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ARS Home » Southeast Area » New Orleans, Louisiana » Southern Regional Research Center » Cotton Chemistry and Utilization Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #183704
Title: Objective Quantification of Yarn Abrasion: A New Concept in Size-Free Weaving

Author
item Sawhney, Amar
item SINGH, KUMAR - LOUISIANA STATE UNIV.
item HOSSAIN, I - Louisiana State University
item Sachinvala, Navzer
item PANG, S-S - Louisiana State University

Submitted to: International Conference on Composites Engineering Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/12/2005
Publication Date: 7/8/2005
Citation: Sawhney, A.P., Singh, K.V., Hossain, I., Sachinvala, N.D., Pang, S. 2005. Objective Quantification of Yarn Abrasion: A New Concept in Size-Free Weaving. International Conference on Composites Engineering Proceedings. 2p.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: About 80% of cotton produced worldwide is utilized by the weaving sector of textile manufacturing industry. Weaving involves two sets of yarns, namely a warp yarn in the longitudinal direction and a filling/weft yarn in the cross direction of the fabric. The warp yarns are always sized or coated with a suitable adhesive to improve their tensile strength and particularly abrasion resistance to endure the harsh mechanical actions of the weaving process and thus assist efficient weaving. However, fabrics woven with sized warps must be desized at the first opportunity to completely remove all of the size ingredients, in order to achieve satisfactory fabric bleaching, dyeing and/or any other finishing. Both warp sizing and fabric desizing are costly, complex, and environmentally sensitive. Obviously, the cotton textile industry wants to reduce or preferably eliminate warp sizing--the main underlying process or the “culprit.” To ultimately promote the value-added utilization of cotton commodity, the ARS-USDA has directed and funded the size-free weaving research in support of the textile industry. We have adopted the following three-prong research approach to eliminate warp sizing in modern weaving on high-speed machines: 1) improve yarn structure and quality to achieve consistent tensile properties and improved abrasion resistance. 2) Develop technology to prepare a warp/loom beam w/o the traditional sizing. 3) Modify weaving conditions, including loom components, to minimize warp yarn abrasion during weaving. Yarn abrasion continues to be the greatest challenge to successfully achieve size-free weaving. However, no objective method or even a concept of measuring or quantifying yarn abrasion is in the literature. We have explored a digital image processing technique (DIP) to analyze digital yarn images before and after limited abrasion or attrition for an objective assessment of the yarn damage due to its abrasion. Preliminary results show that DIP may be a viable technique to objectively assess and quantify yarn abrasion, especially for size-free weaving.