Analyzing the Effect of Spinning Process Variables on Draw Frame Blended Cotton Mélange Yarn Quality

Abstract

An investigation has been made to study the effect of important spinning process variables namely shade depth, ring frame spindle speed and yarn twist multiplier (TM) on various yarn quality parameters like unevenness, strength, imperfection, elongation at break and hairiness index of draw frame blended cotton mélange yarn. Three factors Box and Behnken design of experiment has been used to conduct the study. The quadratic regression model is used to device 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. Analysis of the results show that yarn strength of draw frame blended cotton mélange yarn is significantly affected by shade depth and TM. Yarn unevenness is affected by shade depth and ring frame spindle speed. Yarn imperfection level is mainly influenced by the shade depth and spindle speed. The shade depth and yarn TM have shown significant impact on yarn hairiness index.

Full text

ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION
Analyzing the Effect of Spinning Process Variables on Draw
Frame Blended Cotton Me
´lange Yarn Quality
Suchibrata Ray
1
•Anindya Ghosh
2
•Debamalya Banerjee
3
Received: 6 July 2017 / Accepted: 9 November 2017
ÓThe Institution of Engineers (India) 2017
Abstract An investigation has been made to study the
effect of important spinning process variables namely
shade depth, ring frame spindle speed and yarn twist
multiplier (TM) on various yarn quality parameters like
unevenness, strength, imperfection, elongation at break and
hairiness index of draw frame blended cotton me
´lange
yarn. Three factors Box and Behnken design of experiment
has been used to conduct the study. The quadratic regres-
sion model is used to device 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.
Analysis of the results show that yarn strength of draw
frame blended cotton me
´lange yarn is significantly affected
by shade depth and TM. Yarn unevenness is affected by
shade depth and ring frame spindle speed. Yarn imper-
fection level is mainly influenced by the shade depth and
spindle speed. The shade depth and yarn TM have shown
significant impact on yarn hairiness index.
Keywords Cotton me
´lange yarn Draw frame blending 
Spinning speed Twist multiplier 
Box and Behnken design Imperfections Shade depth
Introduction
Off late various types of fancy yarns are being manu-
factured by textile industry using different techniques. The
market share of fancy yarn over conventional yarn is
increasing day by day. Some decorative discontinuity or
interruption in either yarn structure or colour or both are
introduced deliberately with the intention of producing an
enhanced aesthetic effect, are known as fancy yarns. Gong
and Wright [1] mentioned that the fancy yarns are the big
classification of yarns that are being used as those having
something special than conventional yarn. Among fancy
yarns, the fiber dyed me
´lange yarn is known for its
attractive colour and textured appearance. Me
´lange yarn is
a type of spun yarn made from two or more fibers groups
with different colours. Firstly, the fibers are dyed and then
blended with other grey fibers to spin me
´lange yarn, thus
it is reversing the process of the traditional yarn forma-
tion. Mixing of fibers with different colours could be done
either in blow room at the beginning of the spinning
preparation or by feeding coloured sliver and grey sliver
to the draw frame. Depending upon the stage of mixing,
me
´lange yarn is classified as either blow room blended or
draw frame blended me
´lange yarns. Behera et al. [2]
found that the me
´lange yarn properties are significantly
influenced by blending methods and blending stages. Koo
et al. [3] pointed out that the fiber damage during dyeing
process degrades the physical properties of the speciality
yarn. During fiber dyeing process cotton fibers entangle at
a greater extent and hence subsequent intense mechanical
&Suchibrata Ray
raysuchi@yahoo.co.in
Anindya Ghosh
anindya.textile@gmail.com
Debamalya Banerjee
debamalya_banerjee@rediffmail.com
1
Government College of Engineering and Textile Technology,
Serampore 712201, West Bengal, India
2
Government College of Engineering and Textile Technology,
Berhampore 742101, West Bengal, India
3
Department of Production Engineering, Jadavpur University,
Kolkata 700032, India
123
J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. E
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40034-017-0109-9

process involved during yarn manufacturing leads to more
fiber damage, thereby making the me
´lange yarn manu-
facturing process more difficult [4,5]. An investigation
made by Selvan and Raghunathan [6] confirmed that there
is a reduction in strength and length of fibers after dyeing,
drying, opening and carding stages of me
´lange yarn
manufacturing. Ishtiaque and Das [7] observed that each
stages of mechanical processing consistently deteriorate
the dyed fiber length and related parameters at rotor
spinning process. Memon et al. [8] noted that optimization
of cotton fiber dyeing parameters is important for better
me
´lange yarn quality. Zou [9] studied the effect of pro-
cess variables on the properties of air vortex spun me
´l-
ange yarn made from viscose fibers and observed that the
vortex me
´lange yarn quality is largely affected by yarn
delivery speed, yarn count and nozzle pressure. Regar
et al. [10] reported that the compact me
´lange yarn
exhibited better mass uniformity, strength and elongation,
less hairiness and coefficient of friction compared to
conventional ring spun cotton me
´lange yarn. Karim et al.
