Yarn structure plays a key role in determining the yarn physical properties and the

performance characteristics of yarns and fabrics. The best way to study the internal structure
of the yarns is to examine the arrangement of single fibers in the yarn body, and analyze their
migration in crosswise and lengthwise fashions. This requires visual observation of the path
of a single fiber in the yarn. Since a fiber is relatively a small element some specific
techniques have to be utilized for its observation. In order to perform this task, two different
experimental techniques have been developed by previous researchers.

a. Tracer fiber technique: This technique involves immersing a yarn, which contains a very
small percentage of dyed fibers, in a liquid whose refractive index is the same as that of the
original undyed fibers. This causes the undyed fibers to almost disappear from view and
enables the observation of the path of a black dyed tracer fiber under a microscope. Dyed
fibers are added to the raw stock before spinning to act as tracers. This technique was
introduced by Morton and Yen [41].

b. Cross sectional method: In this method first the fibers in the yarn are locked in their
original position by means of a suitable embedding medium, then the yarn is cut into thin
sections, and these sections are studied under microscope. As in the tracer fiber technique, the
yarn consists of mostly undyed fibers and a small proportion of dyed fibers such that there is
no more than one dyed fiber in any yarn cross-section [1,38].

Fiber Migration

Fiber migration can be defined as the variation in fiber position within the yarn [61].
Migration and twist are two necessary components to generate strength and cohesion in spun
yarns. Twist increases the frictional forces between fibers and prevents fibers from slipping
over one another by creating radial forces directed toward the yarn interior while fiber
migration ensures that some parts of the all fibers were locked in the structure [18].

It was first recognized by Pierce [50] that there is a need for the interchange of the fiber
position inside a yarn since if a yarn consisted of a core fiber surrounded by coaxial
cylindrical layers of other fibers, each forming a perfect helix of constant radius, discrete
layers of the yarn could easily separate. Morton and Yen [41 ] discovered that the fibers
migrate among imaginary cylindrical zones in the yarn and named this phenomenon “fiber
migration.”

Mechanisms Causing Fiber Migration

Morton [42] proposed that one of the mechanisms which cause fiber migration is the tension
differences between fibers at different radial positions in a twisted yarn. During the twist
insertion, fibers are subjected to different tensions depending on their radial positions. Fibers
at the core will be under minimum tension due to shorter fiber path while fibers on the
surface will be exposed to the maximum tension. According to the principle of the minimum
energy of deformation, fibers lying near the yarn surface will try to migrate into inner zones
where the energy is lower. This will lead to a cyclic interchange of fiber position. Later
Hearle and Bose [19] gave another mechanism which causes migration. They suggested that
when the ribbon-like fiber bundle is turned into the
Apart from the theoretical work cited above, several experimental investigations have been
carried out during 1960’s to find out the possible factors affecting fiber migration. Results
showed that the fiber migration can be influenced mainly by three groups of factors:

q fiber related factors such as fiber type [1 1 ], fiber length, fiber fineness [47], fiber initial
modulus [ 10], fiber bending modulus and torsional rigidity [1];

q yarn related factors, such as yarn count and yarn twist [17]; and

q processing factors such as twisting tension [20,60], drafting system [1,60] and number of
doubling.

Methods for Assessing Fiber Migration

To study fiber migration Morton and Yen introduced the tracer fiber method. As explained in
the previous section, this method enables the observation of the path of a single tracer fiber
under a microscope. In order to draw the paths of the tracer fibers in the horizontal plane,
Morton and Yen made measurements at successive peaks and troughs of the tracer images.
Each peak and trough was in turn brought to register with the hairline of a micrometer
eyepiece and scale readings were taken at a, b, and c as seen in Figure 22. The yarn diameter
in scale units was given by c-a, while the offset of the

peak or trough, the fiber helix radii, was given by

The distance between

adjacent peaks and troughs was denoted by d. The overall extent of the tracer fiber was
obtained from the images, as well. Morton and Yen concluded that in one complete cycle of
migration, the fiber rarely crosses through all zones of the structure, from the surface of the
yarn to the core and back again, which was considered as ideal migration.
Later Morton [42] used the tracer fiber method to characterize the migration quantitatively by
means of a coefficient so called “the coefficient of migration.” He proposed that the intensity
of migration i.e., completeness of the migration, or otherwise, of any migratory traverse could
be evaluated by the change in helix radius between successive inflections of the helix
envelope expressed as the fraction of yarn radius. For example intensity of migration in
Figure 23 from A to B was stated as

where rA and rB are helix radius at A and B, respectively and R is yarn radius.

