Analyzing the effect of spinning process variables on blow room blended cotton melange yarn quality

Abstract

Purpose The use and importance of mélange yarn in apparel sector is increasing day by day. With the gradual increase in market share, achieving the desired quality level of mélange yarn remains a challenge for yarn manufacturing industry. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of raw material (dyed fiber percentage in the mixing), important spinning process variable (yarn twist multiplier) and productivity (spindle rpm of ring frame) on properties of cotton mélange spun yarn. Design/methodology/approach Box and Behnken Design of experiment has been used to investigate the important yarn quality parameters like evenness, imperfection, hairiness, breaking strength and breaking elongation of blow room blended cotton mélange yarn. The quadratic regression model is used to derive the statistical inferences about sensitivity of the yarn quality parameters to the different process variables. The response surfaces are constructed for depicting the geometric representation of yarn quality parameters plotted as a function of process variables. Findings The study shows that shade depth and spindle speed have significant effects on the mélange yarn unevenness and imperfections. Mélange yarn strength and hairiness are significantly affected by shade depth and yarn twist multiplier (TM). Yarn elongation at break is only influenced by the spindle speed. A darker shade is responsible for higher yarn unevenness, imperfection, hairiness and lower yarn strength. A higher spindle speed is also liable for deterioration of yarn quality. Practical implications Many spinning industries are planning to convert their existing spindles from normal gray yarn production to mélange yarn manufacturing. The outcome of this study will lead to achieve better mélange yarn quality and productivity by the industry. Originality/value Research on mélange yarn is itself scant. This study is exclusively conducted to analyze the individual and interactive effect of various process parameters on the mélange yarn quality.