HOLLOW FIBERS | BI-COMPONENT FIBERS

HOLLOW FIBERS 

Hollow fibers are made of a sheath of fiber material and one or more hollow spaces at the center. These hollows may be formed in a number of different ways. The fiber may be made with a core of one material and a sheath of another, and then the central material is dissolved out. Alternatively, an inert gas may be added to the solution from which the fiber is formed, with the gas bubbles creating a hollow area in the fiber. Other experimental or proprietary techniques have been used to make hollow fibers. One involves spinneret holes with solid cores around which the polymer flows. 

Hollow fibers provide greater bulk with less weight. They are therefore, often used to make insulated clothing. For absorbent fibers such as rayon, hollow fibers provide increased absorbency. Some have been put to such specialized uses as filters or as carriers for carbon particles in safety clothing for persons who come into contact with toxic fumes. The carbon serves to absorb the fumes Bi-component Fibers 

As the technology for producing manufactured fibers has become more highly developed, manufacturers have turned to increasingly sophisticated techniques for creating new fibers. Not only are new generic fibers being created but also different polymers or variants of the same polymer can be combined into a single fiber to take advantage of the special characteristics of each polymer. Such fibers are known as bi-component fibers. 

The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) defines a bi-component fiber as “a fiber consisting of two polymers which are chemically different, physically different, or both. Bicomponent fibers can be made from two variants of the same generic fiber (for example, two types of nylon, two types of acrylic) or from two generically different fibers (for example, nylon and polyester or nylon and spandex). The latter are called bi-component bi-generic fibers. 

Components in bi-component fibers may be arranged either side by side or as a sheath core. In making a side-by-side bicomponent fiber, the process requires that the different polymers be fed to the spinneret together so that they exit from the spinneret opening, side by side. Sheath-core bi-component fibers require that one component be completely surrounded by the other, so that the polymer is generally fed into the spinneret as shown in Figure. Variation in the shape of the orifice that contains the inner core can produce fibers with different behavioral characteristics. 

BI-COMPONENT FIBERS 

As the technology for producing manufactured fibers has become more highly developed, manufacturers have turned to increasingly sophisticated techniques for creating new fibers. Not only are new generic fibers being created but also different polymers or variants of the same polymer can be combined into a single fiber to take advantage of the special characteristics of each polymer. Such fibers are known as bi-component fibers. The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) defines a bi-component fiber as “a fiber consisting of two polymers which are chemically different, physically different, or both. Bi-component fibers can be made from two variants of the same generic fiber (for example, two types of nylon, two types of acrylic) or from two generically different fibers (for example, nylon and polyester or nylon and spandex). The latter are called bi-component bi-generic fibers. 

Bi-component fibre

Components in bi-component fibers may be arranged either side by side or as a sheath core. In making a side-by-side bi-component fiber, the process requires that the different polymers be fed to the spinneret together so that they exit from the spinneret opening, side by side. Sheath-core bi-component fibers require that one component be completely surrounded by the other, so that the polymer is generally fed into the spinneret as shown in Figure. Variation in the shape of the orifice that contains the inner core can produce fibers with different behavioral characteristics.