Polyvinyl alcohol-based fiber and manufacturing thereof

Abstract: This invention provides polyvinyl alcohol-based fibers having a gel elastic modulus of 0.05 × 10 -3 to 8.0 × 10 -3 g/cm.dr, hot water shrinkage (Wsr) of 10% or higher, and strength of 4 g/d or higher which are excellent in fatigue resistance. The fiber is inter-molecularly cross-linked through out the cross-section sufficiently.

Description: This invention relates to polyvinyl alcohol-based (hereinafter referred to as PVA) fibers excellent in fatigue resistance and suitable for the use as reinforcement for rubber products, which are used at a high temperature for long time. such as tires, hoses, and conveyer belts, and for plastics and cement, a manufacturing process thereof, and an oil brake hose reinforced with this fiber. Conventionally, PVA fibers have been used widely as fibers for industrial materials because of their high strength and high modulus compared to polyamide, polyester, and polyacrylonitrile fibers. Recently, JP-A-59-130314 (1984) and JP-A-61-108711 (1986) disclose methodsto obtain PVA fibers with improved strength and modulus. PVA fiberswith high strength and high modulus can be obtained by these methods; however, PVA fibers with high fatigue resistance, which is required for some applications, cannot be obtained by these methods. On the other hand, many recent developments of PVA fibers relate to the improvement of fatigue resistance, for example, JP-A-1-156517 (1989) JP-A-1-207435 (1989), JP-A-2-133605 (1990), and JP-A-2-84587 (1990) propose such improvement. In these publications, techniques to improve the fatigue resistance of rubber products by cross-linking PVA fibers with epoxy compounds, isocyanate compounds, organic peroxides, carboxylic acid, phosphoric acid, and hydrochloric acid are disclosed. However, the inventors of the present invention tested these techniques to confirm their effect and concluded that techniques in which PVA fibers treated with cross-linking agents and subjected to dry heat drawing or PVA fibers subjected to dry heat drawing and treated with cross-linking agents followed by drying and heat treatment, would not result in PVA fibers having sufficient fatigue resistance. In detail, PVA fibers usually have hydrophilic hydroxyl groups in their molecular structure. Therefore, PVA fibers are generally wettable; however, the high ratio drawing causes a change in orientation of hydroxyl groups on the surface of the PVA fibers from outside to inside the fiber depending on the drawing ratio. As a result, the property of the PVA fibers changes to hydrophobicity. Therefore, a cross-linking agent solution cannot be applied evenly on the surface of the fibers. Consequently, though some portions of the fibers where PVA is sufficiently cross-linked show excellent fatigue resistance, other portions remain poor in fatigue resistance and, thus, the overall fatigue resistance of the fibers is insufficiently improved. According to these methods, relatively sufficient cross-links are formed on the surface layer of the fibers, but cross-linking does not penetrate to the center of the fibers.Therefore, the central portion of the fibers remains poor in fatigue resistance, and the overall fatigue property of the fibers is improved insufficiently. JP-A-2-249705 (1990) discloses a technique for improvement of the fatigue resistance of PVA fibers used as reinforcing code for pneumatic tires in which code of PVA fiber is subjected to post-treatment with a cross-linking agent to form cross-linked structures on the surface of the fiber, or the cross-linking agent is added to a spinning dope or spin bath and penetrates the internal of the fiber, and thus PVA is cross-linked. However, the cross-linking agent added to a spinning dope escapes into a spin bath and the cross-linking agent added to a spin bath cannot form a sufficient cross-linking structure at the center of the fiber because a spin bath serves for coagulation from the spinning dope, thus, both methods cannot contribute to the significant improvement in fatigue resistance. The technical object of the present invention is to provide a method for high productivity manufacturing of PVA fibers having high fiber strength, excellent fatigue resistance and suitable for use in industrial materials for reinforcing rubber products used in high temperature atmosphere, plastics, and cement, and manufacturing of oil brake hoses reinforced with this fiber. The present invention provides PVA fibers having a gel elastic modulus of 0.05 × 10 -3 to 8.0 × 10 -3 g/cm • d, a hot water shrinkage (Wsr) of 10% or more , and a strength of 4 g/d or more. It has been found that the method described hereinafter is suitable for manufacturing such PVA fibers. In this method, a cross-linking agent is added to a spinning dope and the dope is subjected to dry spinning. The obtained filaments are subjected to dry heat treatment whereby cross-links are formed. In detail, the method for manufacturing PVA fibers which comprises dry spinning a solution of PVA polymer containing 0.025 to 0.4% by weight of ammonium sulfate based on the polyvinyl alcohol-based polymer, drying, drawing the resulting fiber at a drawing temperature of 100 °C or higher but lower than 210 °C, at a drawing tension of 0.7 g/d or more, and a draw ratio of 7 or more and 3.25 ≦ logX - logT ≦ 3.45 (wherein X represents the degree of polymerization of the polymer and T represents the residence time in a drawing furnace), and then heat treatment at a temperature of 210 °C or higher to introduce cross-linking. To provide fatigue resistance to the PVA fibers, it is required to cross-link the amorphous region where the breaking of fiber