Development of nonwoven automotive carpets made of recycled PET fibers with improved abrasion resistance

In this study, velour design molded automotive carpets made of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers were developed via needle-punching process to improve their abrasion resistance properties. Initially, virgin PET fibers and recycled PET (rPET) fibers derived from PET bottle wastes were supplied from different producers and they were tested in terms of their fiber properties such as fiber length, crimp, tensile strength, elongation, tenacity, and intrinsic viscosity. It was demonstrated that recycled fibers from bottle wastes used in the study have lower tenacity and higher elongation than virgin PET fibers. In the second part, rPET fibers to be used in manufacturing in terms of their desired properties were selected. Subsequently, molded automotive carpets were produced from the selected rPET fibers and virgin PET fiber blends with adjusted manufacturing and molding parameters. Developed carpets were tested for abrasion resistance performance and they were evaluated according to requested specification. Results showed that carpets made of 85% rPET + 15% bicomponent PET had almost equal performance in terms of both fiber loss and carpet appearances with carpets consisting of 80% PET + 20% bicomponent PET. Carpets made of recycled PET fibers offer the manufacturer low raw material costs in addition to ecological advantages.