Assessment of Effects of Heat-Setting Temperatures on Tensile Properties in Polypropylene Single-Fibres

This study on effects of heat-setting temperatures on tensile properties of Polypropylene (PP) single-fibres was initiated by a non-woven manufacturing company. The study is therefore important as it is addresses the real need of the industry to have more comprehension on effects of heat-setting, in order to develop a better end-products. The research was conducted on non-conventional single-fibre tester Favimat-Robot (Technico), Germany at the Textile Physical testing Laboratory of Vakgroep Textielkunde Universiteit Gent (Ghent University), Belgium. Testing of PP single-fibres was limited to the following parameters: Elongation (Fmax), Maximum force, Work (break), Tenacity, Linear density, Time to rupture and Modulus. The collected data was statistically analyzed by Analysis of Variance ANOVA test, using STATGRAPHICS Centurion XVI.II software, while chart was generated using Microsoft Excel program. Major findings of this study reviled that all tensile test-parameters show a high variation of different extent. Elongation and Time to rupture parameters showed increase with increasing temperature, while none of the heat-setting temperatures had a clear effect on the rest of the test-parameters. ANOVA analysis and Multiple Range Test denoted a statistically significant difference for Tenacity, for Linear density, and for Time to rupture. The study recommends further research-experiments, where the temperature-range should be broken into smaller segments by increasing subject-temperatures from two to five (adding 125,130 and 135o C). Keywords: Favimat-Robot, tensile properties, Polypropylene, single-fibre.