structure concentrates when subjected to fatigue. The numerical expression of the degree of cross-linking is the gel elastic modulus. The measurement procedure of the gel elastic modulus is described hereinafter. An aqueous solution of zinc chloride is a strong solvent for PVA and dissolves PVA fiber easily. If PVA molecules are cross-linked, crystallites of PVA are dissolved in an aqueous solution of zinc chloride, but, the fiber is not dissolved overall because of network of cross-linking and shrinks to form a gel. The extension behavior of the gel responding to a tensile stress follows Hook's law. The gel elastic modulus specified in the present invention is equivalent to the spring constant. The gel elastic modulus of PVA fiber in accordance with the present invention is 0.05 × 10 -3 to 8.0 × 10 -3 g/cm·d , preferably 0.1 × 10 -3 to 4.0 × 10 -3 g/cm·d , more preferably 0.4 × 10 -3 to 3.0 × 10 -3 g/cm·d. Excessively low gel elastic modulus results in insufficient fatigue resistance because of insufficient forming of a cross-linking structure, and excessively high gel elastic modulus results in reduced tensile strength and fatigue resistance because of reduced drawability and reduced molecular motion, respectively. It is required that cross-linking structure is formed through out the internal of the fiber, the distribution of cross-linking is expressed numerically by the hot water shrinkage (referred to as Wsr hereinafter). A PVA fiber is hung with a very small weight on the bottom end and dipped in boiling water, then, amorphous region of the fiber swells and shrinks, Wsr is represented by shrinkage (%). The very small weight is a weight, for example, of 2 mg/d. The hot water shrinkage (Wsr) varies depending on thedegree of cross-linking and distribution, that is, many conditions such as content of cross-linking agent and temperature, time, and ratio of dry heat drawing are involved. It is required that Wsr is 10% or larger. Excessively small Wsr results in insufficient fatigue resistance because insufficient formation of a cross-linking structure to the internal of the fiber. For an excellent property of the fiber, the Wsr is preferably 50% to 85%, more preferably 65% to 80%. PVA fibers of the present invention have Wsr values of as high as 10% or larger because cross-linking is distributed through out the internal of the fiber though the fiber is drawn and heated sufficiently. Even the fibers with a large Wsr value show no problem in practical use and exerts excellent performance as reinforcing material because the shrinking stress level is very low. Conventional well-known PVA fibers are manufactured through sufficient drawing and heat treatment, have sufficient molecular orientation and high crystallinity, therefore, have Wsr values as low as 4.5% or lower , and conventional known PVA fibers featured with high fatigue resistance have Wsr values as low as 5% or lower because cross-linking is distributed only on the surface of the fiber. In the case that cross-linking does not occur sufficiently in the center of the fiber, the amorphous region is dissolved before the fiber shrinks which results in reduced shrinking stress and reduced hot water shrinkage. JP-A-5-263311 (1993) and JP-A-5-163609 (1993) disclose the method to penetrate cross-linking reaction to the internal of PVA fiber. The methods described in these publications improve the penetration of cross-linking compared with previous methods. In these improved methods, a solution of PVA is wet-spun to form what is called a wet-spun raw fiber. A cross-linking agent, typically aldehyde compounds, penetrates to the internal of the wet-spun raw fiber followed by a cross-linking reaction. However, actually the penetration of an aldehyde compound to the internal of the fiber for cross-linking reaction is difficult. In some cases, the fiber surface is excessively cross-linked with cross-linking agent, or the internal of the fiber is not sufficiently cross-linked. Therefore, it is difficult to satisfy both specifications of the gel elastic modulus and hot water shrinkage. As PVA polymers used for the fibers of the present invention, PVA polymers having a viscosity-average degree of polymerization of 1000 to 5000, preferably 1500 to 3500 is used in view of cross-linking forming and availability. PVA polymers containing other monomer units having vinyl groups than polyvinyl-alcohol unit such as ethylene monomer and itaconic acid monomer in an amount of about 10 mol% or less in a form of copolymer may be used. PVA polymer having the saponification degree of 98 mol% or higher is preferably used for excellent fiber property. A manufacturing method, in which a spin dope with the addition of a cross-linking agent is dry-spun, and obtained filaments are subjected to dry heat drawing followed by cross-linking reaction, is a method for efficient fiber manufacturing of the present invention. Details of fiber manufacturing will be described herein under. PVA polymer chips are washed with water, swelled in warm water, and dehydrated by a dehydrator. The dehydrated water-containing chips are conditioned until the water content attains to a prescribed value. A cross-linking agent may be added in any step of the conditioning step, the step of kneading of water-containing chips under heated condition to prepare a dope, and the step just before spinning in an extruder. In view of homogeneous distribution of a cross-linking agent, a cross-linking agent is added preferably in the conditioning step. The PVA concentration in the spinning dope is in general preferably 30 to 60% by weight though it depends on degree of polymerization of the polymer. The temperature of a spinning dope just