201781 FIBRETESTING:IMPORTANCEOFRAWMATERIALINYARNMANUFACTURING

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FIBRETESTING
IMPORTANCEOFRAWMATERIALINYARNMANUFACTURING:
Rawmaterialrepresentsabout50to70%oftheproductioncostofashortstapleyarn.Thisfactis
sufficienttoindicatethesignificanceoftherawmaterialfortheyarnproducer.Itisnotpossibleto
useaproblemfreerawmaterialalways,becausecottonisanaturalfibreandtherearemany
propertieswhichwillaffecttheperformance.Ifallthepropertieshavetobegoodforthecotton,the
rawmaterialwouldbetooexpensive.Toproduceagoodyarnwiththisdifficulties,anintimate
knowledgeoftherawmaterialanditsbehaviourinprocessingisamust.

Fibrecharacteristicsmustbeclassifiedaccordingtoacertainsequenceofimportancewithrespect
totheendproductandthespinningprocess.Moreover,suchquantifiedcharacteristicsmustalsobe
assessedwithreferencetothefollowing

whatistheidealvalue?
whatamountofvariationisacceptableinthebalematerial?
whatamountofvariationisacceptableinthefinalblend

Suchvaluableexperience,whichallowsonetodeterminethemostsuitableusefortherawmaterial,
canonlybeobtainedbymeansofalong,intensifiedanddirectassociationwiththerawmaterial,
thespinningprocessandtheendproduct.

Lowcostyarnmanufacture,fulfillingofallqualityrequirementsandacontrolledfibrefeedwith
knownfibrepropertiesarenecessaryinordertocompeteontheworld'stextilemarkets.Yarn
prodcutionbeginswiththerawmaterialinbales,wherebysuccessorfailureisdeterminedbythe
fibrequality,itspriceandavailability.Successfulyarnproducersoptimiseprofitsbyaprocess
orientedselectionandmixingoftherawmaterial,followedbyoptimisationofthemachinesettings,
productionrates,operatingelements,etc.Simultaneously,qualityisensured
bymeansofaclosedloopcontrolsystem,whichrequirestheapplicationofsupervisorysystemat
spinningandspinningpreparation,aswellasameansofselectingthemostsutablebalemix.

BASICFIBRECHARACTERISTICS:
Atextilefibreisapeculiarobject.Ithasnottrulyfixedlength,width,thickness,shapeandcross
section.Growthofnaturalfibresorprodctionfactorsofmanmadefibresareresponsibleforthis
situation.Anindividualfibre,ifexaminedcarefully,willbeseentovaryincrosssectionalarea
alongitlength.Thismaybetheresultofvariationsingrowthrate,causedbydietary,metabolic,
nutrientsupply,seasonal,weather,orotherfactorsinfluencingtherateofcelldevelopmentin
naturalfibres.Surfacecharacteristicsalsoplaysomepartinincreasingthevariablityoffibreshape.
Thescalesofwool,thetwistedarrangementofcotton,thenodesappearingatintervalsalongthe
cellulosicnaturalfibresetc.

Followingarethebasicchareteristicsofcottonfibre

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fibrelength
fineness
strength
maturity
Rigidity
fibrefriction
structuralfeatures

STANDARDATMOSPHEREFORTESTING:
Theatmosphereinwhichphysicaltestsontextilematerialsareperformed.Ithasarelativehumidity
of65+2percentandatemperatureof20+2C.Intropicalandsubtropicalcountries,an
alternativestandardatmospherefortestingwitharelativehumidityof65+2percentanda
temperatureof27+2C,
maybeused.

FIBRELENGTH:
The"length"ofcottonfibresisapropertyofcommercialvalueasthepriceisgenerallybasedon
thischaracter.Tosomeextentitistrue,asotherfactorsbeingequal,longercottonsgivebetter
spinningperformancethanshorterones.Butthelengthofacottonisanindefinitequantity,asthe
fibres,eveninasmallrandombunchofacotton,varyenormouslyinlength.Followingarethe
variousmeasuresoflengthinuseindifferentcountries

meanlength
upperquartile
effectivelength
Modallength
2.5%spanlength
50%spanlength

Meanlength:
Itistheestimatedquantitywhichtheoreticallysignifiesthearithmeticmeanofthelengthofallthe
fibrespresentinasmallbutrepresentativesampleofthecotton.Thisquantitycanbeanaverage
accordingtoeithernumberorweight.

