Low Melt Yarn Development of Inserted Yarn

Improves Carpet Wearability Fivefold

Overview of Nylon 6,6 Staple Fiber Carpet Manufacture

(with low-melt yarn insertion)

Solutia’sStaple Fiber

Process

Mill Customer’sStaple Yarn

Process

molten nylon

Low-melt yarn(melt / flow / bind)

Pensacola

Foley

drawtexturing

cut & baled

600 lbbale

blending(uniformity)

low-meltinsert yarn

tufting

carding & pinningspinning, winding &Inserting low-melt yarn

ply twisting

Suessen heatsetting(200 C for 55 sec)

dyeingdrying & latexing

brushing &shearing

Customer Expectations (1/99) Carpet Attributes Ranked by Importance

Carpet Attributes

Product Development

Manager (Company 1)

Product Development

Manager (Company 2)

Process Developmnet

Manager (Company 1)

Consensus* View

AR 2 3 5 2 Fuzzing/Bearding 5 4 2 3 Texture Quality 7 2 7 7

Fabric Hand 3 5 3 4 Tuft Endpoint 4 1 1 1

Mill Processability

1** 7 6 6

Body 6 6 4 5 Soiling 8 8 8 8

*my view after additional conversation; **no current processability problems with Solutia products, but if our new product causes a processing problem, that’s a real concern.

Cut-Pile Carpet after 20,000 Foot Traffics

Plies flatten (lose their definition), and twist loosens!

Wear Mechanisms for Cut-Pile Carpets

brushing to the side

flatteningcompression“matting”

unlocks twistinter-tuft entanglement

loss of endpoint definition

J. Southern, J. Yu, W. Baggett, and R. Miller, “Fundamental Physics of Carpet Performance,”Journal of Applied Polymer Science: Applied Polymer Symposium 47, 355-371 (1991)

Variables Impacting Wear RecoveryPolymer type (e.g., nylon, PET, PP)

Size of filamentsFilament modulus

Size of yarns (tufts)Tuft modulusLevel of twist

Permanence of twist setTuft packing densityTuft locking agents

Four days of walking is equivalent toOne year of wear for a family of four!

Professional walkers walk 18 miles/day.

Constants24/32” PH, 5/32 ga, 50 oz weight, balanced twistStitches vary with cc (2400 density)

Additional VariablesInsert (with & without)Fiber Type (1670 & 803)36 carpets

Cotton Count

2.75/2

3.0/2

3.25/2

TwistMultiple

2.70

3.0

3.3

4.5

4.3

4.9

4.7 5.2 5.6

5.5

6.1

6.0

2.5/2 3.5/2

2.5

3.5

Twist

Factorial Experiments Efficiently Sample Experimental Space

Untrafficked CarpetEndpoint

insert

Deg

ree

of W

ear

Cotton Count(yarn size)

Tw

ist

Mul

tipl

e

degree ofwear

Resin Impurties (Gels) Cause Spinning Problems

20 micron filtrationincreases spin pack life

(1 day to 5 days)

Fused ends on the Low-Melt Spun Package Cause Breaks at Insertion and Reduce Yields

Spin Cooler and Reduce Heat at Winder

Lower MeltingBonding Material

0.04 inches

Electron Microscopy Viewsof Single Carpet Tufts

Insert Yarn Melts in Processingand Fuses Together each

of the Tuft’s Two Plies

0.02 inches

Nylon Yarn Plies

Low-Melt Yarn Binds the Tuft Plies Together

with Low-Melt Insert Yarn Without Insert

Low-Melt Yarn Insertion Improves Tuft Endpoint and Resists Matting

individualtufts

top & sideviews

after 20,000foot steps

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

35 45 55 65 75 85

+75 Denier Insert Yarn

+60 Denier Insert Yarn

Controls without Insert Yarns

Untrafficked Carpet Endpoint (Quad Assessment by Three Graders)

Deg

ree

of W

ear

Qu

ad A

sses

smen

t (

9 C

arp

et D

esig

n)

