Apparatus and Method for the Assessment of In-plane Anisotropic Liquid Absorption in Nonwoven Fabrics

Abstract

An instrumental method is described that enables real-time measurement of in-plane anisotropic liquid absorption in nonwoven fabrics. The system uses variations in electrical capacitance to monitor changes in the liquid absorbed by a fabric as a function of time. In the computer-integrated system, multiple capacitance transducers are arranged equidistantly around a central point to allow separate measurements in up to eight different in-plane directions. The design features of the system, its theoretical basis and examples of measured results are presented.