In order to express the intensity of migration for a whole fiber, Morton used the coefficient of
migration, which is the ratio of actual migration amplitude to the ideal case. The coefficient
of migration was given by
Merchant [ 1 ] modified the helix envelope by expressing the radial position in terms of (r /
R) in order avoid any effects due to the irregularities in yarn diameter. The plot of (r / R)
along the yarn axis gives a cylindrical envelope of varying radius around which the fiber
follows a helical path. This plot is called a helix envelope profile. Expression of the radial
position in terms of (r / R) involves the division of yarn cross sections into zones of equal
radial spacing, which means fibers present longer lengths in the outer zones. Hearle et al. [18]
suggested that it is more convenient to divide the yarn cross sections into zones of equal area
so that the fibers are equally distributed between all zones. This was achieved by expressing
the radial position in terms of (r / R)2, and the plot of (r / R)2 against the length along the yarn
is called a corrected helix envelope profile which presents a linear envelope for the ideal
migration if the fiber packing density is uniform (Figure 24). The corrected helix envelope
profile is much easier to manage analytically.

In 1964 Riding [52] worked on filament yarns, and expanded the tracer fiber technique by
observing the fiber from two directions at right angles by placing a plane mirror near the yarn
in the liquid with the plane of the mirror at 45° to the direction of observation. The radial
position of the tracer fiber along the yarn was calculated by the following equation:
where x and y are the distances of the fiber from the yarn axis by the x and y coordinates; and
dx and dy are the corresponding diameter measurements.

Riding also argued that it is unlikely that any single parameter, such as the coefficient of
migration will completely characterize the migration behavior due to its statistical nature. He
analyzed the migration patterns using the correlogram, or Auto-correlation Function and
suggested that this analysis gives an overall statistical picture of the migration. Riding
calculated the auto-correlation coefficient, rs from a series of

values of r / R for a separation of s intervals and obtained the correlogram for each
experiment by plotting rs against s. Later a detailed theoretical study by Hearle and

Goswami [22] showed that the correlogram method should be used with caution because it
tends to pick up only the regular migration.

Hearle and his co-researchers worked on a comprehensive theoretical and experimental

analysis of fiber migration in the mid 1960’s [18,19,20,21,22]. In Part I of the series Hearle,
Gupta and Merchant [18] came up with four parameters using an analogy with the method of
describing an electric current to characterize the migration behaviors of fibers.

These parameters are:

i. the mean fiber position, which is the overall tendency of a fiber to be near the yarn surface
or the yarn center.

ii. r.m.s deviation, which is the degree of the deviation from the mean fiber position

iii. mean migration intensity, which is the rate of change in radial position of a fiber.

iv. equivalent migration frequency, which is the value of migration frequency when an ideal
migration cycle is formed from the calculated values of I and D.
r is the current radial position of the fiber with respect to the yarn axis;

R is the yarn radius;

n is the number of the observations; and

Zn is the length of the yarn under consideration

By expressing the migration behavior in terms of these parameters, Hearle et al. replaced an
actual migration behavior with a partial ideal migration which is linear with z (length along
the fiber axis) but has the same mean fiber position, same r.m.s deviation, and the same mean
migration intensity [ 1 ] .

Later Hearle and Gupta [20] studied the fiber migration experimentally by using the tracer
fiber technique. By taking into consideration the problem of asymmetry in the yarn cross
section they came up with the following equation:

where

r1 and r2 are the helix radii

R1 and R2 are the yarn radii at position z1 and z2 along the yarn.

In 1972 Hearle et al. [23] carried some experimental work on the migration in open-end spun
yarns, and they observed that migration pattern in open-end yarns was considerably different
from that of ring spun yarns. They suggested that this difference was the reason for the
dissimilarity between mechanical and structural parameters of these two yarns.

Among numerous investigations of migration, there have been some attempts to develop a
numerical algorithm to simulate yarn behavior. Possibly the most promising

and powerful approach was to apply a finite element analysis method to the mechanics of
yarns [7,36,37].