[11] made a comparison of properties of ring spun and
rotor spun cotton me
´lange yarns and observed less loss of
mechanical properties of ring spun me
´lange yarn than that
of rotor spun me
´lange yarn.
A survey of literature reveals that there is hardly any
report on the process parameters optimization of cotton
me
´lange yarn manufacturing. Even no study has been
reported on the effect of individual and interactive factors
encompassing raw material and spinning process parameters
on the draw frame blended me
´lange yarn qualities. There-
fore, this study is undertaken to analyze the effect of raw
material (dyed fiber % in the mixing), spinning process
variable (yarn twist multiplier) and productivity (spindle rpm
of ring frame) on the properties of draw frame blended cotton
me
´lange yarn using Box and Behnken design of experiment.
Experimental
Materials and Yarn Samples Preparation
Grey and black dyed combed Sankar 6 cotton fibers have
been used to produce 20’s Ne me
´lange yarns. Figure 1
illustrates the process flow chart for dyed fiber preparation.
At first, Mixing Bale Opener was used for opening of 100%
dyed cotton fibers. Water with antistatic oil was sprayed
over opened dyed cotton fiber during layering at mixing
bin. Then the mixing was conditioned for 24 h before
processing through blow room and carding. Subsequently,
the carded sliver was processed at draw frame to produce
levelled 100% dyed sliver.
The process flow chart for grey fiber preparation is
shown in Fig. 2. The grey cotton bales were layered under
bale plucker and processed through blow room, card and
comber. The combed grey sliver was then drawn through
the draw frame to produce levelled grey sliver.
The blending of dyed and grey slivers was done at
blending draw frame. The blended slivers were then pro-
cessed through the breaker draw frame, finisher draw
frame, speed frame and ring frame to produce ‘draw frame
blended me
´lange yarn’. Figure 3schematically represents
the blending of dyed and grey slivers at blending draw
frame and flow chart of the subsequent processes for pro-
ducing me
´lange yarn of 40% shade depth. The dyed sliver
count and grey sliver count were determined as per
required shade %. In case of me
´lange yarn production, the
percentage of dyed fiber in the mixture is commonly ter-
med as shade percentage or shade depth (%). As an
example, if a yarn is to be produced with 60% grey cotton
fiber and 40% dyed cotton fiber then the shade depth for
that yarn is 40%.
Three controlled factors, namely shade depth (%), ring
frame spindle speed (rpm) and twist multiplier (TM) were
chosen and three levels were selected for each factor.
Conventional ring spinning system was used to prepare
yarn samples according to the experimental plan of
Box and Behnken [12] design of experiment as shown in
Table 1. The controlled factors X
1
,X
2
and X
3
correspond to
shade depth (%), spindle speed (rpm) and twist multiplier
(TM) respectively. The total number of yarn samples
produced was 15. The actual values of the controlled fac-
tors corresponding to their coded levels are shown in
Table 2.
Fig. 1 The process flow
chart for dyed fiber preparation
J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. E
123

Testing
All the fiber and yarn samples were kept in standard
atmospheric condition for 24 h before testing. The grey
combed fiber, dyed combed fiber and dyed fibers after
processing through carding were subjected to testing for
their length and strength parameters in HVI 900 and Bare
Sorter instruments. The yarn samples were evaluated for
yarn unevenness (U %), imperfections (IPI), hairiness
index (HI), strength (RKM) and breaking elongation (%).
