Both routes start from polymer pellets and produce fabric in a single line, so producers group them as spunmelt. A spunmelt line may carry only spunbond beams or a mix of spunbond and meltblown beams to make SMS-type composites. The word comes up mostly in capacity reports, market data and line descriptions.
They're adding a 3.2 meter spunmelt line, SSMMS, mostly for hygiene.
Also heard as
- spun-melt
Related terms
Spunbond
Nonwoven of continuous filaments extruded, air-drawn and laid on a belt, then usually bonded by a hot calender.
Meltblown
Web of very fine fibers made by blasting molten polymer from a row of tiny die holes with hot, high-speed air.
SMS
Spunbond-meltblown-spunbond: a three-layer composite of strong spunbond outer layers around a meltblown barrier core.
Beam
Line talk for one spinning or meltblown station across the width of a spunmelt line.