Indi an journal of Fibre & Tex til e Researc h

Vol. 28, September 2003. pp. 363-366

Short Communication

Irregularity and imperfections in ring-spun

yarns
R V Mahendra Gowda"
Department of Tex tile Technology , Bannari Amman Institute of
Tec hno logy, Sathyamangalam 638 401, Indi a

Received 21 March 2002; revised received and

accepted 6 August 2002
Ring-spun yams of different counts and fibrous materi als ha ve
been studied for irregularity and imperfectio ns. The irregularity length equations have been developed using five different cut
lengths (10, 100. 1000, 10000, and 100000 mm) to deduce
irregularity-length indices (m and a). The va lues of ' m' and ' a ' fo r
all the yams are found to be - 0.25 and 22.5-29.7 respectively. The
irregul arity is found to be correlated hi ghly, fairly and poo rl y with
thin places (-30%), thick places (+50%) and neps (+200%)
respectively for various yams studied.
Keywords: Irregularity-length indices, Rin g-spun yams. Yarn
imperfection s, Yam irregu larity

Irregularity and imperfections are the important quality

attributes of a spun yarn that influence the yam
processability and fabric appearance. The irregularity
or unevenness of a yam is commonly defined as the
variation in fineness along its length and more
appropriately as the variation in mass per unit length
along the yam I. It is expressed as U% or CV%. The
imperfections are frequently occurring yam faults
which include thin places, thick places and neps.
The irregularity and imperfections in a spun yarn
are inevitable and their occurrence can be attributed to
either the fibre characteristics and their variation or an
imperfect spinning process or both.
Further, it is well known that the yarn irregularity
decreases as the yam cut length increases. This
information is provided readily by the variance-length
curves obtained from any evenness teste? A
thorough understanding of the irregularity [CV(L)]
along the yam and the relationship between yarn
irregularity (U%) and imperfections will be highly
useful in taking measures to control these parameters.
The present study was, therefore, aimed at
establishing an empirical equation for the irregularity
Phone: 22 1289; Fax: 0091-04295-223775 ; E- mail :
rvm..gowda@rediffmail.com

[CV(L)] along the yarn and a correlation between U%

and imperfections in various ring-spun yarn s.
Nin e different types of ring- spun yarns, namely 40s
acrylic , 34s vi scose, 40s polyester, 49s po lyester, 57s
polyester, 30s combed cotton , 20s carded cotton , 30s
polyester/cotton (P/C) combed and 40s PIC carded,
spun on the same set of machinery were used for the
study.
All these yarns were tested on UT3 tester for
unevenness and imperfections at a test speed of 400
rnImin with 8 tests per yarn sample. Thin places were
measured at three sensitivity levels, namely - 30%,
-40% and -50%. Thick pl aces were measured at the
sensitivity level s of +50% and + 100%, and the neps
were measured at +200% level of sensitivity.
The variance-length curve was plotted for each
yarn sample and the irregularity va lues at different cut
lengths, namely 10, 100, 1000, 10000 and 100000
mm, were determined. By plotting the values of
logarithm of [CV(L)] against that of logarithm of L
and carrying out the regressio n analysi s of the
transformed data, the foll ow ing irregularity-l ength
equation was developed for each yarn sampl e:
Let L be the cut length of yarn in mm, and CV(L)
be the irregularity of yarn of cut length L. If log
[CV(L)] is plotted against log L, then
log [CV(L)]

= log a + m log L.