Upperquartilelength:
Itisthatvalueoflengthforwhich75%ofalltheobservedvaluesarelower,and25%higher.

Effectivelength:
Itisdifficulttogiveaclearscientificdefinition.Itmaybedefinedastheupperquartileofa
numericallengthdistribution
eliminatedbyanarbitraryconstruction.Thefibreseliminatedareshorterthanhalftheeffective
length.

Modallength:
Itisthemostfrequentlyoccurringlengthofthefibresinthesampleanditisrelatedtomeanand
medianforskewdistributions,asexhibitedbyfibrelength,inthefollwingway.

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(ModeMean)=3(MedianMean)

where,
Medianistheparticularvalueoflengthaboveandbelowwhichexactly50%ofthefibreslie.

2.5%Spanlength:
Itisdefinedasthedistancespannedby2.5%offibresinthespecimenbeingtestedwhenthefibres
areparallelizedandrandomlydistributedandwheretheinitialstartingpointofthescanninginthe
testisconsidered100%.Thislengthismeasuredusing"DIGITALFIBROGRAPH".

50%Spanlength:
Itisdefinedasthedistancespannedby50%offibresinthespecimenbeingtestedwhenthefibres
areparallelizedandrandomlydistributedandwheretheinitialstartingpointofthescanninginthe
testisconsidered100%.Thislengthismeasuredusing"DIGITALFIBROGRAPH".

TheSouthIndiaTextileResearchAssociation(SITRA)givesthefollowingempiricalrelationships
toestimatetheEffectiveLengthandMeanLengthfromtheSpanLengths.

Effectivelength=1.013x2.5%Spanlength+4.39
Meanlength=1.242x50%Spanlength+9.78

FIBRELENGTHVARIATION:
Eventhough,thelongandshortfibresbothcontributetowardsthelengthirregularityofcotton,the
shortfibresareparticularlyresponsibleforincreasingthewastelosses,andcauseunevennessand
reductioninstrengthintheyarnspun.Therelativeproportionsofshortfibresareusuallydifferent
incottonshavingdifferentmeanlengthstheymayevendifferintwocottonshavingnearlythe
samemeanfibrelength,renderingonecottonmoreirregularthantheother.Itisthereforeimportant
thatinadditiontothefibrelengthofacotton,thedegreeofirregularityofitslengthshouldalsobe
known.Variabilityisdenotedbyanyoneofthefollowingattributes

1.Coefficientofvariationoflength(byweightornumber)
2.irregularitypercentage
3.Dispersionpercentageandpercentageofshortfibres
4.Uniformityratio

Uniformityratioisdefinedastheratioof50%spanlengthto2.5%spanlengthexpressedasa
percentage.Severalinstrumentsandmethodsareavailablefordeterminationoflength.Following
aresome

shirleycombsorter
Baersorter
A.N.Staplingapparatus
Fibrograph

uniformityration=(50%spanlength/2.5%spanlength)x100
uniformityindex=(meanlength/upperhalfmeanlength)x100

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SHORTFIBRES:
Thenegativeeffectsofthepresenceofahighproportionofshortfibresiswellknown.Ahigh
percentageofshortfibresisusuallyassociatedwith,
Increasedyarnirregularityandendsdddownwhichreducequalityandincreaseprocessingcosts
Increasednumberofnepsandslubswhiiichisdetrimentaltotheyarnappearance
Higherflyliberationandmachinecontttaminationinspinning,weavingandknittingoperations.
Higherwastageincombingandotheroppperations.
Whilethedetrimentaleffectsofshortfibreshavebeenwellestablished,thereisstillconsiderable
debateonwhatconstitutesa'shortfibre'.Inthesimplestway,shortfibresaredefinedasthosefibres
whicharelessthan12mmlong.Initially,anestimateoftheshortfibreswasmadefromthestaple
diagramobtainedintheBaerSortermethod

Shortfibrecontent=(UB/OB)x100

Whilesuchasimpledefinitionofshortfibresisperhapsadequateforcharacterisingrawcotton
samples,itistoosimpleadefinitiontousewithregardtothespinningprocess.Thesettingofall
spinningmachinesisbasedoneitherthestaplelengthoffibresoritsequivalentwhichdoesnottake
intoaccounttheeffectofshortfibres.Inthisregard,theconceptof'FloatingFibreIndex'definedby
Hertel(1962)canbeconsideredtobeabetterparametertoconsidertheeffectofshortfibreson
spinningperformance.Floatingfibresaredefinedasthosefibreswhicharenotclampedbyeither
pairofrollersinadraftingzone.

