The effect of feeding speeds of elastomeric yarn on

dimensional properties of single jersey knit fabric

textiletoday.com.bd/the-effect-of-feeding-speeds-of-elastomeric-yarn-on-dimensional-properties-of-single-jersey-knit-fabric/

5/1/2011

Abstract

This paper focuses on dimensional properties of elastomeric single jersey knitted fabrics by feeding elastomeric
yarn with different feeding speeds. Two key issues are discussed here in this paper one is comparison of
different dimensional properties of elastomeric knitted fabric for different feeding speed with 100% cotton knitted
fabric and second one is effect analysis of 100% cotton and elastomeric knitted fabrics dimensional properties
for different feeding speed of elastomeric yarn after washing.

Keywords: Elastomeric yarn, single jersey fabric, feeding speed etc.

Introduction

Knitted fabrics are broadly used to make T-shirts, outerwear or sportswear which can easily deform or stretch for
its structure compared to woven fabric. For this ability to stretch by stitch rearrangement adds to the wearing
comfort of garments made from knit fabrics. To improve the elastic recovery performance of the knitted fabric, it
is now co-knit small amount of elastomeric yarn like spandex or Lycra with hard yarn. Elastomeric fabric is the
special types of knitted fabrics mostly use in fashion and decorative purpose. A touch of elastomeric yarn adds
comfort and freedom of movement and improving the fit, shape retention, drape and wrinkle resistance of the
apparel. However the relation between elastomeric yarn feeding speed and fabric dimensional properties has not
been studied enough in literature and knitters use experience during machine adjustment in order to get proper
characteristics of the knitted fabric. The endeavor of this thesis paper is to find out some relationship between
elastomeric yarns feeding speed with the knit fabric dimensional properties and how dimension changes with
compared to elastomeric feeding yarn speed that will not need to be maintain in finishing process to get final
required fabric.

Machine & material

The experimental samples of single jersey fabrics were knitted on a 24 Gauge 30 inch large diameter high speed
Mayer & Cie. circular knitting machine equipped with positive feeders and Memminger elastane roller feeding
system. Cotton yarn of 30/1 Ne count was used to produce the 100% single jersey knitted fabrics and with 20
dtex elastomeric yarn were used to produce elastomeric knitted fabric with same cotton yarn. Three different
diameters of elastane feeding pulley were taken to produce of elastomeric knitted fabric. Elastane yarn
consumption was varied by varying elastane feeder speed. Elastane feeding speeds and tensions were
measured by using a yarn meter (MLT WESCO MEMMINGER-IRO GmbH). Ground cotton yarn speed was
kept constant. The following measuring speeds and tensions were found:

For quality pulley diameter 195 = Average elastomeric yarn speed 244.2 m/min

For quality pulley diameter 215 = Average elastomeric yarn speed 260 m/min

For quality pulley diameter 235 = Average elastomeric yarn speed 293 m/min

And,

For quality pulley diameter 195 = Average elastomeric yarn tension 1.6 cN

For quality pulley diameter 215 = Average elastomeric yarn tension 1.5 cN

For quality pulley diameter 235 = Average elastomeric yarn tension 1.4 cN

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Working method Yarn speed and tension which is very important for the dimensional properties of knitted fabric.
Dimensional stability depends on yarn feeding speed so that how much yarn feeds per revolution and also yarn
tension. For measuring yarn speed and tension MLT WESCO meter has been used in this work which has
exclusively been designed for measuring the yarn in feed and the yarn tension in textile machines. [2]

To set-up the feeding speed of elastomeric yarn an

additional expandable pulley is used, which is known
as quality pulley or VDQ pulley (Variable diameter for
quality). In the machine Memminger MER 2 elastane
roller is equipped with that expandable pulley
connected to the belt which gets motion from main
motor. By rotating the quality pulley in positive direction
the feeding pulley diameter can be increased as well as
feeding speed and vice versa. [3]

Weight per unit area of single jersey fabric depends on

dimensional specification like wales per unit area,
courses per unit area, stitch length and stitch density.
All the value of the above specification is measured
according to different standard. There are several
standards to measure wales and courses per unit area
like ASTM D 3887, BS 5441 and AS 2001.2.6 or AWTA
test code T21. According to AS 2001.2.6 are taken
consideration to measure the wales, courses per unit area and stitch density of single jersey knit fabric [4].
According to DIN EN 14970 the stitch length of single jersey fabric is measured [5] and There are some
standards for measuring GSM (gm/m2 or fabric weight) like ASTM D 3776, ISO 3801, DIN/BS EN 12127 and BS
5441 etc. According to ISO 3801, GSM Sample Cutters rapidly, accurately and safely cut out circular specimens
of fixed diameter. [6]

The dimensional changes that occur in knit fabrics as a result of washing, drying and hanging. According to DIN
EN ISO 6330 for washing the manufactured knitted fabric is carried out a normal wash with a SIEMEN
SIWAMAT IQ 714 washing machine. The 1kg fabric is washed with 17 gm normal detergent. Then the fabric is
washed for 115min at a temperature of 40c. After wash cycle the fabric is rinsed with cold water. Then the fabric
was dried by hanging at a room temperature for 24hr. After 24hr the fabric is kept in a standard room
temperature of 65% relative humidity and 20c for 24hr to make fabric standard for measurement. [7]

Experimental results and discussion

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 1. Courses per Inch

The following Table 1 is the measuring data of Courses per inch (Before wash and after wash) of single jersey
100% cotton knitted fabric and elastomeric knitted fabric with different feeding speeds of elastomeric yarn.