before extrusion is preferably a temperature of 125 to 180°C. This temperature does not cause substantial decomposition of the cross-linking agent added in the spinning dope. Ammonium sulfate is used preferably as the cross-linking agent. Ammonium sulfate becomes effective only after ammonia is released from ammonium salt under high temperature heat treatment condition. Therefore, the cross-linking reaction is substantially suppressed during spinnning and drawing.Therefore, the cross-linked structure is formed in the fiber after drawing, thereby, the high strength fiber having cross-linked structured sufficiently to the internal is obtained. The fiber having cross-linked structures in the internal is difficultly subjected to high ratio drawing. If such fiber is forced to be drawn, the internal structure of the fiber is broken and the fiber strength is reduced seriously. Therefore, to obtain the fiber having high strength, it is required that the cross-linked structure is formed after high ratio drawing, the use of ammonium sulfate as a cross-linking agent allows to realize such cross-link forming. A fiber strength of preferably 4 g/d or higher is required, more preferably 6 g/d or higher, most preferably 8 g/d or higher. The fibers having low strength is not sufficiently effective as reinforcing material. The fatigue resistance is preferably 60% or higher, more preferably 80% or higher. Ammonium sulfate is nearly neutral in a spinning dope, therefore, it is used without corrosion of metal members such as the extruder, piping for the spinning dope, and nozzle plate. unlike cross-linking agents such as hydrochloric acid and phosphoric acid ammonium sulfate is thus excellent also from the view point of process adaptability. Ammonium sulfate is added to PVA polymer in an amount of preferably 0.025 to 0.4% by weight, more preferably 0.05 to 0.3% by weight to PVA polymer. The degree of polymerization of PVA polymer relates closely to cross-linking reaction, only a low content of ammonium sulfate is sufficient for forming cross-linked structure to result in excellent fatigue resistance for PVA polymers having a high degree of polymerization because of long chain molecule. On the other hand, only high content of a cross-linking agent can result in sufficient fatigue resistance for PVA polymer having low degree of polymerization. However, high content of ammonium sulfate results in the difficult control of cross-linking reaction rate. A cross-linking agent other than ammonium sulfate may be used together with ammonium sulfate, especially ammonium phosphate is preferably used together with ammonium sulfate as a cross-linking agent. Ammonium phosphate becomes effective as cross-lining agent only after ammonia is released from ammonium salt under a high temperature heat treatment condition, and it is nearly neutral in a spinning dope, therefore, ammonium phosphate is effective same as ammonium sulfate. When ammonium phosphate is used solely as a cross-linking agent, it is required to use a high content of ammonia phosphate to form sufficiently cross-linked structures, because the cross-linking reaction proceeds very slowly. In such a situation, much ammonia is released to cause the forming of bubbles in the fiber and can result in poor fiber property. As described herein above, ammonium phosphate is used preferably together with ammonium sulfate, especially in the situation in which the drawability is seriously affected by the degree of cross-linking, ammonium phosphate is used effectively because cross-linking reaction proceeds slowly. For example, for PVA polymers having a degree of polymerization of 1000 or higher and 2500 or lower, the use of ammonium sulfate with ammonium phosphate in combination is especially effective. From view points of controlling of reaction rate and fiber property, the use of ammonium sulfate with ammonium phosphate in combination in ratio by weight of 50:50 to 80:20, especially 55:45 to 70:30 is preferable. The total amount of both cross-linking agents is 0.05 to 0.5% by weight, preferably 0.1 to 0.4% by weight to the weight of PVA polymer from the view points of cross-linking reactivity and fiber property. Dry spinning is used as the spinning method for manufacturing the fiber. For spinning a dope containing a cross-linking agent, if wet spinning or dry-wet spinning is used, the cross-lining agent escapes into a coagulating bath or desolvation bath, the escape results in insufficient formation of cross-linked structure in the internal of the fiber. On the other hand, dry spinning is the method in which a spinning dope is extruded into a gaseous atmosphere such as air and water in the dope is removed by drying, therefore, a cross-linking agent does not escape. The cross-linking agent remains in the surface layer and also in the internal of the fiber. A spinning dope is dry-spun using usual conditions. A spinning dope containing PVA polymer is extruded through a nozzle plate into a gaseous atmosphere. Air is used as the gaseous atmosphere, the temperature of the gaseous atmosphere is usually 60 to 90°C. Filaments extruded from the nozzle plate are collected on the first roller, and dried as it is. For drying, the filaments are passed through hot plates, hot rollers, or heated air zones. It is preferable to dry the filaments stepwise, for example, in the first step at a temperature of 80 to 95°C, in the second step at a temperature of 100 to 120°C, and in the third step at a temperature of 120 to 140°C. Applying such stepwise drying condition prevents the filaments from sticking each other under drying condition. The drying temperature is preferably 200°C or lower, more preferably 140°C or lower to