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In-situ Tensile Properties of a Ballooning Staple Yarn

Zheng-Xue Tang, Lijing Wang, W. Barrie Fraser and Xungai Wang Textile Research Journal 2009 79: 548 DOI: 10.1177/0040517508090780 The online version of this article can be found at: http://trj.sagepub.com/content/79/6/548

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Textile Research Journal

Article

In-situ Tensile Properties of a Ballooning Staple Yarn

Abstract

Zheng-Xue Tang and Lijing Wang

Centre for Material and Fiber Innovation, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC 3217, Australia

This study investigated the tensile properties of a rotating or ballooning staple yarn. The results indicated that the effect of rotating speed on the tensile properties of a ballooning staple yarn was significant. As the yarn rotating speed increased, the tenacity of the rotating or ballooning yarn decreased, while the yarn breaking elongation increased. The effect of rotating speed on the tenacity of a ballooning staple yarn varied for different yarns. These results demonstrated that the breaking force of a ballooning yarn was much lower than the yarn breaking force obtained from normal tensile tests. These results provide new insight into the problems of yarn breakage in yarn spinning and twisting processes.

W. Barrie Fraser
School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia

Xungai Wang1
Centre for Material and Fiber Innovation, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC 3217, Australia

Key words air drag, breaking force, elongation, ring spinning, staple yarn, yarn ballooning

Yarn breakage (or ends-down) in ring spinning and other industrial processes involving yarn ballooning reduces yarn productivity and adds significantly to the cost of yarn production. The probability of yarn breakage is related to the strength of a ballooning yarn and the maximum tension in the yarn during processing. In order to reduce yarn breakage rate, many researchers have studied yarn tensile properties after the yarn is spun, because it has been challenging to measure the breaking force and elongation of a ballooning yarn during ring spinning. Yet it is the in situ tensile properties of a yarn that govern its ability to withstand the spinning tension. Ramey et al. [1], Frydrych [24] and Pan et al. [5] investigated the relationships between the tenacities of cotton fibers and yarns. Cheng and Adams [6] and Zeng et al. [7] predicted yarn tenacity based on fiber properties using neural networks. Lizk [8] and Mandl [9] investigated the effect of test length on the yarn breaking force. Aggarwal [10] established a model to estimate the breaking elongation of highly twisted singles ring spun cotton yarns from fiber characteristics. Majumdar and Majumdar [11] discussed the methods of predicting breaking elongation of ring spun cotton yarns. Zurek et al. [12] proposed a method to predict the tenacity and elongation of cotton yarns.

Several attempts have been made in the past to quantify yarn tension during spinning. Zhu et al. [13, 14] measured spinning tension using a rubber string and polyester yarns on a Balloon Test System (BTS). Sharma and Rahn [15] measured yarn tension using polyester filaments on the BTS with a balloon control ring. Skenderi et al. [16] established a procedure to determine yarn tension under limited conditions. Recently, Tang et al. [17] investigated tension in ballooning cotton and wool yarns using a purpose-built yarn ballooning rig. The tension in a ballooning yarn was also studied with a dynamic analysis [1821].1 However, the above studies did not consider the effect of yarn rotating speed and ballooning on yarn breaking force and elongation. While there have been studies on yarn breaking force in the yarn formation zone (i.e. the twist triangle) [2224], both the breaking force and elongation of a ballooning yarn in ring spinning have not been reported. The aim of this paper was to clarify if yarn rotating speed has any effect on the breaking force, tenacity and

Corresponding author: Centre for Material and Fibre Innovation, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC 3217, Australia. Tel: +61 3 5227 2894, Fax: +61 3 5227 2539, e-mail: xwang@deakin.edu.au

Textile Research Journal Vol 79(6): 548554 DOI: 10.1177/0040517508090780 Figures 1, 2 appear in color online: http://trj.sagepub.com

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In-situ Tensile Properties of a Ballooning Staple Yarn Z.-X. Tang et al.

