Effect of beating revolution on dispersion of flame attenuated glass wool suspension and tensile strength of associated glass fiber wet-laid mat

Beating is the most significant process in papermaking technique that can modify the fiber morphology, sheet-formation ability of fiber suspension and properties of the wet-laid mat. In this paper, flame attenuated glass wool was beaten in water at various revolutions, ranging from 1500r to 12000r. Compared to suspensions beaten at Or and 1500r where glass fibers simply aggregated in water, glass wool suspensions beaten at 3000r to 8000r were homogeneous with separated and randomly arranged glass fibers. Further, suspensions beaten at revolutions above 8000r were uniform but with a few broken glass fibers. The dewatering characteristics of fiber suspensions were analyzed based on fiber plugging model. Drainage resistances of flame attenuated glass wool suspension increased dramatically from 22 degrees SR (unbeaten) to 29 degrees SR (at 1500r) and then maintained at this value till 12000r. Density and porosity of the fabricated wet-laid mat was 95 kg/m(3) and 94%, respectively. Maximum tensile strength of 170 N/m for the wet-laid mat was achieved at 8000r, which then decreased significantly to 100 N/m when the revolutions exceed 10000r. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.