suppress cross-linking reaction. The dried filaments are subjected to drawing to improve various properties including strength, when, it is required to draw substantially without cross-linking reaction. If the cross-linked structure is formed before the drawing process or during the drawing process, not only high drawing ratio cannot be applied resulting in insufficient strength but also the filaments are drawn accompanying breaking of the cross-linked structure formed previously resulting in breaking of the filaments and fluffing during the drawing process. From the above-mentioned description, the preferred drawing condition is that the drawing temperature is 100°C or higher and lower than 210°C, drawing tension is 0.7 g/d or higher, draw ratio is 7 or higher and 3.25 ≦ logX - logT ≦ 3.45 (wherein X represents degree of polymerization and T represents resident time in a drawing furnace). The drawing temperature is preferably 100°C to 210°C, preferably 130 to 205°C. Excessively high drawing temperature may cause cross-linking reactions which results in the difficulty of high ratio drawing without damage of fiber performance. On the other hand, a excessively low drawing temperature results in the difficulty of high ratio drawing. For the heat drawing, heating in which undrawn filaments come in contact with a heater such as hot roller and heat plate, heating in a heating medium, heating in a hot air bath, and dielectric heating may be used. The drawing tension is preferably 0.7 g/d or higher, more preferably 0.8 g/d or higher. Excessively low drawing tension results in the difficulty to complete the drawing within a short time while cross-linking reaction does not proceed. The drawing ratio is preferably 7 or higher, more preferably 8 or higher, and most preferably 10 or higher. Excessively low drawing ratio may result in insufficient fiber strength. The drawability of the fiber has a close relationship with the degree of polymerization of the PVA polymer. A high degree of polymerization requires the drawing condition that the resident time is long and the temperature of the filaments is raised sufficiently for drawing. However, excessively long resident time in a drawing furnace for fiber containing a cross-linking agent results in the difficulty of drawing because cross-linking reaction proceeds before heat drawing. When a polymer having a low degree of polymerization is used, the forming of cross-linking affects significantly on the drawability, and a short resident time in a furnace is required. A short resident time in a furnace is sufficient for drawing because the drawability is high comparing with a polymer with high degree of polymerization. From the description herein above, it is required to adjust the degree of polymerization of the polymer and the resident time in a drawing furnace T from view points of drawability and cross-linking, thus, (logX - logT) is preferably 3.25 or larger and 3.45 or smaller, more preferably 3.30 or larger and 3.40 or smaller. Outside the range of (logX - logT) specified in the present invention, if the resident time in a drawing furnace is excessively longer for the degree of polymerization of the polymer, the cross-linked structure is formed before completion of the drawing to result in the difficulty of a high ratio drawing, in addition, the internal structure of the fiber is destroyed to cause the breaking of filaments during the drawing, on the other hand, if the resident time in a drawing furnace is excessively shorter for the degree of polymerization of the polymer, the filaments are subjected to drawing before the temperature of the filament is raised insufficiently to result in insufficient improvement in fiber performance, in addition, fluffing due to drawing filament breaking and single filament breaking can be caused. The resident time in a drawing furnace herein means the time while the fiber resides in a drawing furnace under a temperature condition lower than the cross-linking reaction starting temperature. In detail, the resident time is obtained by dividing the length (m) of a drawing furnace under a temperature condition lower than the cross-linking reaction starting temperature by the draw feeding speed (m/min). The fiber is drawn under such condition. The drawing is completed at a temperature just lower than the decomposition temperature of ammonium sulfate (lower than 210°C). Then, the fiber is subjected to heat treatment (draw heat treatment and/or un-drawn heat treatment and/or heat shrinking treatment) in a temperature range from 210°C or higher, at which temperature ammonium sulfate decomposes and release ammonia. During heat treatment of the fiber under such condition, ammonium sulfate (ammonium phosphate) contained in the fiber is decomposed to release ammonia, residual inorganic salt induces a radical cross-linking reaction involving dehydration reaction of PVA polymer to cause cross-linking reaction of PVA polymer. Excessively low heat treatment temperature does not cause substantial decomposition of the cross-linking agent and results in the failure of forming of cross-linked structure. The heat treatment temperature is 250°C or lower, preferably 240°C or lower in view of suppression of PVA decomposition. The heat treatment may be an undrawn heat treatment, a draw heat treatment, a heat shrinking treatment, or combination of several heat treatments. It is preferable to complete substantially the drawing (non-cross-linked drawing) under a temperature condition lower than cross-linking starting temperature, the percentage of non-cross-linked drawing is preferably 70% or higher of total draw ratio, and more preferably 80% or higher. Drawing slightly under