elongation of ballooning staple yarns. We measured the breaking force and elongation of different yarns, while ballooning, using a yarn ballooning rig at various rotating speeds. The results were compared with those obtained from normal yarn tensile tests. We should point out that the yarn ballooning rig we used could only provide an approximate simulation of real yarn ballooning process in ring spinning, since there was no traveller mass so that the boundary conditions were much simpler. In addition, the rotating speed of the ballooning rig was less than the actual yarn ballooning ring spinning, so that the yarn tensions we could generate on the rig were somewhat lower than in commercial ring spinning. Our main objective was to examine the effect of balloon dynamics on yarn tenacity. The basic observation derived from this work should be applicable to high speed ballooning processes.

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Experimental
We used a LLOYD tensile tester and a purpose-built yarn ballooning rig (see Figure 1 [25]) to measure the breaking force of a ballooning yarn at three rotational speeds (2,000 rpm, 4,000 rpm and 5,500 rpm) and two extension rates (200 mm/min and 500 mm/min). Details of the experimental setup can be found elsewhere [17]. Three types of yarns with different counts 38.0 tex cotton single yarn, 50.4 tex cotton two-fold yarn and 70.1 tex pure wool two-fold yarn were used for the experiments. All yarns were stored under standard conditions (20 2 C and 65 2 % RH) for over 24 hours and all tests were performed under the standard environment. We repeated each of the tests up to 12 times and then reported the average values for the test in this paper. The initial yarn length was set at 500 mm for all tests. We also conducted normal yarn tensile tests using an USTER TENSORAPID 3, at a gauge length of 500 mm and two yarn extension speeds of 200 mm/min and 500 mm/min. For each yarn type, the number of tests was set at 50. We used the average yarn breaking force and elongation to represent that of the corresponding ballooning yarn at a rotating speed of zero.

Figure 1 Experimental set-up for investigating the tensile properties of a ballooning yarn [25].

Results and Discussion

States of a ballooning staple yarn at break
Figure 2 displays an example of the breaking process of a 38.0 tex cotton ballooning yarn. Figure 2(a) shows a typical balloon about halfway from the normal yarn balloon to yarn breakage. Figure 2(b) shows the instant before the yarn breakage. It is worth noting that the yarn segment between guide-eye and rotating eyelet was not a straight line, which also happens in actual ring spinning. This was due to the air

drag on the ballooning yarn. Therefore, the effect of rotating speed, which generates air drag on the ballooning yarn, on the breaking force of a ballooning staple yarn should not be neglected. Figure 2(c) shows the instant after the yarn breakage. The upper part of the balloon could be seen to have multi-loops as tension in the ballooning yarn was suddenly released. Figure 2(d) shows one situation after yarn breakage. It was observed that yarn breakage rarely happened in a ballooning yarn if the maximum balloon diameter was greater than the ring diameter, unless yarn snarling occurred [25].

Breaking force of a ballooning staple yarn

Table 1 gives a comparison of yarn tenacity for the ballooning 38.0 tex cotton single yarn, 50.4 tex cotton twofold yarn and 70.1 tex wool two-fold yarn at varying rotating speeds. These results confirmed that yarn tenacity decreased with an increase in yarn rotating speed. Further-

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Table 1 Comparison of the tenacities of three ballooning staple yarns.

Yarn tenacity [cN/Tex] 38.0 tex cotton single yarn 200 50.4 tex cotton two-fold yarn 70.1 tex wool two-fold yarn 38.0 tex cotton single yarn 500 50.4 tex cotton two-fold yarn 70.1 tex wool two-fold yarn Rotating speed [rpm] 0* 6.60 13.05 6.98 7.14 14.11 7.21 2,000 6.17 12.99 6.94 6.86 13.89 7.19 4,000 5.54 12.87 6.74 6.25 13.84 7.18 5,500 5.48 11.76 6.40 6.13 13.52 7.13

*Data obtained from a normal tensile test.

