Determination of production parameters and investigation of automation in a new artificial leather manufacturing machine

The use of artificial leather with realistic skin appearance, especially in furniture, automotive and textile sectors, is becoming more widespread. Artificial leathers are generally produced by PVC coating of non-woven fabrics. In the known method, PVC, which is rigid due to its natural structure, is made flexible with additive chemicals. The coating is passed through the furnace as a thin film layer so that the additive chemicals on the final product do not cause pores on the surface by converting the chemicals into gas bubbles. In the scope of the thesis, a new artificial leather manufacturing machine design and prototype has been made by using polyurethane instead of PVC. Polyurethane eliminates the need for additive chemicals due to its flexible structure and the use of furnaces accordingly. Thanks to the artificial leather production technology, the machine size is reduced by 90%. The machine was modeled with computer aided design and the production parameters were determined by experiments on the new machine. The control system has been designed and the flow diagrams of automation are examined to meet the industrial expectations of the determined parameters.