Methodology for the Selection of the Fiber Laying Type in the Manufacturing of a Non-Woven Textile from Thick Alpaca Fiber

The development of new textile products involves the selection of production processes that minimize costs and production times. This research exhibits a methodology for the selection of the fiber laying type in a non-woven manufacturing process that uses coarse alpaca fiber. The fiber laying types that were submitted to evaluation were: cross-laid, parallel-laid, interlaced and random-laid, from which the following factors were evaluated: quality of the final product, vertical tensile strength and assembly time. The methodology involves three main phases: (1) textile expert consulting, (2) laboratory tests and (3) factor weighting. The results indicated that the most convenient fiber laying method in accordance to the evaluation factors was cross-laid.