a bit about Needlepunching

Needlepunching:
Needlepunching belongs to a Nonwoven textile process: A conveyor delivers e. g a 2” high amount of chopped and opened fiberglass of around 3”-4” length. A board with thousands of specially formed needles punches down on the chopped fibers. In doing so, the needle pushes some fibers in a vertical direction. As the needle board comes back up, the hooks, which are attached to the needles, bring other fibers back up. This punching process happens thousands of times in a minute and by doing so, it interlocks the fibers to a mat. The mat is now mechanically bonded and also compressed from its original example of 2” down to perhaps 1”. The exact thickness depends on the densities and the punches / square inch.
In machines with only one needle board, the mat needs to be turned and fed in a second time.
These types of needlemats are considered to be high quality industrial insulation mats. They can be made from firberglass, Silica, Basalt or other man-made fibers.