Therefore,
[CV(L)]

=a LIll

.. . (I)

where 'a' and ' m' are the constants, depending on the
yarn count and the fibre mJteri al. These constants are
named as ' irregularity-length indices'.
The imperfections at different sensitivity levels
were also correlated with the yarn irregularity (U %)
for all the yarn samples. .
Table 1 shows that the values of irregularity-length
index ' m' are negative, indicating th at the irregularity
decreases with the increase in cut length . Further, the
values of ' m' are more or less the same for all the
yarns studied . The average value is found to be -0.25.
This indicates that the ' m' is almost independent of
type and count of yarn.
Table 1 also shows that the values of irregularitylength index 'a' range from 22.5 to 29.7. It is lower
for a yarn with lower irreg ul arity and higher for a

364

INDIAN J. FI8RE TEXT. RES .. SEPTEMBER 2003

Table I- Irregularity-Iength equ ations

Irregul arity -length
equati ons

Coe ffi cie nt of

determin ation (/?2)

Acrylic (405)
Viscose (34s)
Polyes ter (405)

rC V(L)] = 29.7 L-0251

rCV(L)1 = 23.4 CO 253
rCV(L) 1= 24.0 L-0.25 1

0.993
0.999
0.997

-0.251
-0.253
- 0.25 1

29.7
23.4
24.0

Polyes ter (49s)

rCV (L)] = 24.3 L-O.25U

0.998

-0.250

24.3

Polyes ter (57s)

ICV(L)] = 24.4 L-{1249

0.999

- 0.249

24.4

Colton (20s K)

=25.4 L-{1253
ICV(L)] = 22 .8 L-{)25O
rCV(L)] = 22.5 L-{) 250
rCV(L)] = 26.7 L-{)250

0.998

- 0.253

25.4

0.999

Yarn

rCV(L)1

Calla n (30s C)
Polyeste r/Callan (30s C)
Polyes ter/Collon (40s K)

Irregul ari ty- Iength

indices
III
a

- 0.250

22 .8

0.999

-0.250

22.5

0.999

- 0.250

26. 7

K - Ca rded and C -Combed

Tah le 2 -

Actual and predicted values of irregul arity

Yarn

rCV(L) 1
10000"
1000 "

Correlmion
coefficie nt (r)

10"

I 00 "

Acryli c (40s)

15.7
( 16.6)

9.2
(9.35)

5.65
(5.25)

3.2
(2.94)

1.4
( 1.65)

0.998

Viscose (34s)

12.72
(13 . 16)

7.55
(7 .4)

3.92
(4.16)

2.31
(2.34)

1.25
( 1. 32)

0.999

13.0
( 13.47)

7.65
(7.55)

4.39
(4.24)

2.5
(2 .38)

1.25
(1.33)

0.999

Pol yester (49s)

13.2
( 13.66)

7.85
(7.68)

4.47
(4.32)

2.55
(2.43)

1.3
( 1.37)

0.999

Polyester (57s)

13.3
( 13.75)

7.95
(7.75)

4.44
(4.37)

2.51
(2.46)

1. 35
( 1.39)

0.999

13.6
( 14 .28)

8.2
(8.03)

4.3
(4 .52)

2.54
(2 .54)

1.3
( 1.43)

0.998

Colton (30s C)

12.8
( 12. 82)

7.25
(7.2 1)

3.9
(4.05)

2. 37
(2.28)

1.25
( 1.28)

0.999

Pol yester/Collon (30s C)

12.55
( 12.65)

7.3
(7.12)

3.85
(4.00)

2.29
(2. 25)

1.2
( 1.27)

Po lyester/Callan (40s K)

15.0
( 15.0 I)

8.5
(8.44 )

4.73
(4.75)

2.59
(2.67)

1.4
( 150)

Po lyester

Colton

(40s)

(20s

K)

100000 "

0.999
0.999

" Cut length in mm

Values in parentheses indi cate predicted irregularity.

