Short Staple Spinning Research Articles

Study of yarn properties and displacement deviation of acceleration points based on the novel drafting system

Drafting process plays an important role in spinning systems as it is closely linked with yarn qualities. Therefore, a novel drafting system (NDS) is applied in short staple spinning, which shows innovations in the friction field and the floating zone. This article compared the traditional drafting system (TDS) and novel drafting device by spinning four kinds of yarns (in partI). The experimental results demonstrate that NDS produces yarns with better properties with regard to the yarn evenness, imperfections and strength compared to TDS, indicating the varietal adaptability of the novel drafting device. Besides, a comparative analysis of the displacement deviations of acceleration points produced by NDS was performed in terms of the different fibers and varied tracing fiber lengths (in partII). The differences in displacement distributions between polyester and cotton fibers were investigated, showing that even under the same normal pressure distribution, different internal friction fields of fibers lead to different displacement distributions for acceleration points. The displacement distributions of different tracing fiber lengths embedded in the roving reveal that the longer the fibers, the more concentrated the acceleration points.

Analysis of Ring Yarn Properties Produced from Different Traveller Brands

A traveller is the tiny but significant part in ring frame in a short staple spinning mill. It is a small portion among all the parts of ring machine. It performs two most significant tasks like twisting without which spun yarn production cannot be imagined, and it aids in the winding of yarn on the cop. The traveller is one of the mechanical reasons for the hairiness properties of yarn. Two yarn of 30’s Ne KH (Card hosiery) was produced by using two same number of the traveller of different brands called Lakshmi Ring Travellers (LRT) and X-AXIS. All the processing parameters remained the same during the production of yarn. After that, Uster Evenness Tester 5 machine was used to determine the yarn properties such as unevenness percentage, imperfection index, hairiness, standard deviation of hairiness, standard deviation of hairiness in reference length 1 meter, and standard deviation of hairiness in reference length 3 meters. The end breakage rate was recorded through whole doff for the duration of the production of yarn in ring section. Statistical analysis used t-test to pair two samples to obtain the means for unevenness percentage, imperfection index, and hairiness. This was accomplished with Microsoft Excel 2013. Lakshmi Ring Travellers indicate better results than X-AXIS traveller. It can be decided from the t- test that there is no significant difference in unevenness and hairiness except imperfection index of two brands.

Study on moisture management properties of Micro-Pore Ring-Spun Viscose Yarn-plated knitted fabrics

Moisture management properties decide the comfort level of the fabric. The most important characteristics of a knitted structure to be used in next to-skin applications are concerned with two different fabric layers namely the separation and absorption layers. The present study attempts to study the moisture management properties of plated knitted fabrics developed from structurally modified Micro-Pore Ring-Spun Viscose Yarn (hydrophilic) as the outer layer and polypropylene (hydrophobic) yarn as the inner layer of fabric. The structurally modified Micro-Pore Ring Spun Viscose Yarn (MPRSVY) was produced by blending Viscose (V)/PVA (Poly-Vinyl Alcohol) fiber in short staple spinning system. PVA is removed by treating the fabric in hot water at a temperature of 900C for 20–30 minutes, followed by cold wash. The study reveals that the fabric plated with Polypropylene (PP)/ Micro-Pore Ring Spun Viscose Yarn (MPRSVY) and Polypropylene (PP)/Viscose (V) exhibits excellent moisture management properties with a higher bottom spreading speed, one way transport index, and overall moisture management capacity. Moisture management properties of PP/MPRSVY and PP/V plated knitted fabrics prove that they can be used to produce active wear fabrics.

Mechanical and comfort properties of hydroentangled nonwovens from comber noil

Cotton is one of the most important commodity fibres and is widely employed in apparels. At present, the share of natural fibres in production of nonwoven fabrics is low and are used in opt applications. The cotton fibre is conventionally converted into woven and knitted fabrics by short staple spinning methods. The comber noil is short fibre waste produced when cotton yarns are combed. The aims of the current study were to employ comber noil for the preparation of hydroentangled cotton nonwovens at varying water jet pressures and conveyor speeds. The effect of these parameters was studied with respect to mechanical and comfort properties of the prepared fabrics. The results showed that these variables can help to manufacture fibrous assemblies with engineered properties, according to required application area.

An application of Pareto analysis and cause-and-effect diagram (CED) to examine stoppage losses: a textile case from Bangladesh

Spinning industries are facing challenges of improving productivity in the competitive market nowadays. Ring spinning, the most widely used yarn manufacturing process for short staple spinning, uses several types of machinery from blow room to ring frame for producing yarns from cotton fibers. An enterprise can improve utilization of resources by identifying unwanted machine stoppage and taking corrective actions at different points in the production cycle. This study focuses on the major six stoppage losses that are used to calculate Overall Equipment Efficiency (OEE) of ring frame section. The Pareto analysis reveals that idling and minor stoppage and breakdown losses are responsible 89.3% of total stoppage losses. According to cause-and-effect analysis, root causes for the stoppage losses are: high doffing time, high traveler changing time, broken end of yarn due to piles generation through the front roller, power failure and change in Draft Change Pinion (DCP) due to breakage of teeth of the gear during starting of machine by operators before lowering of ring rail and change of Twist Change Pinion (TCP) due to the displacement of TCP gear shaft. Finally, few recommendations are made to reduce stoppage losses and to increase the productivity of the ring frame section.

