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WEAVING TECHNOLOGY I

SPRING SEMESTER

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 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO WEAVING

1.1 INTRODUCTION

1.2 WOVEN FABRICS

1.2.1 Definition of a Woven Structure

1.2.2 Fabric Parameters
1.2.3 Fabric Properties

1.3 BASIC OPERATIONS IN WEAVING PROCESS

1.3.1 The Sequence of Weaving Preparation

1.3.2 Basic Motions and Mechanisms of a Weaving Machine

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1.1 INTRODUCTION
Manufacturing of textiles is one of the oldest industry. Textiles play an important role in
our daily lives. It caters for the fundamental human need for clothing and for protection
and fulfils basic demand for decoration.
textiles also have an assortment of other uses, like making containers
such as bags and baskets; in the household, they are used in carpeting, upholstered
furnishings, window shades, towels, covering for tables, beds, and other flat surfaces,
and also art pieces. In the workplace, they are used in industrial and scientific processes
such as filtering, as belts, etc. Miscellaneous uses include flags, backpacks, tents, nets,
handkerchiefs, cleaning rags, transportation devices such as balloons, sails, parachutes,

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1.1 INTRODUCTION
Fabrics are textile surfaces. These structures are extremely long in comparison with
their thickness. A Fabric may be defined as a planar assembly of fibre, yarns or
combination of these.

Textile refers to any material made of interlacing fibres.

Fabric refers to any material made through weaving, knitting, spreading, crocheting,
or bonding that may be used in production of further goods (garments, etc.).

Cloth may be used synonymously with fabric but often refers to a finished piece of
fabric used for a specific purpose (e.g., table cloth).

Two dimensions of a fabric.

Fabric width and length

There are basically three methods in fabric manufacture:

1.Interlacing-Weaving 2.Interloping-Knitting 3. Bonding- Non-woven/Felting

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 Textile Fabrics

Yarns Fibres Combinations

Woven Non woven Stitch-bonded
knits Felted Laminated
braids Needled
open-work Adhesive-bonded
stitched

The yarn is used to produce fabrics by either weaving, or knitting. Also Braids, open-
work fabric and stitched fabrics are made by yarns.

An alternative method of producing a fabric from fibers, without making a yam. These
are felted, needled and adhesive-bonded (non- wovens).

Fabrics (stitch-bonded and laminated) can be produced by one of those methods or by

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combination of them.
Woven fabrics are made by the interleaving of two sets of yarns, warp and weft
(filling), disposed at right angles.

There are apparel fabrics for clothing (garmenting), household textiles and furnishings
(curtain, tablecloth, and carpet. etc) industrial and technical fabrics. The majority of the
fabric production is based on the woven fabrics.

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Knitted fabrics are made by the interlocking of loops, formed from a single yarn or
from many. They are classified into weft knitted and warp knitted fabrics.

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Nonwoven fabrics are made directly from fibres, without the intermediate step of yarn
formation.

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In Stitch-bonded Fabrics a fabric batt or a series of laid yarns is bonded together by
sewing or stitching along the length direction. The stitching resembles the formation of
loops on a warp knitting machine using chain stitch or plain tricot stitch.

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In Open-work fabrics have greater or lesser amounts of open space in them, created by
various means such as crochet, lace, stitching, embroidery, weaving or knitting either on
a machine or by hand.

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1.2 WOVEN FABRICS
1.2.1 Definition of a Woven Structure
The purpose of weaving is to produce a fabric by interlacing two systems of
threads which lie substantially in the same plane and at right angles to each other.

Usually fabric is woven in

long lengths, say, 90 to 200 m
or more. Fabric widths also
vary from 0,5 up to 1.5-2 m

The threads which lie along the

length of the fabric are termed
warp (ends) threads, while
those which lie across the width
are termed weft (picks) threads
as shown in Figure 1.1.

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Figure 1.1 Warp and weft (filling)

Generally, the warp yarns undergo greater stress than the weft (filling) yarns during
weaving; consequently, the yarn requirements for the two purposes are different.

1. Warp yarns must be of a certain minimum strength, whereas the filling can be quite
weak;

2. The warp yarns usually have a relatively high twist but twist in filling yarns is usually
kept as low as possible.

As twist costs money and excessive twist produces harsh fabrics it is generally kept as
low as possible in both types of yarn.

The yarn character and the fabric structure together determine the properties of
the fabric, such as

Appearance, handle, wear capability, etc.

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A prime requirement of a textile fabric is that it should be flexible.

Many thin sheet-like materials can be flexible in bending, but they usually have such a
high shear stiffness (see Fig. 1.2) that they do not drape well and may look unattractive.