Capacitance based evenness tester USTER 4 was used to
examine yarn U %, IPI and HI. The yarn withdrawal
speed and testing time were maintained at 400 m/min and
1 min respectively for testing. For each of 15 yarn types,
10 readings were taken for measuring the average U %,
IPI and HI. The tensile properties of yarns were tested by
Uster Tensojet using the specimen test length of 500 mm,
extension rate of 400 m/min and pre-tension of 0.5
cN/tex. Average yarn strength and breaking elongation
Fig. 2 The process flow
chart for grey fiber preparation
Arrangement of dyed and grey slivers at blending draw frame
Levelled Dyed
Sliver (100%) of
4.92 Ktex
Combed grey
coon sliver of
4.43 Ktex
Blending Draw Frame
3 ends dyed + 5 ends grey
Breaker Draw
Frame
Finisher Draw
Frame
Ring Frame
Speed Frame
Fig. 3 The blending of dyed
and grey sliver at blending draw
frame and flow chart of the
subsequent processes
Table 1 Experimental plan for preparation of draw frame blended
me
´lange yarn samples
Combination
no.
Shade depth
(%)
Spindle speed
(rpm)
Yarn TM
(TPI/Ne
0.5
)
1-1-10
21-10
3-11 0
4110
5-10-1
610-1
7-10 1
8101
90-1-1
10 0 1 -1
11 0 -11
12 0 1 1
13 0 0 0
14 0 0 0
15 0 0 0
Table 2 Actual values corresponding to coded levels
Coded
level
Actual value
Shade depth
(%) (X
1
)
Spindle speed
(rpm) (X
2
)
Yarn TM
(TPI/Ne
0.5
)
(X
3
)
-1 10 12,500 3.5
0 40 13,500 3.7
?1 70 14,500 3.9
J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. E
123

were estimated for each type of yarn sample based on
1000 tests.
Results and Discussion
The experimental values of yarn unevenness (U %),
strength (RKM), elongation at break (%), imperfections
(IPI) and hairiness index (HI) of draw frame blended
me
´lange yarn are tabulated in Table 3. The response sur-
face equations of the yarn quality parameters were derived
from the experimental data using MATLAB coding. The
estimated regression coefficients and p-values of model
terms for different response variables are shown in Table 4.
A negative sign of regression coefficient indicates that the
value of response variable decreases with the correspond-
ing increase of factor value and vice versa. If the pvalue of
the model term is less than 0.05 then that model term is
significant, indicating statistical significance at 95% con-
fidence level.
Table 5illustrates the fitted quadratic regression models
along with the coefficient of determination (R
2
), mean
accuracy of the fitted model, beta coefficient (b) and per-
centage contribution of the significant terms for different
yarn quality parameters. In the fitted models, only the
regression coefficients which are significant at the 95%
confidence level are taken into account. The coefficient of
determination is a measure of the proportion of variability
in the response variable that is explained by the model. The
beta coefficients are the estimates resulting from an anal-
ysis carried out on the variables that have been standard-
ized by subtracting their respective means and dividing by
their standard deviations. Standardization of the coeffi-
cients appraises the strength of independent variable for
Table 3 Results of draw fame blended me
´lange yarn (20’s Ne) properties
Combination no. Unevenness (U %) Strength (g/tex) Elongation at break (%) Imperfection per km (IPI) Hairiness index (HI)
1 8.30 19.80 4.37 27.50 4.08
2 9.47 17.02 4.35 60.30 5.31
3 8.26 21.20 4.80 29.80 4.17
4 9.42 17.92 4.42 56.00 4.96
5 8.21 20.81 5.10 28.10 4.04
6 9.26 17.86 5.01 52.80 5.16
7 8.50 19.87 4.55 31.50 4.12
8 9.57 17.38 4.70 67.00 5.21
9 8.96 17.72 4.34 36.50 4.60
10 9.16 19.37 4.44 37.00 4.24
11 9.57 18.68 4.25 47.60 4.39
12 9.49 19.13 4.13 49.80 4.23
13 9.35 18.08 4.08 44.00 4.31
14 9.21 18.82 4.35 43.00 4.35
15 9.36 18.60 4.34 52.30 4.36