a temperature condition higher than cross-linking starting temperature results in more improvement in the fiber performance. For the cross-linked drawing, the heat treatment temperature is preferably 210°C or higher and not exceeding 240°C. The slight drawing in this temperature range is carried out without drawing obstruction due to the existence of cross-linked structure, and the fiber performance is improved more. The cross-linked drawing is preferably stepwise (preferably two steps) using a higher temperature for the second drawing. Especially in the two step drawing, the temperature for the second drawing is preferably 5 to 20°C higher than that for the first drawing. The total draw ratio is 7 or higher, preferably 9 or higher. When non-cross-linked drawing and cross-linked drawing are carried out continuously, the control of the heat treatment temperature and drawing tension is very important to prevent the decrease in drawing tension and drawing elongation of the filaments due to active molecular motion of the drawn filaments to result in reduced entanglement between molecules and result in slipping between polymer molecules. The drawing tension is 0.7 to 2 g/d for a yarn denier, preferably 0.8 to 1.8 g/d, and the drawing temperature is preferably 235°C or lower. The non-cross-linked fibers subjected to drawing at a temperature lower than the cross-linking starting temperature and/or the fiber subjected to cross-linked drawing are preferably subjected to a setting heat treatment (heat shrinking treatment). The temperature for heat shrinking is preferably a temperature 1 to 10°C higher than the maximum temperature of the heat drawing, in detail, the treatment temperature is preferably 210 to 250°C. The available heat shrinkage is in the range of 0 to 20%. If the cross-linking reaction is not completed during heat drawing, the cross-linking reaction may be completed during heat shrinking treatment. It is optional that the cross-linking reaction may be completed mainly during heat drawing treatment or the cross-linking reaction may be completed during heat shrinking treatment. After the heat treated fiber is wound or without winding, the heat treated fiber is fed usually to an oiling process. In the process of the present invention, theoiling agent containing an alkali compound. Typically sodium hydroxide is preferably used to neutralize and remove residual sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid in the fiber. However, alkali compounds alone cannot neutralize ammonium salt, instead, ammonium salt is reacted with formalin, and then, the liberated sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid are neutralized with sodium hydroxide, thereby, the fiber is neutralized. Therefore, the oiling agent containing sodium hydroxide and formalin is preferably used. Various methods are conventionally used for providing an oiling agent to the fiber, usually the roller touching method is sufficient for the use. The total denier of multi-filaments is optional, but the total denier is preferably 100 to 8000 d, more preferably 500 to 3000 d, the monofilament denier is preferably 0.1 to 1000 d, more preferably 1 to 100 d. According to the method described hereinbefore, PVA fibers excellent in fatigue resistance are obtained. Generally, as the cross-linking reaction proceeds, the strength of the obtained fiber decreases, however, the fiber having the yarn strength of 4 g/d or higher is obtained according to the present invention. The fiber which satisfy the gel elastic modulus and hot water shrinkage specified in the present invention is obtained by applying the amount of cross-linking agent added to a spinning dope and heat treatment temperature as described above. The fiber obtained according to the present invention can be used for various applications, particularly has excellent performance as reinforcing material of brake hoses. Brake hoses may be manufactured by conventional known method, for example, a yarn of PVA fiber obtained according to the present invention is twisted, then, treated with a resorcinol-formalin-latex (RFL) adhesive solution followed by drying and heat treatment, the obtained cord is braided to make a reinforcing material, and a brake hose is manufactured using this reinforcing material. Examples The present invention will be described in detail referring to Examples. [Strength g/d, Initial elastic modulus g/d] Strength and initial elastic modulus were measured according to JIS L-1013 (distance between chucks was 25 cm, extension speed was 30 cm/min, and twelve repeated results were averaged). [Fatigue resistance %] Yarns of 1200 dr were twisted to obtain a cord of 1200 dr/l × 2 with a twist of 20 × 20 t/10 cm. A fatigue test sample was prepared according to JIS L-1017-1983, reference specification 3.2.1-A, and this sample was subjected to belt flex fatigue testing. When, a pulley diameter was 25 mm, a sample was flexed repeatedly 30000 times at the temperature of 100°C, and the strength retention to the strength before testing was calculated. [Gel elastic modulus E × 10 -3 ] A cross-linked sample yarn was loaded with an initial weight of 1 g, and put in an aqueous solution of ZnCl 2 (ZnCl 2 concentration is 50% by weight) at 50°C for 1 to 3 min to dissolve the uncrosslinked portion. Then, after completion of shrinkage in the aqueous solution of ZnCl 2 , the sample length l 2 was measured, and the weight was changed successively from 2 to 20 g, and the sample length l 2 was measured in the aqueous solution of ZnCl 2 individually for the weights. A gradient was determined from a graph of plotting of loads and sample length, the gradient was divided by the yarn denier before