Spinning of Staple Hybrid Yarn from Carbon Fiber Wastes for Lightweight Constructions

The reuse of CF-wastes (rCF) is desirable due to the energy-intensive manufacturing, high price and the disposal problem of carbon fibers. It is a challenging process to spin yarn from rCFs in a short staple spinning production line which ensures a much higher strength later in the manufacturing of CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced plastics) parts than that of the parts from rCF-nonwovens or, from short-fiber reinforced injection molded parts. This spinning technology consists of several subsequent processes such as carding, drafting and spinning on a flyer frame. It is possible to produce hybrid yarn up to 2000 tex, which fineness is similar like a roving. The machines used to produce yarn for this purpose were specially modified and adapted, so that the brittle CF can be processed smoothly. Carded and draw frame slivers with different fiber lengths and mixing ratios were produced and later the high-quality hybrid yarn has been spun with different yarn twists.

Prickle and handle properties of fabrics produced from specialty animal fibers

Specialty animal fibers are commercially valuable since they significantly enhance the comfort properties of apparel products. As they help to create niche products, use of special animal fibers has increased significantly. There are many types of specialty fibers, such as cashmere, mohair, alpaca, and angora rabbit fibers, that are natural, ecological, and sustainable. Each of them has distinguishing properties and increases the added value of garments. In this work, five different specialty animal fibers and wool were sourced from four different countries. Yarns were spun using two different spinning systems. In the first method, to spin the yarns in a short staple spinning system, animal fibers were blended with viscose fibers. In the second method, to produce fabrics from 100% animal fibers, core yarn spinning system was used. Later, the yarns were knitted in a single jersey structure. After the production of all fabrics, handle properties such as surface friction, stiffness, and prickliness were tested by using both subjective and objective measurement techniques. To measure inherent fabric prickle, a new objective measurement technique was developed. Subjective and objective evaluation results highly correlate and it is pointed out that the new technique could be an alternative method to test fabric prickliness. Fabrics produced from silk, angora, and cashmere fibers are found to have the smoothest, softest, and least prickly surfaces among the other researched fibers.

Investigation of the thermal comfort properties of knitted fabric produced from Estabragh (Milkweed)/cotton-blended yarns

In this research, the thermal comfort properties of a newly known fiber called Estabragh (Milkweed) have been investigated. Estabragh is a natural hollow fiber which is expected to provide excellent insulation properties due to their individual characteristics. Thermal comfort is one of the important fabric properties especially in the area of sport application which is considered in this research. For investigating this, 50–50% Estabragh/cotton-blended spun yarns was produced using short-staple spinning system. Two different sets of interlock-knitted samples using 100% cotton and Estabragh/cotton-blended yarns were produced individually on a flat knitting machine. Heat transfer rate, water vapor transmission, air permeability, and capillary absorption of produced fabrics were measured and compared. The results revealed that the vapor transmission rate through the knitted samples produced from Estabragh/cotton-blended yarns was 66.4% which is higher than that of the 100% cotton samples as 60.22%. It was also found that 100% cotton samples exhibited less moisture transfer rate than cotton/Estabragh samples. As far as heat transfer is concerned, it was concluded that the heat transfer ability of 100% cotton samples is higher than that of the Estabragh/cotton samples by about 47%. It was also shown that the capillary absorption of samples produced from Estabragh/cotton-blended yarns was higher than that of the 100% cotton samples. Compared to the 100% cotton samples, air permeability of Estabragh/cotton-knitted structures was found to be relatively low. The results totally proved that Estabragh fibers have a lot of advantages in order to be used in different fields of applications especially in sport areas.

Optimization of the combing noil percentage for quality single and ply compact spun yarn

No doubt that ring spinning will continue to remain the important yarn manufacturing system for the short staple spinning. Innovation has occurred through the introduction of compact spinning, which offers superior quality and better fiber utilization. With this technology, the problematic spinning triangle has been minimized, resulting in ideal yarn structure which is marked by a low degree of hairiness and higher tenacity.This study focused on the investigation of the effect of changing the fiber properties through controlling noil percentage on the structure parameters of compact single and plies yarns. From the analysis of the results, the optimum combing noil percentage for the production of Quality fine compact yarns at 5% Uster level for single or ply yarns can be achieved.