Table 4 Estimated regression coefficients (Coeff) and p-values of model term for different response variables
Model term Unevenness (U %) Yarn strength (g/tex) Elongation at break (%) Imperfection (IPI) Hairiness index (HI)
Coeff pvalue Coeff pvalue Coeff pvalue Coeff pvalue Coeff pvalue
Constant 9.306 0.000 18.500 0.000 4.256 0.000 46.433 0.000 4.340 0.000
X
1
0.556 0.00001 -1.437 0.0002 -0.042 0.495 14.900 0.00006 0.528 0.000
X
2
0.192 0.001 -0.087 0.587 -0.157 0.041 5.187 0.008 -0.011 0.696
X
3
0.003 0.909 0.550 0.015 0.060 0.346 0.087 0.945 -0.097 0.016
X
1
2
0.005 0.914 0.115 0.613 0.060 0.495 2.700 0.179 -0.007 0.853
X
2
2
-0.002 0.957 -0.125 0.584 -0.090 0.321 -1.650 0.384 -0.110 0.035
X
3
2
-0.070 0.176 -0.300 0.219 -0.055 0.531 0.425 0.816 0.050 0.251
X
1
X
2
-0.427 0.0002 0.370 0.157 0.389 0.006 -0.454 0.811 0.278 0.001
X
1
X
3
0.005 0.911 0.110 0.642 0.194 0.071 -1.129 0.558 0.014 0.745
X
2
X
3
-0.017 0.727 0.115 0.627 -0.161 0.117 -2.579 0.212 0.011 0.790
J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. E
123

determining the response variable in the find models, when
the variables are measured in different units of measure-
ment. The percentage contribution of the i-th significant
controlled factor (C
i
) can be estimated from the following
equation:
Cið%Þ¼ bi
jj
P
k
i¼1
bi
jj
100 ð1Þ
where b
i
the beta coefficient of the i-th significant con-
trolled factor and kis the total number of significant con-
trolled factors.
It is evident from the Table 5that invariably for each
case higher value of R
2
and higher mean accuracy sub-
stantiate a good fit of response surface equations to the
experimental data. From the values of percentage contri-
bution shown in Table 5it is observed that shade depth is
most influencing factor among all the three factors for
me
´lange yarn quality parameters. This may be ascribed to
the fact that the percentage change in shade depth from the
lower to the upper level is 600% (from 10 to 70%),
whereas, that for spindle speed and TM are 16% (from
12,500 to 14,500 rpm) and 11.43% (from 3.5 to 3.9)
respectively.
Yarn Unevenness (U %)
The response surface equation of draw frame blended
me
´lange yarn unevenness is given in Table 5and Fig. 4
depicts the corresponding response surface and contour
diagram. It is apparent from the response surface equation
that the TM in range from 3.5 to 3.9, has no significant
influence on yarn unevenness. Basically yarn unevenness is
strongly dependent upon the drafting rather than twisting.
As twist is applied after the final drafting process in ring
frame, it has no significant influence on the yarn uneven-
ness. It can be observed from Fig. 4that yarn unevenness
increases with the increase of shade depth. The change in
surface characteristics of dyed cotton fiber leads to more
fiber entanglement and higher fiber to fiber friction causing
processing difficulties of dyed cotton in spinning. The
problem is more intensified while the amount of dyed fiber
in the mixture increases. Opening difficulties while pro-
cessing more dyed fiber in the mixture lead to uneven
movement of fiber cluster in the drafting area. Cross sec-
tional mass variation occurs due to increased erratic
movement of fibers during drafting and eventually it results
into more yarn unevenness. It is also observed from Fig. 4
that there is only a slight increase of yarn unevenness with
the increase of spindle speed. More rubbing action of yarn
with the metallic part in the ring frame due to higher
spindle speed may cause a slight increase in yarn
unevenness. From the Table 5, it is noted that the contri-
bution of spindle speed for the range from 12,500 to 14,500
on yarn unevenness is only 18.19%, which is significantly
lower than that of shade depth. Hence, the influence of
spindle speed on yarn irregularity is much lower than the
shade depth.