FloatingFibreIndex(FFI)wasdefinedas

FFI=((2.5%spanlength/meanlength)1)x(100)

Theproportionofshortfibreshasanextremelygreatimpactonyarnqualityandproduction.The
proportionofshortfibreshasincreasedsubstantiallyinrecentyearsduetomechanicalpickingand
hardginning.Inmostofthecasestheabsoluteshortfibreproportionisspecifiedtodayasthe
percentageoffibresshorterthan12mm.Fibrographisthemostwidelyusedinstrumentinthetextile
industry,someinformationregardingfibrographisgivenbelow.

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FIBROGRAPH:
Fibrographmeasurementsprovidearelativelyfastmethodfordeterminingthelengthuniformityof
thefibresinasampleofcottoninareproduciblemanner.

Resultsoffibrographlengthtestdonotnecessarilyagreewiththoseobtainedbyothermethodsfor
measuringlengthsofcottonfibresbecauseoftheeffectoffibrecrimpandotherfactors.

Fibrographtestsaremoreobjectivethancommercialstaplelengthclassificationsandalsoprovide
additionalinformationonfibrelengthuniformityofcotoonfibres.Thecottonqualityinformation
providedbytheseresultsisusedinresearchstudiesandqualitysurveys,incheckingcommercial
staplelengthclassifications,inassemblingbalesofcottonintouniformlots,andforotherpurposes.

Fibrographmeasurementsarebasedontheassumptionsthatafibreiscaughtonthecombin
proportiontoitslengthascomparedtotoallengthofallfibresinthesampleandthatthepointof
catchforafibreisatrandomalongitslength.

FIBREFINENESS:
Fibrefinenessisanotherimportantqualitycharacteristicwhichplaysaprominentpartin
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determiningthespinningvalueofcottons.Ifthesamecountofyarnisspunfromtwovarietiesof
cotton,theyarnspunfromthevarietyhavingfinerfibreswillhavealargernumberoffibresinits
crosssectionandhenceitwillbemoreevenandstrongthanthatspunfromthesamplewithcoarser
fibres.

Finenessdenotesthesizeofthecrosssectiondimensionsofthefibre.ASthecrosssectional
featuresofcottonfibresareirregular,directdeterminationoftheareaofcroosectionisdifficultand
laborious.TheIndexoffinenesswhichismorecommonlyusedisthelineardensityorweightper
unitlengthofthefibre.Theunitinwhichthisquantityisexpressedvariesindifferentpartsofthe
world.Thecommonunitusedbymanycountriesforcottonismicrogrammesperinchandthe
variousairflowinstrumentsdevelopedformeasuringfibrefinenessarecalibratedinthisunit.

Followingaresomemethodsofdeterminingfibrefineness.

gravimetricordimensionalmeasurements
airflowmethod
vibratingstringmethod

Someoftheabovemethodsareapplicabletosinglefibreswhilethemajorityofthemdealwitha
massoffibres.Asthereisconsiderablevariationinthelineardensityfromfibretofibre,even
amongstfibresofthesameseed,singlefibremethodsaretimeconsumingandlaboriousasalarge
numberoffibreshavetobetestedtogetafairlyreliableaveragevalue.

Itshouldbepointedoutherethatmostofthefinenessdeterminationsarelikelytobeaffectedby
fibrematurity,whichisananotherimportantcharacteristicofcottonfibres.

AIRFLOWMETHOD(MICRONAIREINSTRUMENT):
Theresistanceofferedtotheflowofairthroughaplugoffibresisdpendentuponthespecific
surfaceareaofthefibres.FinenesstesterhavebeenevolvedonthisprinciplefordetermininG
finenessofcotton.Thespecificsurfaceareawhichdeterminestheflowofairthroughacottonplug,
isdependentnotonlyuponthelineardensityofthefibresinthesamplebutalsoupontheir
maturity.Hencethemicronairereadingshavetobetreatedwithcautionparticularlywhentesting
samplesvaryingwidelyinmaturity.

