Yarn Evenness

Md. Sumon Miah

Assistant Professor
Department of Textile Engineering
Dhaka University of Engineering and
Technology, Gazipur
 Evenness
 Whether we say evenness or unevenness, regularity or
irregularity, all these mean the degree of uniformity of a
product.
 For textile products such as slivers, rovings, and yarns,
which are the products of various spinning machines, the
level of uniformity is expressed in terms of evenness or
regularity or in terms of unevenness or irregularity.
 Producing a yarn of uniform characters such as uniformity
in weight per unit length, uniformity in diameter, turns per
inch, strength etc., is indeed a work of very great
magnitude and perfect uniform are only dreams.
 Natural fibers is a lot of variation in length, colour,
thickness, etc., which results in variations in yarns and
fabrics.
 Importance of yarn evenness
- Irregularity can adversely affect many of the properties
of textile materials.
- The most obvious consequence of yarn unevenness is
the variation of strength along the yarn.
- If the average mass per unit length of two yarns is
equal, but one yarn is less regular than the other, it is
clear that the more even yarn will be the stronger of
the two.
- The uneven one should have more thin regions than
the even one as a result of irregularity, since
the average linear density is the same.
 - Thus, an irregular yarn will tend to break more easily during
spinning, winding, weaving, knitting, or any other process
where stress is applied. However, due to the twist migration,
thin place may not be necessarily weak places.
- A second quality-related effect of uneven yarn is the presence
of visible faults on the surface of fabrics.
- If a large amount of irregularity is present in the yarn, the
variation in fineness can easily be detected in the finished cloth.
- The problem is particularly serious when a fault (i.e. a thick or
thin place) appears at precisely regular intervals along the
length of the yarn. In such cases, fabric construction geometry
ensures that the faults will be located in a pattern that is very
clearly apparent to the eye, and defects such as streaks, stripes,
barre, or other visual groupings develop in the cloth.
- Such defects are usually compounded when the fabric
is dyed or finished, as a result of the twist variation
accompanying them.
- Twist tends to be higher at thin places in a yarn. Thus,
at such locations, the penetration of a dye or finish is
likely to be lower than at the thick regions of lower
twist.
- In consequence, the thicker yarn region will tend to be
deeper in shade than the thinner ones and, if a visual
fault appears in a pattern on the fabric, the pattern will
tend to be emphasized by the presence of color or by
some variation in a visible property, such as crease-
resistance controlled by a finish.
- Other fabric properties, such as abrasion or pill-
resistance, soil retention, drape, absorbency,
reflectance, or luster, may also be directly influenced
by yarn evenness.
- Thus, the effects of irregularity are widespread
throughout all areas of the production and use of
textiles, and the topic is an important one in any areas
of the industry.
 Types of irregularity

1) Weight per unit length

- Variation in weight per unit length is the basic

irregularity in yarn. All other irregularities are
dependent on it. This is because weight per unit length
is proportional to fiber number i.e.; number of fibers
in cross section of yarn.
- Number of fibers are the factor influenced by
drafting
2) Diameter
 Variations in diameter are more easily perceived by
eye.
  Latest models of evenness testers have therefore a
module for determining diameter variability.
  Diameter variability is however caused by weight
variability.
 As twist has tendency to run into thin place, variability
in weight gets exaggerated in diameter variability
4) Hairiness
5) Strength
6) Color etc.
 Expression for irregularity
[Link] irregularity U%

- It is the percentage mass deviation of unit

length of material and is caused by
uneven fiber distribution along the length
U% = PMD
of the strand.
= Mean Deviation / Mean
- The average value for all the deviations
×100
from the mean is calculated and then = [{(Σxi-x) / n} / x] ×100
expressed as a percentage of the overall
mean (Percentage mean deviation,
PMD). This is termed U% by the uster
[Link] coefficient of variation C.V.%

-  In handling large quantities of data statistically, the coefficient

of variation (C.V.%) is commonly used to define variability and
is thus well-suited to the problem of expressing yarn evenness.
- It is currently probably the most widely accepted way of
quantifying irregularity.

It is given by,
CV% = Standard Deviation / Mean × 100
• When the deviations have a normal distribution about the mean
the two values are related by the following equations:
 CV = 1.25×PMD
• The irregularity U% is proportional to the intensity of the mass

variations around the mean value.

•  The larger deviations from the mean value are much more

intensively taken into consideration in the calculation of the

coefficient of variation C.V. %.

•  C.V. % has received more recognition in the modern statistics

than the irregularity value U%.

•  The coefficient of variation C.V.% can be determined extremely

accurately by electronic means, whereas the calculation of the

irregularity U% is based on an approximation method.

