Production of polypropylene melt blown nonwoven fabrics: Part I—Numerical simulation and prediction of fibre diameter

Abstract

The air drawing model and the air jet flow field model of dual slot inset sharp die of melt blowing for polypropylene polymer nonwovens have been established. The dual slot inset sharp die is often used to yield polymer fibres in the melt blowing process. The air jet flow field model of melt blowing is solved by using the finite difference method. The numerical computation results of air speed distribution are found to be in accordance with the experimental values. The influence of melt blowing processing parameters on the fibre diameter is also discussed. The predicted fibre diameter agrees with the experimental data. A lower polymer throughput rate, higher initial polymer melt temperature, larger die-to-collector distance, higher air initial temperature, and higher air initial velocity can yield finer fibres. The results show great potential of this research for the computer assisted design of melt blowing technology.