Yarn Strength (g/tex)
Table 5shows the response surface equation of draw frame
blended cotton me
´lange yarn strength and the corre-
sponding response surface and contour diagram are illus-
trated in Fig. 5. It is evident from Fig. 5that yarn strength
Table 5 Response surface equation of various yarn quality parameters of me
´lange yarn
Yarn quality
parameters
Response surface equation R
2
Mean
accuracy
(%)
Beta coefficient of
significant terms
Percentage contribution of
significant terms (%)
Unevenness (U
%)
9.31 ?0.55X
1
?0.19X
2
-0.43X
1
2
0.98 99.42 b(X
1
)=0.84
b(X
2
)=0.29
b(X
1
2
)=-0.44
C(X
1
)=52.57
C(X
2
)=18.19
C(X
1
2
)=27.52
Strength
(g/tex)
18.5 -1.43X
1
?0.55X
3
0.90 97.81 b(X
1
)=-0.89
b(X
3
)=0.34
C(X
1
)=65.41
C(X
3
)=25.02
Elongation at
break (%)
4.25 -0.15X
2
?0.39X
1
2
0.61 96.52 b(X
2
)=-0.40
b(X
1
2
)=0.67
C(X
2
)=22.68
C(X
1
2
)=38.04
Imperfection
(IPI)
46.43 ?14.9X
1
?5.18X
2
0.94 91.81 b(X
1
)=0.92
b(X
2
)=0.32
C(X
1
)=69.67
C(X
2
)=24.26
Hairiness index
(HI)
4.34 ?0.52X
1
-0.09X
3
-0.11X
1
X
3
?0.27X
1
2
0.98 99.15 b(X
1
)=0.91
b(X
3
)=-0.17
b(X
1
X
3
)=-0.13
b(X
1
2
)=0.33
C(X
1
)=58.27
C(X
3
)=10.74
C(X
1
X
3
)=8.57
C(X
1
2
)=20.85
J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. E
123

reduces with the increase of shade depth (%) which may be
ascribed to the higher proportion of weak dyed cotton fiber
content in the yarn cross section. Chemical processing
causes strength loss of cellulosic cotton fiber and that drop
in dyed fiber strength is reflected into yarn strength. In
addition to that, mechanical processing causes more dam-
age to dyed cotton fiber resulting more short fiber gener-
ation. Shorter length fiber contributes less towards the yarn
strength. Table 6depicts the HVI and Bare Sorter results of
fiber strength and length parameters of combed grey fiber,
combed dyed fiber and dyed fiber after processing through
blow room and carding. It is clearly evident from Table 6
that dyeing of cotton fiber causes 37.3% loss of fiber
bundle strength. Furthermore, the processing of dyed fiber
in the blow room and card causes around 20% reduction of
fiber bundle strength. It is also observed from the Bare
Sorter analysis of Table 6that there is an increase of 36.2%
short fiber content (by number) after processing of dyed
fiber in the blow room and card. It is also apparent form
Fig. 5that yarn strength increases with the TM in the
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
8
8.5
9
9.5
10
Shade depth (% )
Spindle rpm
U(%)
8.52 8.71
8.9 9.1 9. 29
9.49
9.49
Shade depth (% )
Spindle rpm
-1 -0.8 -0.6 -0.4 -0. 2 00.2 0.4 0.6 0. 8 1
-1
-0.8
-0.6
-0.4
-0.2
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
(a) (b)
Fig. 4 Response surface and contour plot of yarn unevenness as a function of shade depth and spindle rpm. aResponse surface plot, bcontour
plot
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
16
17
18
19
20
21
Shade depth (% )
TM ( TPI / N e
0.5
)
Yarn strength (g/tex)
1
7
17.4
17.8
18.3
18.7
19.2
19.6
20
Shade depth (% )
TM ( TPI / Ne
0.5
)
-1 -0.8 -0.6 -0. 4 -0.2 00.2 0. 4 0.6 0. 8 1
-1
-0.8
-0.6
-0.4
-0.2
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
(a) (b)
Fig. 5 Response surface and contour plot of yarn strength as a function of shade depth and TM (TPI/Ne
0.5
). aResponse surface plot, bcontour
plot
J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. E
123

present experimental set up. Fiber-to-fiber cohesion
increases by increased surface contact with increase of
twist and thereby augmenting the yarn strength. Table 5
shows that the contributions of shade depth and TM on
yarn strength are 65.41 and 25.02% respectively. No sig-
nificant impact of spindle speed on yarn strength is
observed within the present experimental set up.
Yarn Elongation at Break (%)
The response surface equation for yarn elongation at break
is given in Table 5. Figure 6illustrates the effect of shade
depth and spindle speed on yarn elongation at break for
draw frame blended me
´lange yarn. From the Table 5and
Fig. 6it is observed that yarn elongation at break decreases
with the increase of spindle speed. It is obvious that at
higher spindle speed twisting phenomenon occurs at higher
spinning tension which causes more straightening of fibers
while they are emerging out from the front roller nip and
resulting in a reduction in yarn breaking elongation. It is
also observed from the Fig. 6that the yarn elongation at
break varies within a narrow range with the change of
shade depth. In this study the yarn elongation has not been
affected by TM within the experimental set up. This may
be ascribed to the more number of draw frame passages
used to produce the draw frame blended me
´lange yarn.
