Measurement and comparison of melt-blowing airflow fields: Nozzle modifications to reduce turbulence and fibre whipping

Abstract

In the melt-blowing process, micro/nanofibrous nonwovens are attenuated and formed through aerodynamic force in a turbulent airflow field. In this work, two types of airflow-directors were added under a common melt-blowing slot-die nozzle to obtain modified airflow fields. The effect of airflow-directors on time-averaged characteristics, turbulence intensity, and temperature fluctuation intensity are achieved through the simultaneous measurement of fluctuating velocity and fluctuating temperature using a two-wire probe hot-wire anemometer. Moreover, the influence of airflow-directors on fibre oscillations are also investigated through high-speed photography. The distribution of turbulence intensity and temperature fluctuation intensity reveals the characteristics of fluctuating airflow fields formed by different melt-blowing slot-die nozzles. Through the analyses of airflow characteristics and fibre oscillations, we can find that the arrangement of airflow-directors has a great impact on both turbulence distribution and fibre oscillation.