Yarn extension speed [mm/min]

Figure 2 Breaking process of a 38.0 tex cotton single yarn at a rotating speed of 5,500 rpm with a yarn extension speed of 500 mm/min during simulated ring spinning. (a) A typical balloon about halfway from the normal yarn balloon to yarn breaking; (b) the instant before yarn breakage; (c) the instant after yarn breakage; and (d) one situation after yarn breakage.

and 70.1 tex wool two-fold yarn were 5.0, 4.0 and 3.3, respectively [27]. From the regression models in Figure 3, when the yarn extension speed was at 200 mm/min and the rotating speed increased from 0 (i.e. in the condition of a normal tensile test) to 10,000 rpm, the breaking forces of the 38.0 tex cotton yarn, 50.4 tex cotton yarn and 70.1 tex wool yarn decreased 33.5 %, 14.2 % and 13.4 %, respectively. When the yarn extension speed was at 500 mm/min and the rotating speed increased from 0 to 10,000 rpm, the breaking forces of the 38.0 tex cotton yarn, 50.4 tex cotton yarn and 70.1 tex wool yarn decreased 27.6 %, 6.7 % and 1.7 %, respectively. Therefore, for the same yarn extension speed, the higher the normalized air drag coefficient on a ballooning yarn, the weaker the yarn became with increasing rotating speed. This was particularly obvious for the finest yarn examined. The breaking force of a ballooning staple yarn increased when yarn extension speed increased, which was similar to what happened in a normal tensile test (i.e. the rotating speed = 0 in Figure 3). The error bars in Figure 3 represent the 95 % confidence intervals for the mean values.

Qualitative analysis of the breakage of a ballooning staple yarn

The tension in ballooning 38.0 tex cotton single yarn, 50.4 tex cotton two-fold yarn and 70.1 tex pure wool two-fold yarn was investigated in our previous work [17]. We have reproduced the yarn tension results in Figure 4 so that they can be discussed in the context of yarn breakage. For the same rotating speed, tension in a ballooning yarn increases when the ratio of yarn-length in the balloon to balloonheight ( R sl h) decreases within the yarn-length range. When R sl h is less than 1.03, the tension at guide-eye increases rapidly and it may cause yarn breakage. However, when R sl h is greater than a specific value (which depends on the yarn type and count), yarn breakage may also occur due to yarn snarling in the balloon (see Tang et al. [25] for more details).

more, the effect of rotating speed on the tenacity of a single staple yarn was larger than that on the tenacity of a two-fold staple yarn. When yarn extension speed was higher, the effect of rotating speed on yarn tenacity was weaker. A ballooning yarn with specific type and count corresponds to a unique value of normalized air drag coefficient on the yarn [26]. Figure 3 displays the relationships between the breaking force of a ballooning staple yarn and rotating speed, in which the normalized air drag coefficients of the 38.0 tex cotton single yarn, 50.4 tex cotton two-fold yarn

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Figure 3 A comparison of breaking force against rotating speed with various yarn extension speeds ( experimental data regression, --theoretical prediction).

Figure 4 A comparison of yarn tension at guide-eye against rotating speed when R sl h = 1.03 ( experimental data regression, --theoretical prediction).

Figure 4 displays the relationships between yarn tension at guide-eye and rotating speed when R sl h = 1.03. It shows that yarn tension increased when the rotating speed increased. This agreed with previous results [28]. Furthermore, the

coarser (and hairier) ballooning yarn had higher tension in the yarn. This result was expected because there was a larger air drag on the yarn [29], which led to higher yarn tension.

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Table 2 Comparison of yarn breaking force with yarn tension obtained from theoretical predictions in Figures 3 and 4.
38.0 tex cotton yarn Breaking force* [cN] Rotating speed [rpm] 10,000 12,000 14,000 16,000 166.87 150.27 133.67 117.07 Max tension# [cN] 063.00 090.72 123.48 161.28 50.4 tex cotton two-fold yarn Breaking force* [cN] 564.35 543.55 522.75 501.95 Max tension# [cN] 085.00 122.40 166.60 217.60 70.1 tex wool two-fold yarn Breaking force* [cN] 423.51 409.31 395.11 380.91 Max tension# [cN] 130.00 187.20 254.80 332.80

*Breaking force at yarn extension speed of 200 mm/min. Max tension was the yarn tension at guide-eye when the ratio of yarn-length to balloon-height was 1.03.