More number of draw frame passages enables better fiber
straightening which leads to lower yarn elongation. Thus
the reduction in yarn elongation due to fiber straightening
is balanced by the possible improvement in yarn elongation
due to increase of yarn twist.
Yarn Imperfection (IPI)
Response surface equation of me
´lange yarn IPI is shown in
Table 5. Figure 7illustrates the effect of shade depth and
spindle speed on yarn IPI. It is manifested from the Fig. 7
that the yarn IPI increases with the increase of shade depth
and spindle speed. Opening and processing difficulties
associated with me
´lange yarn manufacturing causes more
dyed fiber damage and resulting reduction in effective
length of fibers. When the dyed sliver containing more
Table 6 Fiber quality parameters
Material HVI test results Bare sorter analysis
Length (mm) Bundle strength (g/tex) Short fibre index (SFI) Effective length (mm) Short fiber content (%)
Grey combed fiber 27.59 32.6 6.6 33 10.32
Dyed combed fiber 27.47 20.43 6.7 33 10.73
Carded dyed fiber 26.71 16.37 8.5 32 14.62
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
4
4.2
4.4
4.6
4.8
5
Shade depth (% )
Spindle rpm
Elongati on (%)
4.18
4.26
4.33
4.41
4.49
4.49
4.57
4.57
4.65
4.65
4.73
4.7
3
Shade depth (% )
Spindle rpm
-1 -0.8 -0.6 -0 .4 -0.2 00. 2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
-1
-0.8
-0.6
-0.4
-0.2
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
(a) (b)
Fig. 6 Response surface and contour plot of yarn elongation at break as a function of shade depth and spindle rpm. aResponse surface plot,
bcontour plot
J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. E
123

short fiber due to fiber damage blended with grey combed
sliver at draw frame, it may cause higher drafting wave
resulting more thick and thin places in the yarn. In addition
to that the opening difficulties of dyed cotton fiber at blow
room and carding causes more fiber entanglement, which in
turn generates higher number of fibrous neps in the yarn.
As the spindle speed increases the rubbing action between
yarn surface and thread guide, balloon control ring and ring
traveller is more. Due to increased rubbing longer pro-
truding fibers of the yarn surface get rolled up and gener-
ates neps and thick places. This leads to more yarn IPI at
higher spindle speed. From Table 5, it is evident that the
contributions of shade depth and spindle speed on yarn
imperfection are 69.67 and 24.26% respectively. Yarn TM
was found to have no significant influence on the yarn IPI.
Yarn Hairiness Index (HI)
Table 5shows the response surface equation of me
´lange
yarn hairiness. Figure 8depicts the influence of shade
depth and yarn TM on yarn HI. It is observed that yarn HI
increases significantly with the increase of shade depth. It
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
20
30
40
50
60
70
Shade depth (% )
Spindle rpm
IPI
32.1
37.8
43.6
49.3
55
60.8
Shade depth (% )
Spindle rpm
-1 -0.8 -0. 6 -0. 4 -0.2 00.2 0.4 0. 6 0.8 1
-1
-0.8
-0.6
-0.4
-0.2
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
(a) (b)
Fig. 7 Response surface and contour plot of yarn IPI as a function of shade depth and spindle rpm. aResponse surface plot, bcontour plot
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
4
4.5
5
5.5
Shade depth (% )
TM ( TPI / N e
0.5
)
Hairiness Index
5.21
5.07
4.93
4.79
4.65
4.5
4.36
4.22
Shade depth (% )
TM ( TPI / Ne
0.5 )
-1 -0.8 -0.6 -0.4 -0.2 00.2 0.4 0.6 0. 8 1
-1
-0.8
-0.6
-0.4
-0.2
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
(a) (b)
Fig. 8 Response surface and contour plot of yarn hairiness index as a function of shade depth and TM (TPI/Ne
0.5
). aResponse surface plot,
bcontour plot
J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. E
123

is obvious from the Table 6that the opening difficulty of
dyed fiber during mechanical processing at blow room and
card causes more fiber damage and high short fiber gen-
eration. The higher short fibers content increases the
number of protruding fibers in the yarn surface. Hence,
yarn HI increases as the shade becomes darker. From the
Fig. 8it is also observed that the yarn HI reduces with the
increase of yarn TM. Higher level of twist improves the
binding of fibers in the yarn body which curbs the presence
of protruding fiber in the yarn surface and thereby yarn HI
reduces. In the present experimental set up the spindle
speed has no significant effect on yarn HI, which may be
explained in the following lines. At higher spindle speed
due to intense rubbing action, the longer hairs of weak
dyed fiber either get entangled and become fibrous neps or
get broken and cause higher fluff generation in ring frame
section. Therefore, an increase in small hairs due to rub-
bing action is compensated by reduction in long hairs. Also
this phenomenon may be a reason for higher fluff genera-
tion in ring frame section while manufacturing cotton
me
´lange yarn compared to conventional grey yarn.