One of the most recently published researches on the mathematical modeling of fiber
migration in staple yarns was carried out by Grishanov, et al [16]. They developed a new
method to model the fiber migration using a Markov process, and claimed that all the main
features of yarn structure could be modeled with this new method. In this approach the
process of fiber migration was considered as a Poisson’s flow of events, and the fiber
migration characteristics were expressed in terms of a transition matrix.
Another recent study was done by Primentas and Iype [51]. They utilized the level of the
focusing depth of a projection microscope as a measure of the fiber position along the z-axis
with respect to the body of the yarn. Using a suitable reference depth they plotted the possible
3-dimensional configuration of the tracer fiber. In this study they assumed that yarn had a
circular cross section and the difference between minimum and maximum values in depth
represented the value of the vertical diameter, which was also equal to horizontal diameter.
However, the yarn is irregular along its axis, and its cross section deviates from a circle.
Besides, it is questionable that the difference between minimum and maximum values in
depth would give the value of the vertical diameter. As these researchers stated this technique
is in the “embryonic stage of development.”

COMPARISON OF PROPERTIES AND STRUCTURES OF

COMPACT AND CONVENTIONAL SPUN YARNS

Abstract

The properties and structural parameters of compact and conventional ring yarns produced at
five different twist levels were compared. A modified version of the tracer fiber technique [9]
combined with the Image Analysis Application Version 3.0 [3] was utilized to explore yarn
structure. Results obtained from these analyses showed that the high tenacity values of
compact yarns can be attributed to the higher rate and amplitude of fiber migration in these
yarns compared to those in conventional ring yarns. The other important finding was the
superiority of compact yarns in terms of tensile properties is less noticeable at higher twist
levels and in the case of 50/50 polyester / cotton blend.

Introduction

Compact spinning is recognized as a revolution in ring spinning. This technology is claimed

to offer superior quality and better raw material utilization [ 1,4, 8,10,11 ]. Although the
properties and appearance of compact yarn have been compared with those of conventional
ring yarn, there is no study available concerning the inner structure of this yarn. In ring
spinning the main source of the fiber migration is acknowledged to be the tension differences
between fibers during the yarn formation. When a thin ribbon like fiber bundle is transformed
into roughly circular shape by twist insertion fibers at the edges of bundle are faced with
tension whereas fibers in the middle are subjected to compression unless there is excessive
yarn tension. To release the stress, fibers subjected to tension try to shorten their path length
in the yarn while fibers under compression try

to lengthen it. As a result of this, fibers leave their perfect helical path and migrate between
layers of the yarn [7]. In compact spinning, tension differences between fibers during the
twist insertion is smaller than those in ring spinning due to the elimination of the spinning
triangle. Therefore fiber migration in compact yarns could be expected to be less than that in
conventional ring spun yarns. If this is the case why are compact yarns stronger? This
phenomenon was the prime reason to carry out the study of structure of compact yarns.

One of the proclaimed advantages of compact spinning is the possibility of attaining yarn
strength identical to that in conventional ring spinning through reducing the twist by
approximately 20 % [ 11 ]. This, in turn, means a softer yarn, increased production and
reduced energy consumption. Hence, another aspect of this research was to explore the role
of twist on the structure and properties of compact and conventional spun yarns.
Materials and Methods

28’s Ne yarn samples made from 50/50 polyester/cotton blend and 100% cotton were spun on
the Suessen ELITe® and the “conventional” ring machines using five different twist levels:
twist factors of 2.8, 3.2, 3.6, 4.0, and 4.4. Raw material properties are given in Table 1. 100%
cotton yarns contained black tracer fibers of the same type in the proportion of 0.5 %. Tracer
fibers were added to raw cotton fibers during the opening stage which was followed by
carding, two stages of drawing, roving and spinning. Trials were run at Cotton Incorporated
using their Suessen ELITe® spinning frame on one side of which half of the spinning units
act as in the conventional ring spinning frame (i.e. not compact spinning). This gave the
opportunity to spin both compact and conventional ring

spun yarns on the same machine side by side. Half of the polyester cotton blended compact
yarns were produced without the suction being applied (i.e. the strand issuing from the
drafting system is pretensioned prior to being twisted). A single bobbin of polyester/cotton
blended yarn and three bobbins of 100% cotton yarn were spun at each condition. Properties
of resulting yarns were tested on Uster Tester 3 and Uster Tensorapid under standard
conditions (70°F and 65 R.H.)