From the theoretical predictions (from the regression analysis of the experimental results) in Figures 3 and 4, at a rotating speed of 10,000 rpm, the breaking force was 166.87 cN and the maximum tension (at R sl h = 1.03; it should be noted that, generally speaking, R sl h 1.03 in a normal ring spinning process) was 63.00 cN for the 38.0 tex cotton single yarn. The breaking force was 564.35 cN and the maximum tension was 85.00 cN for the 50.4 tex cotton two-fold yarn, and the breaking force was 423.51 cN and the maximum tension was 130.00 cN for the 70.1 tex wool two-fold yarn. Therefore, in normal ring spinning, yarn

breakage should not occur in the balloon unless there are some gross defects in the yarn. This agreed with previous finding that yarn breakage rarely occurs in a ballooning yarn in ring spinning [28]. However, when the rotating speed was greater than 10,000 rpm and continuously increased, the difference between the breaking force of a ballooning staple yarn and the tension in the yarn reduced quickly, so the breakage chance of the ballooning yarn increased. Table 2 shows that the maximum tension at guide-eye of a ballooning 38.0 tex cotton single yarn at rotating speed of 14,000 rpm was very

Figure 5 A comparison of yarn elongation against rotating speed. (a) Yarn extension speed = 200 mm/min and (b) yarn extension speed = 500 mm/min.

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Figure 6 Curves of the tensile force against percent elongation of three staple yarns at a rotating speed of 2,000 rpm and yarn extension speed of 500 mm/min. (a) Full range and (b) initial part.

close to the breaking force of the yarn. Furthermore, when the yarn rotating speed was at 16,000 rpm, the yarn tension was greater than the yarn breaking force, so yarn breakage would happen under this condition. The data also showed that the finer the ballooning staple yarn, the higher the chance of yarn breakage.

Elongation of a ballooning staple yarn

Figure 5 displays elongation at break against rotating speed for the three ballooning staple yarns. The yarn elongation increased when yarn rotating speed increased. Figure 6 displays the elongation property of the three ballooning yarns at a rotating speed of 2,000 rpm with a yarn extension speed of 500 mm/min. Figure 6(b) shows that the yarns were tensioned at the beginning of the tests due to air drag on the ballooning yarns. The tension at guide-eye was 2.34 cN for 38.0 tex cotton single yarn, 3.94 cN for 50.4 tex cotton twofold yarn and 18.40 cN for 70.1 tex wool two-fold yarn. These were different from the situations in a normal tensile test. It was likely that the air drag acting on the entire yarn length helped sustain the yarn elongation process.

1. The breaking force of a ballooning yarn decreased when the yarn rotating speed increased. In particular, it was observed that a ballooning fine yarn may reduce its breaking force by up to one-third at a rotating speed of 10,000 rpm. 2. The effect of rotating speed on the tenacity of a single yarn was larger than that on the tenacity of a twofold yarn. A general trend was that as the yarn extension speed increased, the yarn tenacity increased and the effect of rotating speed on yarn tenacity was weaker. 3. The breaking elongation of a ballooning yarn increased with increasing yarn rotating speed. These results add to our understanding of yarn failure in the dynamic processes of yarn twisting. In the analysis of yarn breakage in high speed yarn twisting or ballooning processes, it is the in situ strength of the yarn that will determine the probability of yarn failure, and this in situ strength is different from that obtained from a normal yarn tensile test.

Acknowledgment

Conclusion
This study investigated the breaking force, tenacity and elongation of three ballooning staple yarns. The results are summarized as follows:

This work was funded by a grant from the Australian Research Council (ARC) under its Discovery Project scheme. The first author was supported by the grant as an ARC Postdoctoral Fellow.

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