Conclusion
The simultaneous effects of raw material (dyed fiber %),
spinning process parameter (yarn TM) and productivity
(spindle rpm of ring frame) on the properties of draw frame
blended me
´lange yarn have been analyzed in this work.
The shade depth is the most influential parameter over the
others affecting me
´lange yarn quality. Yarn unevenness,
imperfection and elongation at break are significantly
affected by shade depth and spindle speed, whereas, yarn
strength and hairiness index are significantly affected by
shade depth and TM. Higher shade depth is responsible for
higher yarn unevenness, imperfection, hairiness and lower
yarn strength. Higher spindle speed is also responsible for
deterioration of me
´lange yarn quality. The change in sur-
face characteristics and drop in strength of cotton fibers
after dyeing make the productivity level a limiting factor in
achieving better me
´lange yarn quality, especially for darker
shades. Although higher yarn TM makes the productivity
level a limiting factor, but it helps in achieving better
me
´lange yarn quality in terms of its strength and hairiness
index.
References
1. R.H. Gong, R.M. Wright, Fancy yarns-their manufacture and
application (Woodhead Publishing Ltd, Cambridge, 2002)
2. B.K. Behera, P.K. Hari, S. Bansal, R. Singh, Effect of different
blending methods and blending stages on properties of me
´lange
yarn. Indian J. Fiber Text. Res. 22(6), 84–88 (1997)
3. J.-G. Koo, J.-W. Park, S.-K. An, Properties of speciality yarns
based on raw and dyed cotton. Text. Res. J. 73, 26–30 (2003)
4. H.S. Hanumanth Naik, P.N. Bhat, Production of Me
´lange yarns—
a review. Manmade Text. India 51(5), 161–165 (2008)
5. A.R. Moghassem, Damaging of dyed cotton fibers with direct dye
in spinning processes and its effect on the properties of cotton
me
´lange yarn. Int. J. Eng. Trans. B Appl. 20(2), 203–210 (2007)
6. M.T. Selvan, K. Raghunathan, Effect of preparatory process on
quality of fibers in me
´lange yarn production. Indian J. Fiber Text.
Res. 29(12), 477–479 (2004)
7. S.M. Ishtiaque, A. Das, Characterization of grey and dyed cotton
fibers as well as waste at different stages of rotor spinning pro-
cess. Indian J. Fiber Text. Res. 28(3), 65–70 (2003)
8. H. Memon, N. Ali Khoso, S. Memon, Effect of dyeing parameters
on physical properties of fibers and yarns. Int. J. Appl. Sci. Eng.
Res. 4(4), 401–407 (2015)
9. Z. Zou, Effect of process variables on properties of viscose vortex
coloured spun yarn. Indian J. Fiber Text. Res. 39(3), 296–302
(2014)
10. M.L. Regar, A.I. Amjad, N. Aikat, Studies on the properties of
ring and compact spun me
´lange yarn. Int. J. Adv. Res. Innovative
Ideas Educ. 3(2), 476–483 (2017)
11. S.K. Karim, A.A. Gharehaghaji, H. Tavanaie, A study of the
damage caused to dyed cotton fibers and its effects on the
properties of rotor and ring spun me
´lange yarns. Fibers Text.
East. Eur. 3(62), 63–67 (2007)
12. K. Adinarayana, P. Ellaiah, B. Srinivasulu, R. Bhavani Devi, G.
Adinarayana, Response surface methodological approach to
optimize the nutrional parameters for neomycin production by
streptomyces marinensis under solid-state fermentation. Process
Biochem. 38(11), 1565–1572 (2003)
J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. E
123