treatment (D) to figure out the gel elastic modulus. The gel elastic modulus was calculated according to the following equation. E = W/(l 2 - l 1 ) × D (g/cm • d ) [Hot water shrinkage Wsr%] On one end of a sample yarn, a weight of 1/500 g to yarn denier (2 mg per denier) was loaded, and the sample yarn was hung in an open vessel filled with boiling water (100°C) for 30 minutes, and the shrinked sample length was measured, and the sample length after shrinking was divided by the sample length before shrinkage to figure out the hot water shrinkage. [Content of cross-linking agent] An un-cross-linked fiber containing a cross-linking agent before drawing was analyzed to determine the amount of nitrogen using a micro-nitrogen analyzer and the content of cross-linking agent was calculated. [Example 1] Water-containing granular chips consisting of complete saponified PVA having a degree of polymerization of 3300 (logX = 3.52) added with 0.05% by weight to PVA of ammonium sulfate as a cross-linking agent was treated by an extruder to prepare a spinning dope. The spinning dope was heated to 165°C and extruded into air of 70°C through a nozzle plate having 200 holes with a hole diameter of 0.1 mm, that is dry spun, and the filaments were wound up by a winder at a speed of 160 m/min. Then, using a hot air bath of 205°C (the length of the furnace was 24 m), under a condition of draw feeding speed of 18.0 m/min (logT = 0.12), logX - logY = 3.40, and drawing tension of 1.4 g/d, the filaments were drawn at a draw ratio of 9.5, and additionally subjected to the next heat drawing by passing the filament through two hot air bathes of 210°C (6 m) and 230°C (6 m) to the total draw ratio of 10.5, then continuously, subjected to heat shrinking treatment with a relaxation of 3% by passing the filament through a heat treatment furnace the internal temperature of which furnace was set to 245°C (30 m), thus, the fiber of 1200 d /200 f was obtained. The results are listed in Table 1. [Example 2] Water-containing granular chips consisting of complete saponified PVA having a degree of polymerization of 1700 (logX = 3.23) added with 0.20% by weight to PVA of a mixture of ammonium sulfate and ammonium phosphate as the cross-linking agent, wherein the mixing ratio of ammonium sulfate and ammonium phosphate was 60:40, was treated in an extruder to prepare a spinning dope. The dope was heated to 150°C, and extruded into air of 70°C through a nozzle plate having 200 holes with a hole diameter of 0.1 mm, that is dry spun, and the filaments were wound up by a winder at a speed of 160 m/min. Then, using a hot air bath of 195°C (the length of the furnace was 24 m), under a condition of draw feeding speed of 32.4 m/min (logT = -0.13), logX - logY = 3.36, and drawing tension of 0.8 g/d, the filaments were drawn at a draw ratio of 10, and additionally subjected to the next heat drawing by passing the filament through two hot air bathes of 210°C (6 m) and 230°C (6 m) to the total draw ratio of 11, then continuously, subjected to heat shrinking treatment with a relaxation of 3% by passing the filament through a heat treatment furnace the internal temperature of which furnace was set to 245°C (30 m), thus, the fiber of 1200 d /200 f was obtained. The results are listed in Table 1. [Example 3] Water-containing granular chips consisting of complete saponified PVA having a degree of polymerization of 2400 (logX = 3.38) added with 0.20% by weight to PVA of a mixture of ammonium sulfate and ammonium phosphate as the cross-linking agent, wherein the mixing ratio of ammonium sulfate and ammonium phosphate was 55:45, was treated in an extruder to prepare a spinning dope. The dope was heated to 160°C, and extruded into air of 70°C through a nozzle plate having 200 holes with a hole diameter of 0.1 mm, that is dry spun, and the filaments were wound up by a winder at a speed of 160 m/min. Then, using a hot air bath of 205°C (the length of the furnace was 24 m), under a condition of draw feeding speed of 23.4 m/min (logT = 0.01), logX - logY = 3.37, and drawing tension of 1.1 g/d, the filaments were drawn at a draw ratio of 10, and additionally subjected to the next heat drawing by passing the filament through two hot air bathes of 210°C (6 m) and 230°C (6 m) to the total draw ratio of 11, then continuously, subjected to heat shrinking treatment with a relaxation of 3% by passing the filament through a heat treatment furnace the internal temperature of which furnace was set to 245°C (30 m), thus, the fiber of 1200 d /200 f was obtained. The results are listed in Table 1. [Comparative example 1] Complete saponified PVA having a degree of polymerization of 1700 (logX = 3.23) was treated in an extruder to prepare a spinning dope and the dope was dry-spun to form undrawn filaments in the same manner as described in Example 1 excepting a cross-linking agent was not added. Then, using a hot air bath of 70°C (the length of the furnace was 24 m), under a condition of draw feeding speed of 32.4 m/min (logT = -0.13), logX - logY = 3.36, and drawing tension of 0.6 g/d, the filaments were drawn at a draw ratio of 10, and additionally subjected to the next heat drawing by passing the filament through two hot air bathes of 210°C (6 m) and 230°C (6 m) to the total draw ratio of 11, then continuously, subjected to heat shrinking treatment with a relaxation of 3% by passing the filament through a heat treatment furnace the internal temperature of which furnace was set to 245°C (30 m), and wound up at a speed of 345.7 m/min, thus, the fiber of 1200 d /200 f was obtained. The results are listed in Table 1. [Comparative example 2] Ammonium sulfate and ammonium phosphate were mixed in a ratio 