Inthemicronaireinstrument,aweighedquantityof3.24gmsofwellopenedcottonsampleis
compressedintoacylindricalcontaineroffixeddimensions.Compressedairisforcedthroughthe
sample,atadefinitepressureandthevolumerateofflowofairismeasuredbyarotometertype
flowmeter.ThesampleforMicronairetestshouldbewellopenedcleanedandthoroughlymixed(by
handfluffingandopeningmethod).Outofthevariousairflowinstruments,theMicronaireis
robustinconstruction,easytooperateandpresentslittledifficultyasregardsitsmaintenance.

FIBREMATURITY:
Fibrematurityisanotherimportantcharacteristicofcottonandisanindexoftheextentof
developmentofthefibres.Asisthecasewithotherfibreproperties,thematurityofcottonfibres
variesnotonlybetweenfibresofdifferentsamplesbutalsobetweenfibresofthesameseed.The
causesforthedifferencesobservedinmaturity,isduetovariationsinthedegreeofthesecondary
thickeningordepositionofcelluloseinafibre.
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Acottonfibreconsistsofacuticle,aprimarylayerandsecondarylayersofcellulosesurrounding
thelumenorcentralcanal.Inthecaseofmaturefibres,thesecondarythickeningisveryhigh,and
insomecases,thelumenisnotvisible.Inthecaseofimmaturefibres,duetosomephysiological
causes,thesecondarydepositionofcellulosehasnottakensufficientlyandinextremecasesthe
secondarythickeningispracticallyabsent,leavingawidelumenthroughoutthefibre.Hencetoa
cottonbreeder,thepresenceofexcessiveimmature
fibresinasamplewouldindicatesomedefectintheplantgrowth.Toatechnologist,thepresenceof
excessivepercentageofimmaturefibresinasampleisundesirableasthiscausesexcessivewaste
lossesinprocessingloweringoftheyarnappearancegradeduetoformationofneps,uneven
dyeing,etc.

Animmaturefibrewillshowalowerweightperunitlengththanamaturefibreofthesamecotton,
astheformerwillhavelessdepositionofcelluloseinsidethefibre.Thisanalogycanbeextendedin
somecasestofibresbelongingtodifferentsamplesofcottonalso.Henceitisessentialtomeasure
thematurityofacottonsampleinadditiontodeterminingitsfineness,tocheckwhetherthe
observedfinenessisaninherentcharacteristicorisaresultofthematurity.
DIFFERENTMETHODSOFTESTINGMATURITY:
MATURITYRATIO:
Thefibresafterbeingswollenwith18%causticsodaareexaminedunderthemicroscopewith
suitablemagnification.Thefibresareclassifiedintodifferentmaturitygroupsdependinguponthe
relativedimensionsofwallthicknessandlumen.Howevertheproceduresfollowedindifferent
countriesforsamplingandclassificationdifferincertainrespects.Theswollenfibresareclassed
intothreegroupsasfollows

1.Normal:rodlikefibreswithnoconvolutionandnocontinuouslumenareclassedas"normal"
2.Dead:convolutedfibreswithwallthicknessonefifthorlessofthemaximumribbonwidth
areclassedas"Dead"
3.Thinwalled:Theintermediateonesareclassedas"thinwalled"

Acombinedindexknownasmaturityratioisusedtoexpresstheresults.

Maturityratio=((NormalDead)/200)+0.70
where,
N%geofNormalfibres
D%geofDeadfibres

MATURITYCOEFFICIENT:
Around100fibresfromBaersortercombsarespreadacrosstheglassslide(maturityslide)andthe
overlappingfibresareagainseparatedwiththehelpofateasingneedle.Thefreeendsofthefibres
arethenheldintheclamponthesecondstripofthematurityslidewhichisadjustabletokeepthe
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fibresstretchedtothedesiredextent.Thefibresarethenirrigatedwith18%causticsodasolution
andcoveredwithasuitableslip.Theslideisthenplacedonthemicroscopeandexamined.Fibres
areclassedintothefollowingthreecategories

1.Mature:(Lumenwidth"L")/(wallthickness"W")islessthan1
2.Halfmature:(Lumenwidth"L")/(wallthickness"W")islessthan2andmorethan1
3.Immature:(Lumenwidth"L")/(wallthickness"W")ismorethan2