Observation of Migration

The entire process of capturing tracer fiber images and obtaining migration and yarn
parameters were performed according to the method described earlier (Part II and Part IV). A
CCD camera was fitted with a microscope objective and operated under control of a PC.
Image Analysis Application Version 3.0 [3] was used to capture tracer fiber images. Images
were taken as the yarn was manually drawn through an optically dissolving liquid contained
in a trough placed on the microscope stage. Due to high resolution it was impossible to obtain
a complete image of one tracer fiber on a single image. Thus images from a single fiber were
combined by Spin Panorama 2.1 Software. Subsequently, the boundaries of yarn and the
coordinates of peaks and troughs of tracer

fiber were extracted by means of a suitable software. This data used to calculate migration
parameters [2] and yarn parameters such as yarn diameter, helix diameter and helix angle.

Only 100% cotton yarns were used in this analysis. For each of the ten yarn samples 15
images of tracer fiber were obtained at random to represent each different yarn. They were
equally divided among three bobbins, five from each. A total of 150 tracer fibers were
studied.
Results and Discussion

Properties of polyester/cotton blended and 100% cotton compact and conventional ring spun
yarns at various twist levels are given in Table 2 and Figures 1–6, and Table 3 and Figures7-
12 respectively. Although it was not intentional to produce compact yarns without the suction
being applied it was thought that it would be interesting to see the effect of the suction on the
yarn properties of compact yarns. By simply looking at the plots given in Figures 1-6 it can
be concluded that the evenness and imperfection properties of compact yarns produced
without suction were worse than those of both compact and conventional ring yarns. A
similar trend was present in tensile properties of these yarns. These yarns were more hairy as
well. Most likely the perforated lattice apron prevented fibers from being pulled through
easily and caused this deterioration.
In present study in order to establish more reliable conclusions statistical
comparisons were conducted using the SAS System (version 8 for Windows) for both
50/50 polyester/cotton blended yarn and 100% cotton yarn. Analysis of variance
(ANOVA) was carried out using SAS PROC GLM (alpha level of 0.05) to evaluate any
changes in yarn physical and structural properties due to type of spinning system and
twist. For most variables the effect for twist was partitioned into linear and lack of fit to
linear components. For tenacity and elongation, twist was partitioned into linear,
quadratic and lack of fit components. Lack of fit was compared to sampling error and F
tests were carried out using the larger of sampling error and lack of fit in the
denominator. Compact yarns produced without suction were not included in this analysis.
The analysis of variance for the data obtained from the 50/50 polyester/ cotton
blended yarn showed that twist had a significant effect on yarn evenness. However,
further analysis revealed that only the evenness values of compact and conventional ring
yarns with the lowest twist differ considerably from those with higher twist. The rest of
the yarns had similar evenness values. Twist also affected the number of thin and thick
places. They decreased with increasing twist. Both twist and spinning system had a
significant effect on hairiness. As twist increased hairiness decreased. Compact spinning
system produced less hairy yarns. The effect of twist on elongation at break was
significant as well. Elongation increased with the increase in twist. Tenacity values for
conventional ring spun yarns followed the same trend, but this trend was not present for
compact yarns. It seems that compact yarns reached maximum strength at a lower twist
multiplier (TM) than conventional ring yarns. As a result the analysis of variance showed

no significant difference among twist levels. The effect of spinning system on yarn tenacity
and elongation was also insignificant.
Statistical analysis of data for 100% cotton yarns indicated that, apart from the number of
neps, the evenness and imperfection properties of compact and conventional yarns with
different twist factors did not differ significantly. Although the effect of twist and spinning
system on the number of neps was found to be statistically significant this effect was too
irregular and trend was too unclear to accept the presence of any meaningful effect of these
variables. More likely this is due to the limitations associated with the experimental design
such as the number of samples. As expected hairiness decreased with increasing twist level in
both compact and conventional ring yarns. Compact spinning system produced less hairy
yarns. A second-order polynomial trend was found between twist and tenacity. Tenacity
increased with twist up to the twist multiple 4.0 than it decreased. Elongation showed the
same tendency. Both tenacity and elongation values of compact yarns were better compared
to those of conventional ring yarns.

The effect of interaction of twist and spinning system was significant for only the hairiness
and tenacity values. The difference between the hairiness values of compact and conventional
yarns decreased as twist increased. The same tendency was present for the tenacity values of
these yarns up to twist multiple 4.0, where the difference was almost zero. Then it became
larger. It seems that advantages of compact spinning system are more noticeable at lower
twist levels.