60:40 by weight, and the mixture was dissolved in water to prepare an aqueous solution of 2000 ppm, the aqueous solution was applied to the fiber obtained in Comparative example 1 followed by drying at 120°C, and continuously the fiber was subjected to heat treatment with a relaxation of 0% (fixed length) by passing the filament through a heat treatment furnace the internal temperature of which furnace was set to 235°C. The results are listed in Table 1. The obtained fiber was irregularly cross-linked and had poor tensile strength, initial modulus, and fatigue resistance. [Comparative example 3] The fiber was prepared in the same manner as described in Example 2 excepting 0.20% by weight to PVA of ammonium phosphate was added to PVA as the cross-linking agent. The results are listed in Table 1. [Comparative example 4] Using complete saponified PVA having a degree of polymerization of 1700, a spinning dope was prepared and the dope was dry-spun in the same manner as described in Example 2 excepting 0.20% by weight to PVA of phosphoric acid was added as the cross-linking agent, but, extrusion failed by reason of the rising of spinning pressure due to cross-linking reaction in the dope, and the spinning was impossible. To cope with this problem, the spinning temperature was lowered to 90°C, and the fiber was manufactured in the same manner as described in Example 2, however, the total draw ratio could be only 7.1 and yarn strength of the obtained fiber was as low as 2.8 g/d probably because of cross-linked structure. The results are listed in Table 2. [Comparative example 5] Using complete saponified PVA having a degree of polymerization of 3300 (logX = 3.52), the spinning and drawing were carried out in the same manner as described in Example 1 excepting 0.80% by weight to PVA of ammonium sulfate was added as the cross-linking agent. However, fluffing was caused in the drawing process, then, draw ratio was changed to 8, but, fluffing was not improved, and the obtained fiber had poor yarn property and yarn strength. The results are listed in Table 2. [Comparative example 6] Undrawn filaments obtained in the same manner as described in Example 2 was treated in the same manner as described in Example 2 except using a hot air bath of 195°C (the length of the furnace was 24 m), under a condition of draw feeding speed of 24.0 m/min (logT = 0.00), logX - logY = 3.23, and drawing tension of 0.8 g/d. The filaments were drawn at a draw ratio of 8. Drawing filament break was caused severely because of significant cross-linking, the hardly obtained fiber had poor performance. The results are listed in Table 2. [Comparative example 7] Undrawn filaments obtained in the same manner as described in Example 2 were treated in the same manner as described in Example 2 excepting, using a hot air bath of 195°C (the length of the furnace was 24 m), under a condition of draw feeding speed of 37.0 m/min (logT = -0.19), logX - logY = 3.42, and drawing tension of 0.8 g/d, the filaments were drawn at a draw ratio of 11. However, drawing filament break was caused severely because of insufficient heating for drawing, and the hardly obtained fiber had poor performance. The results are listed in Table 2. [Comparative example 8] Spinning and drawing were carried out in the same manner as described in Example 2 excepting, the temperature of the hot air bath was changed from 195°C to 218°C (the length of the furnace was 24 m), however, the filaments could not substantially drawn because of a developed cross-linked structure during drawing. The results are listed in Table 2. [Comparative example 9] PVA having a degree of polymerization of 2400 was dissolved in dimethyl-sulfoxide (DMSO) at 90°C to prepare a solution containing 12% by weight of PVA, 0.15% by weight to PVA of a mixture of ammonium sulfate and ammonium phosphate mixed in a ratio of 60:40 was added as the cross-linking agent to prepare a spinning dope, and the dope was dry-wet spun into a coagulation bath comprising a mixture of methanol and DMSO in a weight ratio 7:3 at 5°C through a nozzle having 80 holes. The filaments were wet-drawn with a draw ratio of 4 in a methanol bath at 40°C followed by drying at 80°C. The analysis of the dried filaments resulted could not detect a cross-linking agent. This fact suggested that the cross-linking agent escaped into the coagulation bath. The dawn filaments had poor fatigue resistance. The results are listed in Table 2. Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 Comparative example 1 Comparative example 2 Comparative example 3 Polimerization degree x 3300 1700 2400 1700 1700 1700 logX 3.52 3.23 3.38 3.23 3.23 3.23 Cross-linking agent Ammonium sulfate Ammonium sulfate/ ammonium phosphate Ammonium sulfate/ ammonium phosphate _ Ammonium sulfate/ ammonium phosphate Ammonium Ammonium phosphate Mixing ratio of cross-linking agent Used solely 60:40 55:45 0 0.20 Used solely Method of adding cross-linking agent Mixed spinning Mixed spinning Mixed spinning No addition After heat drawing Mixed spinning Residual time T (min) 1.33 0.74 1.03 0.74 - 0.74 logT 0.12 -0.13 0.01 -0.13 - -0.13 logX-logT 3.40 3.36 3.37 3.36 - 3.36 Draw ratio 9.5 10.0 10.0 10.0 - 10.0 Total draw ratio 10.5 11.0 11.0 11.0 - 11.0 Tensile strength 9.3 9.8 9.6 9.7 7.5 9.2 Tensile modulus 238 222 238 225 200 228 Fatigue resistance 98 68 90 24 42 28 Gel E x 10 -3 1.5 0.5 0.8 0.0 0.1 0.0 Ws r 78 70 72 4.5 4.5 4.5 Comparative example 4 Comparative example 5 Comparative example 6 Comparative example 7 Comparative example 8 Comparative example 9 Polymerization degree X 1700 3300 1700 1700 1700 2400 logX 3.23 3.52 3.23 3.23 3.23 3.38 Cross-linking agent Phosphoric acid Ammonium sulfate Ammonium