dalco can produce products up to 2000gsm, opening the door to many other applications in industries such as automobiles and furniture."
Another advantage of needle punching is that it can be easily combined with other techniques, including spunbond, woven products and films.
Jean-Philippe Dumon, director of non-woven sales at machinery supplier AndritzAsselin-Thibeau, said that needle-punched products have the greatest flexibility to meet customer requirements because they have a wide range of grammage, from 50 to 3000gsm, and can be made from a variety of short fibers, including natural, synthetic fibers, cellulose fibers, etc.
According to a report by the North American Nonwovens Industry Association INDA, the market for needle punched producers is growing. In the past two years, 19 needle production lines have been launched in North America. According to BradKalil, director of market research and statistics at INDA, at least 13 of these lines produce materials for transport-type end applications.
According to INDA's 2018 North American Nonwovens Supply Report, needle-punched nonwovens account for 23% of North American capacity. Most of the production capacity (70%) of dry-process needle-punched nonwovens in 2018 was for transportation, home and office decoration, and geosynthetics. Moreover, in the past five years (2013-2018), the production capacity of needle-punched nonwovens has increased at an annual rate of 4.4 per cent, while the growth rate of the entire market is 2.7 per cent. This growth is the result of new investment as well as continued mechanical improvements and new product development.
In North America, the installation of a new Andritz needling line was completed in South Carolina in Thrace-Linq. With a total investment of US $9 million, this line mainly produces materials for the geosynthetics, automotive and floor covering markets.
At the same time, in Georgia, due to the increasing demand for high-quality non-woven geotextiles, Ten Cate Geosynthetics Americas completed the expansion of non-woven production at its plant in Jefferson. The line creates a unique high-consistency product in terms of appearance and size. The company also has the largest carding and cross-laying machines in the staple fiber geosynthetics industry, which can simultaneously produce polypropylene and polyester geotextiles.
Foss Performance is Materials investing in a new Dilo needling line that will significantly increase its production capacity in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. Foss was acquired by Asten Johnson in 2017 and has a long history of innovation in the automotive, industrial, fiber and felt markets. Steve Polston, president of Asten Johnson's nonwovens business, said the investment would further boost itself. The production line is expected to be put into use in early 2020.
The Gospel of the Car Market
The growing demand for electric vehicles has been a boon to the needle market. Andritz's Dumon said that the automotive industry is one of the most active application markets for acupuncture technology. "There is an increasing demand for lightweight and high-weight applications, such as isolating external noise. With the development of electric vehicles, this noise is becoming more obvious."
In order to meet this market demand, ANDRITZ offers SDV needle machines. "The automotive industry also uses economical PET fibers, and the fibers can be processed without breaking." He added.
As sales of electric vehicles grow worldwide, Autoneum is focusing its latest development on the electric vehicle market. To support automakers in the production of lightweight, environmentally friendly electric vehicles, Autoneum has expanded its product portfolio to include a battery bottom cover made of Ultra-Silent, which can meet the specific requirements of electric vehicles for sound insulation and thermal management. The body chassis guards made by Ultra-Silent are made of needle-punched PET.
These components help to reduce, for example, tire noise entering the vehicle cabin and noise around the vehicle body. Noise-reducing components are also essential for electric vehicles, because due to the lack of engine sound, it is easier to hear the sound of external and internal sources (such as fans, pumps and electronic drive components), which affects driving comfort. The weight of the battery bottom cover made of needle-punched cloth is also 50% lighter than the corresponding plastic parts, thus ensuring a longer driving range.
The bottom cover made of Ultra-Silent is installed under the battery box to provide the best protection for the battery cells from cooling or heating, and to optimize the battery capacity accordingly by ensuring a constant temperature. Ultimately, these components will help improve battery performance. They are also waterproof, anti-gravel and anti-vibration functions, so they can better protect the battery box. In order to calibrate the heat resistance and material stiffness of the bottom cover, Autoneum used many internally developed simulation tools. These simulation tools are used in the development phase of new electric models and in the further development of existing models.
The lightweight components made from Ultra-Silent are primarily made from fully recyclable PET fibers and are manufactured at the company's plants in Sevelen, Switzerland, Gundernhausen, Germany, Jeffersonville, Indiana, USA, and Pinghu, China. They are already used in models of European, American and Chinese car manufacturers. From July 2020, the German Gundernhausen plant will produce the battery bottom cover for the first time in series and use it in an all-electric model of a German automaker.
Another needle-based innovation in Autoneum is its Tune-It product for carpets. The company says Tune-It makes cars lighter, more comfortable and more environmentally friendly, while also having ideal sound insulation properties.
Tune-It can provide innovative fiber combinations for carpet backings, as well as excellent sound insulation and absorption. According to Autoneum, the best insulation and absorption performance can now be defined through computer-aided simulation software during the development phase of new models. Therefore, the needle-punched carpet based on Tune-It brings ideal sound insulation protection to the car compartment. In addition, compared with standard needle-punched carpets, its weight advantage is up to 25%, so Tune-It-based components can also help reduce fuel consumption and vehicle emissions.
The environmental impact of this technology, based on 100 percent recyclable PET, is also reflected in the fact that components made from Tune-It are fully recyclable. In the production of ordinary carpet substrates, the proportion of non-recyclable production waste is 30%, and the residues generated in the Tune-It production process can be processed into particles and then completely returned to the carpet production process in the form of fibers.
For Codberg, its non-woven fabrics based on Lutraflor technology are used in car carpets, inserts and interior parts, as well as trunk linings, which can reduce the weight of up to 40% compared with traditional car carpets. Another weight-reducing innovation of Cordberg is its unique multi-layer composite material for molding the underbody and wheel lining, which can reduce the weight of 15% to 40% compared with traditional products.
At the same time, the car headliner business of Freudenberg & Vilene Nonwovens, which is based on needle technology, continues to grow in the Asian market. In March, a joint venture between Codberg High Performance Materials and Japan's Po Ling Company opened a new automotive roof production line at its Suzhou plant. This allows the company to meet the growing demand for high-quality car canopies in the Chinese and Southeast Asian markets. The company first introduced printed ceiling products to the market in 2010.
With the new production line, Codberg will increase the annual production capacity of ceiling materials in Suzhou by about 8 million square meters. The higher quality of the next generation of automotive headliner products will benefit customers.
This article is from Nonwovens Industry Journal
Author: Tara Olivo