yarn with higher irregu larity. Further, when L= lmm,

the va lu e of 'a' in Eq (I) equa ls [CY(L)], which
represen ts the maximum possib le irreg ularity in a
given spun yarn for I mm cut length. T he very hi gh
va lu es of coefficient of determination (R2) e nvisage
that a ll these empirical eq uation s as shown in T ab le 1
are very well va lid for predicting the irregularity in a
spun yarn with different c ut lengths rang in g from ]
mm to several hundred metres. This is a lso ev ident
from Table 2 and Fig. 1 which s how a good

assoc iation betwee n th e predicted and the actual

values of irregu larity for diffe re nt cut lengths.
Table 3 shows th at in a ll the yarn s, U% is hi ghl y
corre lated with thin places at -30% sensi ti vity leve l
fo ll owed by a good to fair corre lat io n w ith thin pl aces
at -40% and -50% se nsitivi ty level s respecti ve ly.
This clearly indicates that the cause for the origin of
U% and thin places is more or less the sa me, i. e.
ma inl y the drafting operation. As regard s thick pl aces,
there is a fairly good correlation be tween U% and

SHORT COMMUNICATION

365
3

thick places at +50% sensitivity level which proves

that the source of origin of U% is partly responsible
for the occurrence of thick places . The good
association of thin and thick places with U% implies
that the factors which influence unevenness are also

likely to influence the thin and thick places .

Finally, it can be observed from Table 3 that except
in 20s K cotton yarn, the correlation between U% and
neps is generally poor, which clearly shows th at the
causes for the origin of these parameters are large ly

18~------------------------------,

16

14

40sAcrylic-predicted

40sAcrylic-actllll

34sVillCOsc-predicted

_ _ 49sPolyester-predictcd
- - 49s Polyester-actlJll

-x- 348VlSCosc-actllll

_ _ 30 PIC-predicted

_ _ 20S!( Cotton-predicted

- - 308 C P/C-actlJll

- - 20S!( Cotton-achlll

_ _ 40. K P IC-predictcd

_ _ 30 Cotton-predicted
-1(-

-40sK PA:-actlJll

30 Cotton-8ctllll

logL
Fig. 1 - Irregularity vs log L for various rin g-spun yarn s
Table 3 Yarn

Correlation between U% and imperfections

U% and thin places

U% and thi ck places

(+100%)6

U% and
neps (+200%)

0.51

0.10

0.38

0.78

0.1 2

0.33

0.3 1

0. 14

0.25

(-30% )"

(- 40%)"

(- 50%)"

(+50%)h

Acry lic (40s)

0.84

0.83

0.79

Viscose (34s)

0.97

0.94

0.78

Pol yes ter (40s)

0.95

0. 89

0.3 1

Polyester (49s)

0.85

0.84

0. 13

0.61

0. 10

0. 14

Cotton (20s K)

0.95

0.95

0.18

0.83

0. 11

0.71

Cotton (30s C)

0.93

0.92

0.65

0.50

0.20

0. 12

Po lyes ter/Cotton (30s C)

0.97

0.93

0.59

0.59

0.26

0.20

Po lyes ter/Cotton (40s K)

0.97

0.96

0.64

0.88

0.56

0.45

"Sensitivity level for thin places

bSensitivit y level for thi c k places

366

INDI AN 1. FIBRE TEXT. RES ., SEPTEMBER 2003

different. In view of the poor corre lation between

neps and U%, the control of neps needs to be
considered separate l/ .
The value for the irregularity-length index 'm' is
approximatel y -0.25, and it seems to be almost
independent of the yarn count and the fibrou s
naterial. The values for the irregularity-length index
a' li e in th e range of 22.5-29.7 for all the yarn
;amples studi ed. It is lower for a yarn with lower
Irreg ularity and hi g he r for a ya rn with hi g he r

irregul arity . The irregularity (U%) is correlated

hi ghly, fairly and poorly with thin places (-30%),
thi ck places (+50%) a nd neps (+200%) respectivel y.

R,e ferences
I Kothari V K, Progress in Textiles: Science & Technology. Vol
I (IAFL Publications, New Delhi), 1999,20 l.
2 Hondbook Jor Evenness Test ers (Uster Zellwager. Swilzerland) , 1995, 10 1.
3 Garde A R & Subramanian T A, Proces.\ Control in Spinllillg.
3rd edi ti on (ATIR A, A hmedabad), 1987,230-235.