sulfate/ ammonium phosphate Ammonium sulfate/ ammonium phosphate Ammonium sulfate/ ammonium phosphate Ammonium sulfate/ ammonium phosphate Mixing ratio of cross-linking Used solely Used solely 60/40 60/40 60/40 60:40 Method of adding cross-linking agent Mixed spinning Mixed spinning Mixed spinning Mixed spinning Mixed spinning Mixed spinning Residual time T (min) 0.74 1.33 1.00 0.58 0.74 1.03 logT -0.13 -0.12 0.00 -0.24 -0.13 0.01 logX-logT 3.36 3.40 3.23 3.47 3.36 3.37 Draw ratio 6.4 8.0 8.0 10.0 1.5 11.0 Total draw ratio 7.1 9.0 9.0 11.0 1.7 12.5 Tensile strength 2.8 3.8 2.9 3.3 0.7 13.0 Tensile modulus 122 182 131 198 125 258 Fatigue resistance 42 53 45 40 62 36 Gel E x 10 -3 0.9 2.0 1.0 0.3 0.8 0.0 Ws r 85 95 87 68 75 3.5 [Example 4] PVA yarns (1200 d/200 f) obtained in Examples 1 to 3 were twisted to prepare cords with a twist of 90 turns/m, then, the cord was dipped in RFL described herein under followed by drying at 110°C for 2 minutes and heat treatment at 160°C for 2 minutes (RFL pick up was 5%). (RFL solution recipe) Solution A: water 300 parts by weight resorcinol 11 parts by weight formaldehyde (37%) 24 parts by weight aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide (10%) 11 parts by weight The above-mentioned A-solution was aged at 25°C for 6 hr. Solution B: SBR latex 130 parts by weight vinylpyridine modified SBR latex 130 parts by weight water 260 parts by weight The above-mentioned solution B was mixed with the aged solution A, and the mixture was aged at 25°C for 16 hr. SBR is the abbreviation of styrene-butadiene rubber. Then, SBR rubber was extruded on a mandrel with an outside diameter of 3.2 mm as the inner rubber layer, and a doubled cord of two treated cords of 1200 dr was braided with a carrier of 20 on the inner rubber layer as the first fiber reinforcing layer. Next, a cushion rubber with a thickness of 0.2 mm (middle rubber layer) was wound, then, a tripled cord of three treated cords of 1200 d was braided with a carrier of 24 to form the second fiber reinforcing layer, and ethylene-propylene rubber was extruded to form the cover rubber layer (outside rubber layer) to form a tube covered with the cover rubber layer. Then, the tube was cured in a steam atmosphere at 150 °C, then, the tube was cut to a length of 300mm, and metal fitting were attached on both ends to make a hose. (outside diameter of the hose was 10.5mm) Honda Co. genuine brake oil DOT-4 was filled in a hose, and an impulse pressure of 0 to 100 kgf/cm 2 with a frequency of 70/min was applied to the hose at 100°C. The number of impulse pressure repetitions until the hose was broken to cause leakage of the brake oil was determined. As the results, it was found that the oil did not leak at the impulse pressure repetition of 30,000 for all tested brake hoses. PVA fibers of the invention are excellent in strength, initial modulus, and fatigue resistance, therefore, the fiber is used for diversified applications as reinforcing material for rubber products such as oil brake hoses and conveyer belts, which are the typical applications of PVA fiber, and as reinforcing material for cement and plastic products. According to the manufacturing method, PVA fiber having excellent strength, initial modulus, and fatigue resistance is manufactured at low cost and high productivity using commercially available PVA having a degree of polymerization of 1500 or higher and lower than 3000.

Claims: Polyvinyl alcohol-based fiber having a gel elastic modulus of 0.05 × 10 -3 to 8.0 × 10 -3 g/cm • dr, a hot water shrinkage (Wsr) of 10% or higher, and a tensile strength of 4 g/d or higher which parameters are measured and calculated as further defined in the description. Reinforcement for rubber comprising polyvinyl alcohol-based fibers as claimed in claim 1. Reinforcement for oil brake hoses comprising polyvinyl alcohol-based fibersas claimed in claim 1. Oil brake hoses reinforced with polyvinyl alcohol-based fibers as claimed in claim 1. A method for manufacturing polyvinyl alcohol-based fibers which comprises dry spinning a solution of polyvinyl alcohol-based polymer containing 0.025 to 0.4% by weight of ammonium sulfate based on the polyvinyl alchol-based polymer, drying, drawing the resulting fiber at a drawing temperature of 100 °C or higher and lower than 210°C, at a drawing tension of 0.7 g/d or higher, and draw ratio of 7 or higher and 3.25 ≦ logX - logT ≦ 3.45 (wherein X represents the degree of polymerization of the polymer and T represents the residence time in a drawing furnace), and then heat treatment at a temperature of 210 °C or higher to introduce cross-linking. A method for manufacturing polyvinyl alcohol-based fibers which comprises dry spinning a solution of polyvinyl alcohol-based polymer containing ammonium sulfate and ammonium phosphate, wherein ammonium sulfate and ammonium phosphate is contained in a ratio from 50:50 to 80:20 by weight and the total aaount of ammonium sulfate and ammonium phosphate is 0.05 to 0.5% by weight, drying, drawing the resulting fiber at a drawing temperature of 100°C or higher and lower than 210 °C, at a drawing tension of 0.7 g/d or higher, and draw ratio of 7 or higher and 3.25 ≦ logX - logT ≦ 3.45 (wherein X represents the degree of polymerization of the polymer and T represents the residence time in a drawing furnace), and then heat treatment at a temperature of 210°C or higher to introduce cross-linking. Fibers obtainable according to the process of claim 5 or 6.

Inventors: IKIMINE TOSHIAKI, SAKURAGI ISAO, YOSHINAKA JUNITI, IKIMINE, TOSHIAKI, SAKURAGI, ISAO, YOSHINAKA, JUNITI
Applicants: KURARAY CO, KURARAY CO., LTD.
Application year: 1996
Main classification: D01F6
IPC codes: D01F6