It was believed that a close look at migration parameters would reveal the reason behind the
higher tenacity and elongation values associated with compact yarns. Values of the migration
and yarn parameters for compact and conventional ring yarns are given in Table 4. The
distribution of mean fiber position and helix angle along the yarn length,

and the frequency distribution of helix angle are given in the Appendix. Statistical model
showed that neither spinning system nor twist had any significant effects on mean fiber
position. However, it was noticed that compact yarns had slightly smaller mean fiber position
values. The value of mean fiber position was below the value of 0.5 for both types of yarns
indicating the density is greater near the center of the yarns since the mean fiber position in a
uniform yarn with complete migration would be closer to 0.5. The migration intensity
increased as the twist increased. This was reflected in a corresponding increase of equivalent
migration frequency. The r.m.s. deviation, however, was not affected by twist. Compact
spinning system produced yarns with a higher mean migration intensity values. The r.m.s.
deviation, the amplitude of migration, was higher for compact yarns as well which indicates
that the fiber migration in compact spun yarns is deeper across yarn cross section compared
to that of conventional ring spun yarns. The equivalent migration frequency values of
compact yarns did not differ considerably from those of conventional ring yarns since the
increase in the mean migration intensity was compensated by the increase in the r.m.s.
deviation.

Yarn diameter was affected by both twist and spinning system. As the twist level went up the
yarn diameter became smaller. Compact yarns had smaller diameter compared to
conventional ring yarns. Increased twist resulted in increased helix angle as anticipated.
Statistically neither twist nor spinning system was found to have any significant effect on
helix diameter. However, as helix diameter was plotted versus twist it seemed that a
downward trend was present; an increase in twist caused a decrease in the helix diameter
(Figure 13.)

It is likely that the higher rate of migration in compact yarns could be beneficial in promoting
the high tenacity values of these yarns. The concept behind the compact spinning technology
is that the strand of fibers issuing from the drafting system is condensed pneumatically before
twist insertion. As a result of this the spinning triangle becomes very small and almost
disappears. A close look to the twist insertion mechanism in ring spinning reveals that the
rate of migration depends on considerably the size of the free-length zone (spinning triangle).
In ring spinning first the size of the fiber strand (roving) is reduced to the desired yarn count
by drafting. At the same time the roving twist is removed to a large extent and cohesion
within the fibers is mainly lost. Thus the individual fibers lie relatively far apart from each
other when they reach the delivery clamping line. Twist is imparted to the fiber strand by the
traveler and rises towards the clamping line, but since the width of the fiber strand on the
front roller nip line is bigger

than that of the yarn, twist never penetrates to the nip line and a spinning triangle forms at the
exit of the front roller [5,8]. When the leading end of a fiber laying outside layers reaches the
tie-in point the fiber is subjected to the tensile forces and it elongates. A fiber laying in
innermost layers, on the other hand, remains without tension and therefore without
elongation. In fact, it might become slack depending on its layer and the slackness in the
fibers of innermost layers encourages fibers to migrate during yarn formation. According to
the minimum potential energy of deformation law, fibers under stress change their position
with fiber under buckling strain [6,7]. This does not occur till the fiber reaches the tie in point
and goes under tension and attains maximum elongation. The same mechanism is present in
compact yarns, but a major difference is that everything happens in a very short length. As
soon as fibers in the outside layers leave the clamping line they get some tension and reach
the maximum elongation and try to migrate to the inner layers. This is because only a very
short length of the fiber rapidly becomes stressed (i.e. under tension). Consequently the rate
of change of fiber radial position is higher in compact yarns. This can be illustrated
schematically as seen in the Figure 14.
The other interesting finding was the amplitude of migration (r.m.s. deviation) was higher in
compact yarns, which means the migration in compact yarns is deeper compared to that in
conventional ring yarns. As mentioned the diameter of compact yarns were smaller than those
of conventional ring yarns. In other words the density of these yarns is higher and
consequently the r.ms. deviation values are higher. The higher density would also infer higher
fiber to fiber interaction and thus higher strength.

Conclusion

The result presented here clearly indicates that there is a correlation between the higher
tenacity values observed in compact yarns and the structure and migration characteristics of
these yarns. The rate of fiber migration as well as the amplitude of migration was higher in
compact spun yarns. The former can be attributed to minimized spinning triangle in compact
spinning and the latter could be the result of the higher density associated with these yarns.
Another finding worth to mention is the superiority of compact yarns in terms of tenacity is
more pronounced in lower twist levels and 100% cotton yarns.