Marker size reflects body level

The Influence of Low-Melt Insert Yarns on Selected Carpet Properties

Yarn & Carpet Construction Features3.5/2 cc, 5.0 x 5.0 tpi

48 ox cut pile, 18/32“ Pile HeightTextured Style

4.0

3.0

4.0

3.3

4.0

3.0

5.0 5.0

4.5

Appearance Retention

20,000 foot traffics

Traffic Levels ( foot steps)(20,000 traffics equals one year’s traffic for family of four)

5,000

Not Inserted

Inserted with Low-Melt Yarn

Yarn & Carpet Construction Features3.75/2 cc, 5.5 x 7.0 tpi

50 oz cut pile, 24/32” Pile HeightTextured Style

Carpet Wear Improves with Low-Melt Yarn Insertion

10,000 15,000 20,000

10

20

30

40

Deg

ree

of W

ear

Qu

ad A

sses

smen

t (1

0 C

arp

et D

esig

n)

4.0

4.03.5

3.03.0

4.0 4.5

4.5 5.05.0

Appearance Retention

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

Deg

ree

of W

ear

Qu

ad A

sses

smen

t (1

2 C

arp

et D

esig

n)

Untrafficked Carpet Endpoint (Quad Assessment)

Increasing Twist Improves Wear & Endpoint but Adds Cost to the Mill; the Low-Melt Insert Requires Less Twist

5.25 x 5.25 TPI2.81 twist multiple

5.00 x 5.00 TPI2.67 twist multiple

4.75 x 4.75 TPI2.54 twist multiple

4.50 x 4.50 TPI2.41 twist multiple

5.25 x 4.45 TPI2.81 twist multiple

4.85 x 4.10TPI2.59 twist multiple

Low-Melt Insert

No Insert

Yarn Construction Features3.5/2 cc

48 oz cut pile, 18/32” Pile HeightTextured Style

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

0 2 4 6 8 10 12

EndPoint Ranking (Untrafficked Carpet)

Direct Relationship between Carpet EndPoint and Carpet Wear (nylon 66 use copolymer A inserts and nylon 6 use copolymer B inserts)

20K

Con

trac

t W

alke

r R

anki

ng

Staple / N6insert blended within Plytight construction, Sue SB

3296 oz/yd 3 density 2537 denier, 6.5 tpi

24/32”PH, 112 tufts/in 2

Staple / N66not inserted

tight construction, Sue SB3715 oz/yd 3 density1631 denier, 7.6 tpi

19/32”PH, 144 tufts/in 2

Staple / N6not inserted

tight construction, Sue SB2789 oz/yd 3 density 1907 denier, 5.3 tpi

20/32”PH, 116 tufts/in 2

BCF / N66not inserted

tight construction, Sup SB2729 oz/yd 3 density 2104 denier, 5.3 tpi

17/32”PH, 104 tufts/in 2

Staple / N66inserted between Plys

loose construction, Sue SB3008 oz/yd 3 density 2820 denier, 5.7 tpi

27/32”PH, 88 tufts/in 2

BCF / N66not inserted

very loose construction, Sup SB1910 oz/yd 3 density1511 denier, 6.8 tpi

27/32”PH, 100 tufts/in 2

Bubble Size Indicates Hand(the smaller, the harsher the hand)

BCF / N66not inserted

tight construction, Sup SB3429 oz/yd 3 density 1390 denier, 6.9 tpi

22/32”PH, 208 tufts/in 2

Staple / N66inserted between Plys

semi loose construction, Sue SB2957 oz/yd 3 density2314 denier, 6.3 tpi

19/32”PH, 84 tufts/in 2

Staple / N6inserted between Plys

tight construction, Sup SB2765 oz/yd 3 density1811 denier, 6.5 tpi

23/32”PH, 148 tufts/in 2

BCF / N6not inserted

loose construction, Sup SB2743 oz/yd 3 density1908 denier, 7.3 tpi

20/32”PH, 160 tufts/in 2

SummarySPIDER Diagram

Contrasting Properties for Inserted and Non-inserted Carpets

Texture Quality

Hand

Soiling1

23

4

5

0

--

- -- -

++

++++

EndpointFloor

Performance(AR)

Fuzz & Bearding

Body

Mill Processability

- -- -

--

++++++

Scale: Much Better ++ Better + No Difference 0 Worse - Much Worse - -

AR is scaled using conventional grading standards (1 = Best).

Low-Melt Inserted

Not Inserted