Modeling the Melt Blowing of Hollow Fibers

In commercial operation, a melt-blowing die is used to produce fine fibers that are solid, not hollow. In this paper, a model was developed to predict what would happen if hollow fibers were produced with a modified melt-blowing die. The model involved the simultaneous solution of the momentum, energy, and continuity equations. The model equations were solved numerically. Predicted parameters included fiber hollowness, fiber attenuation, vibration frequency, vibration amplitude, temperature, and stress. Hollowness can affect the laydown pattern of the melt-blown fibers.