Aboutfourtoeightslidesarepreparedfromeachsampleandexamined.Theresultsarepresentedas
percentageofmature,halfmatureandimmaturefibresinasample.Theresultsarealsoexpressed
intermsof"MaturityCoefficient"

MaturityCoefficient=(M+0.6H+0.4I)/100Where,

MispercentageofMaturefibres
HispercentageofHalfmaturefibres
IispercentageofImmaturefibres

Ifmaturitycoefficientis

lessthan0.7,itiscalledasimmaturecotton
between0.7to0.9,itiscalledasmediummaturecotton
above0.9,itiscalledasmaturecotton

AIRFLOWMETHODFORMEASURINGMATURITY:

ThereareothertechniquesformeasuringmaturityusingMicronaireinstrument.Asthefineness
valuedeterminedbytheMicronaireisdependentbothontheintrinsicfineness(perimeterofthe
fibre)andthematurity,itmaybeassumedthatiftheintrinsicfinenessisconstantthenthe
Micronairevalueisameasureofthematurity

DYEINGMETHODS:
Matureandimmaturefibersdifferintheirbehaviourtowardsvariousdyes.Certaindyesare
preferentiallytakenupbythematurefibreswhilesomedyesarepreferentiallyabsorbedbythe
immaturefibres.Basedonthisobservation,adifferentialdyeingtechniquewasdevelopedinthe
UnitedStatesofAmericaforestimatingthematurityofcotton.Inthistechnique,thesampleisdyed
inabathcontainingamixtureoftwodyes,namelyDiphenylFastRed5BLandChlorantineFast
GreenBLL.Thematurefibrestakeupthereddyepreferentially,whilethethinwalledimmature
fibrestakeupthegreendye.Anestimateoftheaverageofthesamplecanbevisuallyassessedby
theamountofredandgreenfibres.

FIBRESTRENGTH:
Thedifferentmeasuresavailableforreportingfibrestrengthare

1.breakingstrength
2.tensilestrengthand
3.tenacityorintrinsicstrength

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Coarsecottonsgenerallygivehighervaluesforfibrestrengththanfinerones.Inorder,tocompare
strengthoftwocottonsdifferinginfineness,itisnecessarytoeliminatetheeffectofthedifference
incrosssectionalareabydividingtheobservedfibrestrengthbythefibreweightperunitlength.
Thevaluesoobtainedisknownas"INTRINSICSTRENGTHorTENACITY".Tenacityisfoundto
bebetterrelatedtospinningthanthebreakingstrength.

Thestrengthcharacteristicscanbedeterminedeitheronindividualfibresoronbundleoffibres.

SINGLEFIBRESTRENGTH:
Thetenacityoffibreisdependentuponthefollowingfactors

chainlengthofmoleculesinthefibreorientationofmoleculessizeofthecrystallites
distributionofthecrystallitesgaugelengthusedtherateofloadingtypeofinstrumentused
andatmosphericconditions

Themeansinglefibrestrengthdeterminedisexpressedinunitsof"grams/tex".Asitisseen
thetheunitfortenacityhasthedimensionoflengthonly,andhencethispropertyisalso
expressedasthe"BREAKINGLENGTH",whichcanbeconsideredasthelengthofthe
specimenequivalentinweighttothebreakingload.Sincetexisthemassingramsofone
kilometerofthespecimen,thetenacityvaluesexpressedingrams/texwillcorrespondtothe
breakinglengthinkilometers.

BUNDLEFIBRESTRENGTH:
Inpractice,fibresarenotusedindividuallybutingroups,suchasinyarnsorfabrics.Thus,
bundlesorgroupsoffibrescomeintoplayduringthetensilebreakofyarnsorfabrics.
Further,thecorrelationbetweenspinningperformanceandbundlestrengthisatleastashighas
thatbetweenspinningperformanceandintrinsicstrengthdeterminedbytestingindividual
fibres.Thetestingofbundlesoffibrestakeslesstimeandinvolveslessstrainthantesting
individualfibres.Inviewoftheseconsiderations,determinationofbreakingstrengthoffibre
bundleshasassumedgreaterimportancethansinglefibrestrengthtests.

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