Testing Services

NWI strives to provide all of our clients, industry partners, and academia alike with as many different methods and testing apparatus as possible. NWI testing services include; independent testing, development of custom testing methods, and support for your testing labs. We have many testing instruments that are commonly used in the nonwovens and conventional textile industry.

If you have questions or would like to discuss a custom project, please send an email to NWI questions.

 

Filtration Testing Expanded

NWI has expanded its capabilities and offers testing services for masks and respirators.  NWI also has a full range of filtration testing equipment.  These include:

  • One PALAS MFP-3000-S (fractional aerosol filter test)
  • Three TSI 8130 machines; NWI can perform the NIOSH TEB-APR-STP-0057 according to 42 CFR PART 84.
  • Two TSI 3160 machines
  • Two Offline charging and discharging units
  • Two Environmental chambers for discharging and conditioning masks and filter media
  • One Testing apparatus for the measurement of fluid resistance for surgical masks
  • One Prototyping facility to produce masks for testing purposes per NIOSH Standard Test Protocol

In addition, NWI is modifying one of the TSI 3160 units to be able to perform ASTM 2299 for the measurement of Particle Filtration Efficiency (PFE) at 0.1 microns.

 

Polymer Characterisation

  • TGA
  • DSC
  • Rheology

Nonwoven and Fiber Testing

  • Absorption, desorption and in-plane liquid transport
  • Intron for performing a variety of tests including tensile, tear, dynamic friction, creep and fatigue.
  • Favimat for testing single fibers
  • Mocon for testing moisture vapor transmission
  • Abrasion Resistance
  • Bursting strength
  • Thickness
  • Bending stiffness
  • Hydrostatic head for measuring barrier properties
  • Basis weight
  • Air permeability – TextTest
  • Gurley Air Permeability
  • CTT – Yarn / Filament Abrasion Testing
  • Contact Angle
  • SEM & Optical Microscopy

In addition to physical testing equipment, the following analytical testing is available at NC State University: Analytical Instrumentation Facility, FTIR, UV-VIS, NIR, GC, HPLC, LLS, and XRD.