Chemical and Process Engineering Research www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-7467 (Paper) ISSN 2225-0913 (Online) Vol.44, 2016 1 Assessment of Effects of Heat-Setting Temperatures on Tensile Properties in Polypropylene Single-Fibres Diana Starovoytova Madara*, Saul Sitati Namango, and David Njiguna School of Engineering, Moi University P. O. Box 3900, Eldoret, Kenya *E-mail of the corresponding author: drdsmeld@yahoo.com Abstract This study on effects of heat-setting temperatures on tensile properties of Polypropylene (PP) single-fibres was initiated by a non-woven manufacturing company. The study is therefore important as it is addresses the real need of the industry to have more comprehension on effects of heat-setting, in order to develop a better end-products. The research was conducted on non-conventional single-fibre tester Favimat-Robot (Technico), Germany at the Textile Physical testing Laboratory of Vakgroep Textielkunde Universiteit Gent (Ghent University), Belgium. Testing of PP single-fibres was limited to the following parameters: Elongation (Fmax), Maximum force, Work (break), Tenacity, Linear density, Time to rupture and Modulus. The collected data was statistically analyzed by Analysis of Variance ANOVA test, using STATGRAPHICS Centurion XVI.II software, while chart was generated using Microsoft Excel program. Major findings of this study reviled that all tensile test-parameters show a high variation of different extent. Elongation and Time to rupture parameters showed increase with increasing temperature, while none of the heat-setting temperatures had a clear effect on the rest of the test-parameters. ANOVA analysis and Multiple Range Test denoted a statistically significant difference for Tenacity, for Linear density, and for Time to rupture. The study recommends further research-experiments, where the temperature-range should be broken into smaller segments by increasing subject-temperatures from two to five (adding 125,130 and 135 o C). Key words: Favimat-Robot, tensile properties, Polypropylene, single-fibre. 1. Introduction 1.1. Polypropylene fibre Polypropylene (PP) fibers are new generation chemical fibers, and PP is the first stereo-regular polymer to have achieved industrial importance. The fibres from PP were introduced to the textile arena in the 1970s and have become an important member of the rapidly growing family of man-made/synthetic fibres. Today PP enjoys fourth spot behind the “big three” fibre classes, i.e. polyester, nylon and acrylic. About 4 million tones of PP fibers are produced annually worldwide (Buchanan, 1981; McIntyre ed., 2005). PP is the principal fibre of commercial importance of “olefin” or „polyolefin” family, in which the synthetic polymer is composed of at least 85% by mass of polyolefin units (McIntyre& Daniels, 1995; Buchanan, 1981). PP can be made from the monomer propylene by Ziegler-Natta polymerization and by metallocene catalysis polymerization (McIntyre& Daniels, 1995). Figure1: PP polymerization ((McIntyre& Daniels, 1995). PP fibre is uncomplicated to process, is a good substitute for numerous other materials; is quite readily recycled and is considered to have little adverse environmental impacts. PP fibres are to be found, for example, in carpets and other household textiles, motor vehicles, geo-textiles, healthcare and hygiene products, filters, sacks and bags, cables, ropes, netting, agricultural and horticultural products (McIntyre ed., 2005). 1.2. Selected PP Properties PP selected properties can be summarized as follows (McIntyre ed., 2005): 1. PP is a light fibre, its density (.91 gm/cm³) is the lowest of all synthetic fibres. 2. It does not absorb moisture. This means the wet and dry properties of the fibre are identical. Low moisture regain is not considered a disadvantage because it helps in quick transport of moisture as is required in special applications like babies‟ ever-dry nappies.