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Figure 1.2 Ability of material to mold, i.e. drape

In order that the fabric may have strength and compactness combined with a fair
degree of elasticity, the warp and weft threads must be interlaced in the fabric. The
pattern of their interlacing is referred to as the weave.

Woven fabrics
Long, thin, of a uniform surface

Elastic
Yet strong
Durable covering structures

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In fabric manufacture, the sequence of operations is as follows:

1. Yarn production.

2. Yarn preparation.
(a) Warp.
(b) Filling.
3. Weaving

4. Fabric finishing.

Weaving Technology I covers in detail the topics of yarn preparation and weaving,
but it does not deal with yarn production or fabric finishing.

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1.2.2 Fabric Properties

Theoretically, it is possible to design a fabric structure to produce the characteristics

demanded, but in practice this is not quite so easy as it may sound.

There are many factors involved in the fabric design (such as fiber type, yarn
geometry, fabric structure and methods of finishing) and it is difficult to predict the
properties of woven fabrics. Fabric properties are considered in three main groups.

Fabric Properties

Physical Properties Chemical Properties Appearance

 Structural Properties
 Mechanical Properties
 Sensory Properties
 Permeability and insulation
properties

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Physical properties of fabrics are divided into four subgroups. Structural properties
are also expressed as fabric parameters.. Some of the mechanical properties are given
below. All of them can be specifically measured.
Structural Properties (fabric parameters)

Mechanical Properties

Tensile Strength
Extensibility
Tear Strength
Abrasion Resistance
Crease Resistance
Pilling Resistance

The Buckling of Fabrics

Fabric Shear
Fabric Handle
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Chemical properties of fabrics are dependent upon the chemical properties of
fibers These are the chemical stability and the composition of fiber. The effect of
heat: moisture. acids alkalis, solvents and other chemicals on the fiber. The affinity
of the fiber for dyestuffs. Alt of them can be specifically measured.

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1.2.2.1 Structural Properties (Fabric Parameters)

1. The warp and Weft Sett :

Ends per cm (e.p.c.) is used to define the density of end spacing (spacing between
warp threads) is called warp sett, and picks per cm (p.p.c.) or weft sett is used to
define the density of pick spacing (spacing between weft threads).

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2. Number of warp and weft yarn (The coarseness or fineness of the warn and weft
yarn):
From the point of view of fabric structure, the coarseness and fineness of a yarn is
primarily a geometrical property. it affects the densities to be used in the fabric with
the weave. In practice, it is very difficult to determine the yarn diameter by direct
measurement and it is more common to express the coarseness of the yarn in terms
of its weight per unit length. hence in terms of the yarn count.

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3. Types of Weave
The weaves of most fabrics are designed in a such way that the weave pattern of a small
area of fabric is repeated over the whole area of the fabric.
The weave pattern within the small area, called the weave repeat, is usually referred to
as weave.
There are many ways of representing a weave
Thread diagrams and cross sections . Square design paper (point paper).

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Figure 1.2 Plain Weave

Square design paper (point paper).

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Simple weaves with small repeats are the most common and the three simplest types are
shown in Figure 1.3. These three basic weaves, namely, plain weave, twill and satin.

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3.a The plain fabric comprises a high percentage of the total production of woven
fabrics.
The highest number of interlacing as compared with other weaves

Some fabrics are

considered to be
derivatives of the
plain weave, namely,
rib weaves, basket
weaves (matt weaves).

Figure 1.4 Warp Rib

Weaves. 30
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Figure 1.5 Basket Weaves.
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3.b Twill weave is characterized by diagonal
lines running at angles varying between
15°- 75°.

Types of twill, namely, warp face twill, weft

face twill, balanced twill, 45 ° twill, steep
twill, reclining twill are shown in the Figure
1.6.

Comparing the plain weave

Heavier fabrics can be produced with the

twill weaves and the fabric has a great
extensibility in the diagonal direction, that
is why the twill fabrics are suitable for
outwear.

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Figure 1.6 Twill Weaves Balanced twills

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Figure 1.6 Twill Weaves

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3.c Satin is the third basic weave in which the interlacing points are arranged in a
similar way to twill weaves but without showing the twill line. The satin weave is a
warp face weave and the sateen weave is a weft face weave. Figure 1.7 shows a 5 end
satin and a 5 end sateen. The satin and sateen fabrics are soft and lustrous structures.

