Process for making three-dimensional foam-laid nonwovens

A method for making a high topography nonwoven substrate, the method comprising:

• generating a foam including water and synthetic binder fibers;
• depositing the foam on a foraminous belt;
• disposing a template form on the foam opposite the foraminous belt to create a foam/form assembly;
• heating the foam to dry the foam and bind the synthetic binder fibers to form the substrate;
• and
• removing the template from the substrate after heating, wherein the substrate includes a base layer having an X-Y surface and a backside surface opposite the X-Y surface;
• and
• a plurality of projection elements integral with and protruding in a Z-direction from the X-Y surface, wherein each projection element has a height, a diameter or width, a cross-section, a sidewall, a proximal end where the projection element meets the base layer, and a distal end opposite the proximal end, and wherein the projections elements comprises an internally-uniform density.

A method for making a high topography nonwoven substrate, the method comprising:

• generating a foam including water and a plurality of fibers, the plurality of fibers comprising synthetic binder fibers;
• depositing the foam on a foraminous belt;
• disposing a template form on the foam opposite the foraminous belt to create a foam/form assembly;
• heating the foam to dry the foam and bind the synthetic binder fibers to form the substrate;
• and
• removing the template from the substrate after heating, wherein the substrate includes a base layer having an X-Y surface and a backside surface opposite the X-Y surface, the base layer having a density;
• and
• a plurality of projection elements integral with and protruding in a Z-direction from the X-Y surface, wherein each projection element has a height, a diameter or width, a cross-section, a sidewall, a proximal end where the projection element meets the base layer, and a distal end opposite the proximal end, and wherein the sidewall comprises fibers oriented in the Z-direction such that the substrate has a compression resistance that provides 20 cubic centimeters or more of void volume per gram of substrate at 0.6 kPa pressure.