Quality Control in Yarn Manufacturing
QA Steps in Spinning
i. Setting of Norms
ii. Quality of incoming raw material
iii. Process Monitoring and Control
iv. Inspection of final product
Critical difference (CD)
Critical difference is a measure of the difference between two values that
occur due to normal or unavoidable causes.
When the difference between two values exceed that of the critical
difference, the two values are said to be statistically different.
√𝑁1
(𝑁𝑒𝑤)𝐶𝐷% = 𝐶𝐷% (𝑇𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒) ×
√𝑁2
Here, N1=Number of tests recommended in the table
N2= Number of tests actually conducted
Critical differences depend on:
i) CV%
ii) No. of Tests
Table-1: No. of test and critical difference (%) for various fibre properties:
Fibre Property No. of tests CD (%)
2.5% span length 4 combs/sample 4
Uniformity ratio 4 combs/sample 5
Microniare value 4 plugs/sample 6
Fibre strength 10 breaks/sample 5
Trash content 8 test/sample 7
Table-2: No. of test and critical difference (%) for various yarn properties:
Yarn Property No. of tests CD (%)
Lea count 40 2
Strength 40 4
Single yarn strength 100 2.8
Evenness 5 2.8
Problem-1. A mill wanted to purchase a cotton of 3.7 microns value to spin 50s
count. The sample cotton received from a party was tested for micronaire and it was
found to be 3.9 ( on the basis of 4 test).The mill is interested to know that whether
the sample cotton conforms the mills requirements.
Solution:
Difference in micronaire values=3.9-3.7=0.2
Difference expressed as a percentage of the specific value (0.2x100)/3.7= 5.4%
Critical difference (C.D) for micronaire value as in table =6%
Since the actual difference of 5.4% is lower than the CD of 6, the mills could
purchase cotton from whom they received the sample cotton.
Problem-2. Mill C received 5 cotton samples from A & B. Their strength value were
found to be 22 g/tex and 24 g/tex respectively (based on 5 tests). Which decision
was taken by the mill?
Quality of Fiber: Staple Length
Staple Length: The average length of a spinnable fiber is called Staple Length.
Staple length is also most important fiber characteristics.
Rating on staple length
Class Spun Length (mm)
Extra long staple 33.0 and above
Long staple 29.5 to 32.5
Medium staple 25.0 to 29.0
Short staple A 20.5 to 24.5
Short staple B 20.0 and below
Quality of Fiber: Digital fibrograph
2.5% spun length:
The fibers of a representative sample are made parallel to each other. They are
straightened up to the optimum level. The fibres in the specimen are distributed
randomly. The initial scanning point is assumed as 100 ℅ fibres. Now the scanning
is conducted at a place where only 2.5 ℅ fibres of the whole representative sample
are present. Now the distance between the initial point ( 100 ℅ fibres) and 2.5 ℅
fibres are recorded. This distance is termed as the 2.5 ℅ span length of the fibres.
50% spun length:
The fibres of a representative sample are made parallel to each other. They are
straightened up to the optimum level. The fibres in the specimen are distributed
randomly. The initial scanning point is assumed as 100 ℅ fibres. Now the scanning
is conducted at a place where only 50 ℅ fibres of the whole representative sample
are present. Now the distance between the initial scanning point ( 100 ℅ fibres) and
50 ℅ fibres are recorded. This distance is termed as 50 ℅ span length of the fibres.
Uniformity Ratio:
Uniformity ratio is defined as the ratio of 50% spun length to the 2.5% spun length
expressed as a percentage
50% spun length
UR=-------------------- x100
2.5% spun length
This ratio is a measure of the length variability of the cotton.
Uniformity Ratio Grade
47 Good
45 Average
43 Poor
Fiber Fineness:
MIC: fiber weight in micrograms per inch. It indicates the maturity and fineness of
fibers
MIC Description
Upto 3.1 Very fine
3.1-3.9 Fine
4.0-4.9 Medium
5.0-5.9 Slightly Coarse
6.0-above Coarse
Fiber Strength:
Fiber strength is measured by breaking the fibers held between clamp jaws. It’s
reported as grams per tex, which is the force in grams required to break a bundle of
fibers one tex unit in size. A tex unit is equal to the weight in grams of 1000 meters
of fiber.
Strength (g/tex) Description
Less than 21 Very weak
22-24 Weak
25-27 Medium
28-30 Strong
31-higher Very strong
Maturity coefficient (Mc)
The fiber maturity count is denoted by the percentages of the mature, half mature
and immature fibers in a sample. It can be calculated using the formula,
Mc = (N + 0.6H + 0.4I)/100
where N - percentage of mature fibers.
H - Percentage half mature fibers
I - Percentage of immature fibers
For the chosen standard, N = 67% D or I = 7% and H = 26%.
So, Mc = ( 67 + 0.6(26) + 0.4(7) )/100 = 0.854
Maturity Coefficient Rating
Below 0.60 Very Immature
0.60 to 0.70 Immature
0.71 to 0.80 Average Maturity
0.81-0.85 Good Maturity
Fiber Quality Index (FQI)
Different fiber characteristics are synthesized into a single index called Fiber
quality index (FQI).
FQI = (L * U *S) / F
Where, L= 50% spun length in mm
S= Fiber bundle strength expressed in gm/tex
F= fiber fineness (micronaire value)
U= Uniformity Ratio
Yarn Faults
The undesirable and sometimes unavoidable defects that are found in yarn are known
as yarn fault. It is impossible to produce fault-free yarn. So, the spinners try to
produce yarn with considerable limit of fault.
Faults found in yarn are:
Count variation
Unevenness & irregularity
Thick thin place and neps
Hairiness
Lot mixing
Dead Fiber
Causes of thick & thin places:
✓ Short fiber content
✓ Improper draft
✓ Poor efficiency of carding & combing
✓ Twist variation
Causes of Neps:
✓ Immature fiber
✓ Improper ginning
✓ Improper carding speed & card setting
✓ Less efficiency of card
✓ Improper drafting speed
Fiber testing equipment
HVI (High Volume Instrument):
For fineness, color, trash, length & strength measurement.
AFIS (Advanced Fiber Information System):
Sample weight taken for this test is 5 gm. Then this sample cotton is rolled up to 31
cm then it is inserted to the machine.
Shirley Analyzer:
For trash content measurement.
In this testing the trash content (seeds, particles, leaves etc.) in the fiber is measured.
Neps counter: For fiber length, neps, short fiber measurement.
Moisture Regain tester: For MR% testing.
Lap, Sliver & Roving testing equipment
Lap length counter.
Balance, Scale, Wrap block: For testing sliver & roving.
Nep counting board.
Auto sorter: For sliver count testing.
Evenness tester.
Yarn testing equipment
Wrap reel and balance: Yarn count testing
Auto sorter: For count & CV% analysis
Evenness tester: Yarn imperfection, U%, hairiness etc.
Uster classimate: Yarn fault analysis.
Yarn tension meter
Twist tester
Yarn strength tester
Software:
Bale Inventory and Analysis Software (BIAS): For bale management
CDS: For Automatic count measuring
