Heat comes from a calender nip, hot air drawn through the web, ultrasonic energy or infrared, and the fusing fiber is either the whole web, as in spunbond, or a binder fiber blended in. Temperature, pressure and dwell time decide bond strength and hand: too little and the fabric lints and tears, too much and it turns boardy. It is the fastest and cleanest bonding route because no water or chemicals are involved.
Thermal bonding window on this PP is tight, two degrees either way and it's fuzzy or boardy.
Also heard as
- thermobonding
- heat bonding
- thermobonded
Related terms
Calender bonding
Thermal bonding in a heated roll nip, either across the whole surface or at points set by an engraved roll.
Through-air bonding
Thermal bonding that pulls hot air through the web so binder fibers fuse without the web being crushed.
Point bonding
Calender bonding with an engraved roll that fuses the web only at small, regularly spaced points.
Binder fiber
Low-melting fiber blended into a web so that, when heated, it softens and glues the other fibers together.
Ultrasonic bonding
Bonding or laminating by vibrating a horn at ultrasonic frequency against a patterned anvil roll to melt fibers locally.