De senaste decennierna har visat på en stor ökning av den textila konsumtionen som följd av efterfrågan, samtidigt som den textila återvinningen idag är nästintill obefintlig. Detta leder till att mycket av det textila materialet deponeras istället för att återvinnas, vilket innebär ett stort slöseri av redan befintlig råvara som skulle kunna användas till att skapa nytt textilt material. Genom att undersöka olika återvinningsmetoder och -processer skulle denna råvara kunna användas på nytt. Examensarbetet är en del av forskningsprojektet ”Från spill till guld” som leds av forskningsinstitutet Swerea IVF. Forskningsprojektets utgångspunkt är att minimera produktionsspill och att höja dess värde inom bland annat textilindustrin. Examensarbetet syftar till att undersöka termomekanisk återvinning av plagg gjorda av polyamid 6.6 (PA6.6) och elastan, smältspinna filament samt formspruta provstavar från denna nya polymerblandning utan att separera fibrerna. Andra syftet är att även hitta en lösning för produkterna som undersöks i detta examensarbete kan återvinnas i sin helhet, så att ingen demontering av produkterna ska behövas. Fyra olika plagg undersöktes i examensarbetet bestående av materialblandningen PA6.6 och elastan. Analyser av de fyra olika plaggen genomfördes för att fastställa materialen. Hela plagg tillverkade i de olika materialen klipptes eller maldes ned och smältes sedan om genom kompoundering, därefter tillverkades granulat. Materialen testades i spinnbarhet genom smältspinningsförsök, sedan smältspanns eller formsprutades materialen. Resultaten från smältspinningsförsöken analyserades i ljusmikroskop för att avgöra om elastanen är termoplastiskt eller inte då detta är en avgörande faktor vid smältspinning. Olika tester gjordes på materialen för att undersöka deras eventuella kemiska nedbrytning som resultat av kompoundering. Resultatet visade att smältspinning och formsprutning inte är möjligt från denna polymerblandning. Ett antagande kan göras att återvinningen inte fungerade på grund av PA6.6:s höga smälttemperatur, då elastanen antagligen bryts ned vid denna höga temperatur, vilket förstör materialet. Slutsatsen blir då att smältspinning och formsprutning inte är möjligt utifrån denna polymerblandning, men återvinning till plastdetaljer kan produceras vid kompounderingsstadiet och återanvändas i annan industri än textilindustrin. Potential finns för återvinning av plagg till plagg om ändringar görs under processens gång och om elastanen identifieras som termoplastisk eller inte. / The latest decades have shown a large increase in textile consumption as a result of demand, at the same time the textile recycling today is almost non-existent. This means that much of the textiles are used for landfill rather than being recycled, which generates a large waste of raw material that could be used to create new textiles. By exploring various recycling methods and processes this raw material could be used again. This thesis is part of a research project, “From Waste To Gold”, which is led by the research institute Swerea IVF. The research projects foundation is to minimize production waste and to increase its value in areas such as textile industries. This thesis’ foundation is to examine the mechanical recycling of garments made by polyamide 6.6 (PA6.6) and spandex, melt spin filaments and produce injection moulded samples from this new polymer blend, without separating the fibres. The other foundation is to find a solution for the products that are examined in this thesis so they could be recycled as a unit, no disassembly of the products would be necessary Four different garments was examined in this thesis, the materials were a combination of PA6.6 and spandex. Different analyses were made on the four different garments. Whole garments from the different materials were cut or milled and then re melted through compounding, after compounding granulates was made. The materials spin ability was tested through melt spinning trials, then the materials were either melt spun or injection moulded. The results from the spinning trials was analysed in a light microscope to examine if the spandex were thermoplastic or not, as this is a crucial factor when melt spinning. Various tests were conducted to analyse their chemical degradation after the compounding. The results from the melt spinning and injection moulding showed that it was not possible to recycle this polymer combination this way. An assumption can be made that the recycling methods did not work because of the high melt temperature of PA6.6, the spandex assumes to decompose at this high temperature and therefore destroys the material. The conclusion is that melt spinning and injection moulding is not possible to conduct with this polymer combination, but recycling to plastic details could be done at the compound stage and then be used in some other industry, not in the textile industry. There are potential for garment-to-garment recycling if changes are made during the recycling processes and if the spandex could be identified as a thermoplastic or a non-thermoplastic.

This thesis is part of an on going project within Autoliv Sweden AB to develop the process in changing the material in airbags. Most airbags are today constructed of fabric in polyamide 6.6 (PA6.6) and the thesis view the possibility of changing the material to one of three different polyesters (PET1, PET2, PET3). Both materials have different properties that have been looked into by two test methods, linear testing and dynamic testing with cold gas. The two testing methods were conducted on plain fabric and on fabric with seam to see differences in the materials when subjected to different stress caused by force or pressure. During testing the seam rupture was measured by filming the test sequences, and used for visual analysis. Tensile testing was conducted using a constant-rate-of-extension machine where the material is subjected to linear force until rupture. Dynamic testing was done with a cold nitrogen gas system using vessels to build up pressure that then releases towards the material putting it under stress. Tensile testing results for elongation do not have significant differences between testing in plain fabric or fabric with seam. PET2 have highest elongation in warp and weft. Visual analysis of specimens shows difference in how materials break, where the reference material in PA6.6 breaks more even than in PET materials. Dynamic testing show that the biggest seam opening do not occur at the highest pressure. In order to understand what is happening with the fabric during testing, three different times have been chosen in the pressure-time chart. Results in dynamic testing on fabric with seam show that PET3 have the smallest seam opening while reference material in PA6.6 has the largest opening. All PET materials have similar properties even if these are not always same as reference material in PA6.6. We can neither discard nor confirm our hypothesis of seam slippage and elongation relates equally in the same material independent of test method. From these results PET2 would not be recommended due to seam opens most at maximum force and the material has the biggest elongation. PET3 would be the recommended material, since seam opening is smallest at measured pressure. / Program: Textilingenjörsutbildningen