Figure 1.7 Satin Weaves 37

Figure 1.7 Satin Weaves

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4. The Crimp :

This is the waviness of warp and weft threads in the fabric and expressed as a
fraction.
Crimp % (C) C= (yarn length — fabric length)/ fabric length
Warp Lwarp, Lfabric Cwarp=100%*(Lwarp-Lfabric)/Lfabric

Weft Lweft, Lwidth Cweft=100%*(Lweft-Lwidth)/Lwidth

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This will normally give values ranging
from around 0.01 to 0.14.
It is generally considered most
convenient and preferable to use per
centage values: C%=(Ly-Lf)*100/Lf

The use of calculations using the crimp formulae is essential in determining the
amount of yarn that is required for a particular circumstance or in assessing how
much fabric can be produced from a known length of yarn.

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5. The Fabric Weight:
It is expressed in grams per square meter (W/m*m ) or in grams per meter of the
fabric with full width (W/m)..

There is a direct and simple quantitative relationship between fabric weight and the
other three structural parameters, namely, warp and weft yarn counts, densities
and crimps. Fabric weight is an important influence on suitability, durability, and
cost, and should always be taken into account in any form of fabric evaluation.

The range of weights in woven fabric varies from as little as 15 g per square meter
for chiffon to 600 g or more per square meter for heavy coating fabrics.

6. The Fabric Thickness :

The fabric thickness is measured in millimeters. It is dependent on the yarn

diameters and on the degree of crimps of warp and weft yarns in the fabric.

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7. The Cover Factor :

The cover defines the area of 1 cm2 of fabric which is actually covered by warp and
weft yarns. It is a useful practical indication of fabric’s permeability to light, gasses.
liquids and solid particles.

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8. The Fabric Width and Length :
The fabric width is usually expressed in cm. The width of woven fabric produced
varies from 30 cm upwards. This excludes very narrow fabrics as ribbons, tapes, and
braids which are made by a special section of the textile industry. Certain types of
fabric are associated with specific widths, for example: shirting’s (dress fabrics)-90-1
14 cm, worsteds (other suiting)-1 50 cm etc.

The piece length defines the piece of fabric cut to a particular length.

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1.3. BASIC OPERATIONS IN WEAVING PROCESS

1.3.1 The sequence of weaving preparation

The warp and weft threads are processed in intermediate packaging operations, and
these series of operations are termed weaving preparation (yarn preparation). The
object of these operations is to prepare packages of a size and build best suited to a
particular purpose.

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Figure 1.3 Weaving preparation process

Spun yarn quality characteristics that are most important for good weaving
performance in­clude short- and long-term weight uniformity, imperfections, tensile
properties and hairiness.

The object of warp preparation is to transfer yarn from the spinners Package to a
weaver’s beam that can be placed behind loom ready for weaving. A weaver’s beam
usually contains several thousand ends and, for a variety of reasons, it can seldom be
made in one operation.

It is usual to divide the warp preparation processes into the five sections des­cribed in
the following pages

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1. The purpose of winding operation is the same for both warp and weft preparation.

One of the main purposes of warp winding is to transfer yarn from the
spinner’s or doubler’s package (Fig. 1.3(a)) to another suitable for use in
the creel of a warping machine (Fig. 1.3(b)) or for dyeing.

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A second main purpose of warp winding is to make it possible to inspect
the yarn and to remove any thick or thin laces slubs, neps or loose fibers
(Fig. 1.4).

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2. The purpose of warping (beaming) is to arrange a convenient number
of warp yarns so that they can be collected on a single warper’s beam.
There are two main types of warping: beam warping and section
warping.

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3. Sizing (Slashing)
It is necessary to size the warp yarn for several reasons, namely:
To strengthen the yarn by causing the fibers to adhere together;
To make the outer surface of the yarn smoother so that hairs
protruding from one yarn in the warp should not become entangled
with hairs protruding from a neighboring yarn;
To lubricate the yarns so that there is less friction when they rub together
in the weaving process. Lubrication also reduces the friction between the
yarns and the loom parts. The reduction of friction reduces the forces
acting on the yarns during weaving.

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5 Drawing-In
Before the weaver’s beam is mounted on the loom, each end is threaded through a
heald eye and the reed: it also supports a drop wire The heald is also referred to as the
heddle and the heald frame is also referred to as the harness frame.

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Figure 1.5. Schematic diagrams for drawing in

6. Tying-in
When fabric of a particular type is being mass produced, the new warp
beams will be identical with the exhausted beams on the looms.
Therefore, if every end on the new beam is tied to its corresponding
end on the old beam, the drawing ­in process can be omitted.
Tying-in may be done by means of a small portable machine on the
loom or as a separate oper­ation away from the loom.

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