Effect of Overspray Treatments on the Processing Efficiency of a 50/50 Flax/Cotton Blend

Limited studies exist related to the short-staple spinning of flax ( Linum usitatissimum L.) and cotton ( Gossypium hirsutum and Gossypium barbadense) blends. The purpose of this study was to determine if various surface chemical treatments, including water, salt solution, and a suspension of polymer encapsulated silica nanoparticles applied via rotor spraying techniques were either detrimental or beneficial to spinning. Results indicate that neither yarn processing efficiency nor yarn quality appears to be significantly influenced by any of the spray applications in the case of 100% cotton. However, in the case of the flax blend yarns studied, processing efficiencies were impacted with fewer ends-down in the case of the nanoparticle solution in conjunction with significant yarn quality improvements. In addition, the application of a potassium malate salt solution also appears to significantly impact the amount of foreign matter present in the sliver, possibly due to anti-static effects. The beneficial effects produced are such that the application of chemical over-sprays appears to be a viable option for textile mills wanting to spin flax more efficiently. Results also indicate that chemical overspraying can be beneficial to yarn properties, but additional research is needed for the optimization of this practice.

Regressional Estimation of Ring Cotton Yarn Properties from HVI Fiber Properties

The main aim of the present study was to predict the most important yarn quality characteristics derived from cotton fiber properties that were measured by means of an HVI system. With this aim 15 different cotton blends were selected from different spinning mills in Turkey. The cotton fibers were processed in the short staple spinning line at Ege University Textile and Apparel Research-Application Center and were spun into ring yarns (20s, 25s, 30s and 35s). Each count was spun at three different coefficients of twist (αe 3.8, αe 4.2 and αe 4.6). Linear multiple regression methods were used for the estimation of yarn quality characteristics. Yarn count, twist and roving properties all had considerable effects on the yarn properties and therefore these parameters were also selected as predictors. After the goodness of fit statistics very large R2 (coefficient of multiple determination) and adjusted R2 values were observed. Furthermore, analysis of variance tables showed that our equations were significant at the α = 0.01 significance level.

THE EFFECT OF NAFTA ON THE US SPINNING INDUSTRY

Abstract The purpose of the research presented in this paper has been to examine the effects of NAFTA on the US short staple spinning industry. Yarn, particularly cotton, plays a critical role in the apparel supply chain, and therefore the factors that affect yarn, in turn, also affect apparel. Since the inception of NAFTA in 1994, many changes have taken place in the US short staple spinning industry, as well as the entire textile and apparel industry. However, this paper will examine current trends, which have resulted primarily from NAFTA, but also the Asian financial crisis. Specific focus will be given to yarn production levels, price, imports, exports and labor.

Variance Tolerancing and Decomposition in Short-Staple Spinning Processes. Part II: Simulations and Applications to Ring and OE Spun Yarns

The variance tolerancing and decomposition method developed in Part I of this paper is applied to a large amount of fiber and yarn test data obtained from a spinning mill during a three-year period. The variabilities of single-end strengths found in six different ring spun and open-end yarns are successfully decomposed into random and processinduced variance components by tolerancing the variances of the matching fiber length and tensile properties. A total of 43,080 single-end yarn strength tests, 4,200,000 AFIS® fiber lengths, and over 70,000 Mantis® single-fiber tensile tests are performed for the required parameter estimation, simulation, and model validation. The results confirm that variance tolerancing through “effective gauge length” and other intrinsic components is effective for variance estimation and decomposition. Most significant is that the processinduced variances account for 69-82% of the total yarn strength variations, signifying the importance of and challenges in controlling and reducing process variances in spun yarn manufacturing.

Compressional Behaviour of Double-rove Yarns

Little information is available in the literature about double-rove spun yarn's low-stress mechanical properties. An experimental investigation has been made in a short-staple spinning system to study the effect of strand spacing, twist, and spindle speed on a double-rove yarn's compressive resilience, and compressibility at low-stress levels. The response-surface equations developed from the experimental results, have been used to explain the compressional behaviour of the yarn studied.

Effects of Apron Spacing and Break Draft on Double-Rove Yarn Quality in Short Staple Spinning

A study is reported of the effects of apron spacing and break draft in a ring frame on the tensile and regularity properties of a double-rove cotton yam, using a factorial analysis technique, produced on a short staple spinning system. The results show that the effect of apron spacing is less marked than that of break draft on the majority of the tensile and regularity properties studied. Overall, closer apron spacing and lower break draft in the ring frame improve all but one of the properties studied.

Effect of Processing Parameters on the Properties of Double-Rove Spun Yarn Produced on a Short Staple Spinning System

This paper is concerned with the optimization of a double-rove spinning process in the short staple spinning system, using Box and Hunter's technique of a central compound rotatable design. The influences of strand spacing, twist, and spindle speed on yarn tensile and regularity properties are discussed.