 Causes of irregularity

1) Irregularity caused by raw material

2) Irregularity caused by fiber arrangement
3) Effect of fiber behavior
4) Inherent shortcoming of machinery
5) Mechanically defective machinery
Classification of Variation
There are two types of variation and they are classified
as the followings
1) Random variation
(2) Periodic variation
1) Random variation
Random variation is the variation which occurs
randomly in the textile material, without any definite
order.
- Suppose a yarn is cut into short equal lengths, say, of
1 inch, and weight of each consecutive lengths are
found out. 
-The weights are plotted in a graph against the lengths
similar to the figure shown below,
- By joining the points a trace is produced,
called irregularity trace.
(2) Periodic Variations
- All traces of irregularity do not show random
distribution of the deviations from the mean.
- Suppose traces show definite sequences of thick and
thin places in the strand of material. These forms of
irregularity are called as periodic variations.
-  Periodic variations are the variations with definite
sequences of thick and thin places in the strand of
material.
Wave length is the distance from the one peak of the wave to
the next on the same side of the mean line.
 Amplitude is a measure of the size of the swing from the
mean level. Usually this is expressed as a percentage of the
mean.
Periodic variation are of the following types

1. Short term variation: wave length 1 to 10 times

fiber the length
2. Medium term variation: wave length 10 to 100
times fiber the length
3. Long term variation: wave length 100 to 1000 times
fiber the length

This classification is used when causes of faults are

being investigated.
 Effects of Irregularity

1. Strength
2. Fabric Appearance
3. Dyeing faults
4. Yarn breakage
 Methods of Measuring Yarn Evenness
- In fact, to measure irregularity, many methods are
available involving from no equipments to electric
instruments.
Of all these we are to see,
1. Visual Examination Methods
  - Using Black Boards, Drums, Photographic Devices,
Projectors, and Lap Meter.
2. Cutting and Weighing Methods
- Lap Scale, Lap meter, Sliver, Roving, and Yarn
Wrapping.
3. Electronic Capacitance Testers
Fielden- Walker Evenness Tester and Uster Evenness Tester.
4. Variation In Thickness Under Compression
WIRA Roving Levelness Tester and LINRA Roller Yarn
Diameter Tester.
5. Photoelectric Testers
WIRA Photoelectric Testers and LINRA Tester.
6. Miscellaneous Methods
Airflow, Mercury Displacement, etc

Before actually going into the methods in detail it must be

kept in mind that the most important property of a yarn is the
number of fibers in a cross-section and the variation of this
number along the yarn is the fundamental measure of
irregularity
 1. Visual Examination Method
- Yarn to be examined is wrapped onto a matt black
surface in equally spaced turns.
- The black boards are then examined under good
lightening conditions using uniform non-directional
light. A.S.T.M. has a series of Cotton Yarn
Appearance Standards which are photographs of
different counts with the appearance classified in four
grades.
- The test yarn is then wound on a blackboard
approximately 9.5 x 5.5inches with the correct
spacing and compared directly with the
corresponding standard.
•  Motorized wrapping machines are available: the yarn
is made to traverse steadily along the board as it is
rotated, thus giving a more even spacing.
•  It is preferable to use tapered boards for wrapping
the yarn if periodic faults are likely to be present.
•  This is because the yarn may have a repeating fault
of a similar spacing to that of one wrap of yarn.
•  By chance it may be hidden behind the board on
every turn with a parallel sided board whereas with a
tapered board it will at some point appear on the face.
 Grading after viewing a sample of yarn wound with a
designated traverse (depend on count) on a black board.
•  ASTM standard test method describes the yarn
appearance into five grades. The board is compared with
standard photographs and then graded.
• Grade A: No large neps, very few small neps, must have
very good uniformity, less fuzziness.
• Grade B: No larger neps, few small neps, less than 3
small pieces of foreign matters per board, slightly more
irregular and fuzzy than A.
• Grade C: Some larger neps and more smaller neps,
fuzziness, foreign matters more than B, more rough
appearance than B.
• Grade D: Some slubs (more than 3 times diameter of
yarn). More neps, larger size neps, fuzziness, thick
and thin places, foreign matters than Grade C yarn.
Overall rougher appearance than C.
• Grade E: Below grade D, more defects and overall
rougher appearance than grade D yarn
[Link] Method (Cutting and Weighing
Method):
Lap-to-lap variation:
By weighing individual laps, i.e. cut length in this case
being the lap length.
a) Lap meter:
- Automatically unrolls the lap, break off a 1 yard length,
and deposit into the pan of a scale
- Weights are recorded subsequently.
-  Data analysis.
b) Slivers, roving and yarn

The count (hank) and count CV% are checked by

measuring a test length and weighing it on an accurate
balance.
• Normally, for sliver - 6 yard– by wrap block

• For roving -15 yard – by wrap block

• For yarns - 120 yard– by wrap reel

4. Electronic capacitance method: (USTER Tester
3 or 4)
• Indirect method of measuring the change in mass
per unit length
•  The yarn is passed though a parallel plate
condenser in a continuous fashion
•  Change in capacity are monitored electronically
•  A change in mass of the dielectric (non-
conducting material) in the condenser changes its
capacitance.
•  Change in capacitance 'a' mass of material
- If the material is drawn at constant speed through the
condenser continuously, the changes in capacitance will
follow the variation in weight/unit length of the strand.

 - The unit length being the length of the capacitor (e.g.

for Zellweger USTER it is 8 mm).
• Larger deviation from mean in case CV% (as it is in
squaring)
•  CV% values have greater impact of yarn appearance
and their processing behavior, so CV% is a better
measure of unevenness than U%.