The following Figure 2 demonstrated that before and after washing incorporating of elastomeric yarn with 100%
cotton knitted fabric gives an increasing trend of number of courses per inch of elastomeric knitted fabric. With
the increasing of elastomeric feeding pulley diameter, the speeds also increase and give more number of
courses per inch in the fabric. So the fabric becomes more compact in structure. The variation of changes
courses per inch of different quality of fabrics. For 100% cotton knitted fabric changes of number of courses per
inch is almost 26% higher than before wash. At the same time for elastomeric knitted fabric with the changes of
feeding speed of elastomeric yarn the changes is almost (28-32)% higher than before wash.

2. Wales per Inch

The below Table 2 is the measuring data of Wales per inch (Before wash and after wash) of single jersey 100%
cotton knitted fabric and elastomeric knitted fabric with different feeding speeds of elastomeric yarn.

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The number of wales per inch before wash and after wash which depicted in the Figure 3 demonstrated that with
a mix of elastomeric yarn with 100% cotton knitted fabric gives an increasing inclination of number of waless per
inch of elastomeric knitted fabric. With the increasing of elastomeric yarn feeding pulley diameter, the speeds
also increase and number of wales per inch decreasing by one so the fabric becomes extent in structure, which
clearly stated in the figure. For 100% cotton knitted fabric after wash changes of waless per inch is almost 30%
more. At the same time for elastomeric knitted fabric with the changes of feeding speed of elastomeric yarn the
changes is wales per inch increases almost (10-11)%, so the 100% cotton fabric becomes more compact after
washing if the feeding pulley diameter range in between (195-235) for the mentioned single jersey machine.

3. Stitch length

Stitch length is an important factor in knitted fabrics dimensional properties. Stitch length remained more or less
constant after the fabrics were subjected to the different washing and drying. Among various analyzed knitted
fabrics, the loop length appears to be the important factor among all the structural parameters involved in the
fabric construction. Higher the loop length in the knitted fabric, the better would be the flexibility of the threads in
the fabrics and their relative movements within the fabrics, which subsequently could lead to higher abrasion
resistance of the fabrics. [8,9] By the following Table 3 try to find out some relation of 100% single jersey cotton
knitted fabric and with a combination of cotton and elastane yarn combined single jersey knitted fabrics with
different feeding speeds of elastomeric yarn.

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The stitch length of 100% single jersey fabric before wash and after wash is less than elastomeric knitted fabric
which depicted in the Figure 4 demonstrated that incorporating of elastomeric yarn with 100% cotton knitted
fabric gives a rising tendency of stitch length of elastomeric knitted fabric. With the increasing of elastomeric
feeding pulley diameter, the speeds also increase and stitch length also increase. For all different fabrics its
clearly proved that after wash stitch length will increase. For 100% cotton knitted fabric difference is almost 3.5%
more than before wash. At the same time for elastomeric knitted 100% CottonElastomeric yarn-195Elastomeric
yarn-215Elastomeric yarn-2353139383740434241WPIFabric typesBefore WashAfter Wash fabric with the
changes of feeding speed of elastomeric yarn the difference is almost same around 1% more than before wash.

4. Stitch density

The word quality in knitted fabric sometimes is used to describe the stitch density of particular fabric. This
dimension, stitch density, is the most important one in defining knitted fabric properties and is directly related to
fabric appearance, weight per unit area, thickness, and drape. The loop length is the single unit cell formed in
knitted fabric and is directly related to loop density. In general, as the loop size increases, the loop density
decreases [10]. The below Table 4 is the average measuring data of stitch density (Before wash and after wash)
of single jersey 100% cotton knitted fabric and elastomeric knitted fabric with different feeding speeds of
elastomeric yarn.

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As stitch density is the multiplication of wales per inch and courses per inch and as the increasing number of
courses is more compare to the reducing number of wales so stitch density also increases with the increasing
the feeding speed of elastomeric yarn. The following figure 5 shows that for 100% cotton knitted fabric after
wash increase stitch density is almost 64% then before wash. At the same time for elastomeric knitted fabric with
the changes of feeding speed of elastomeric yarn the increasing variation is around (42-46)% more than before
wash. So that after wash fabric weight per unit area changes a lot.

5. Fabric weight per unit area (GSM)

The weight per unit area of knitted fabric is generally expressed as GSM (g/m2), which are very important
requirement criteria for buyers and also very significant dimensional stability criteria for knitting production unit to
meet the appropriate meets of buyers. The weight of a knitted fabric is depended on two factors, namely the
loop size and the yarn size. The effect of loop size is simple to express: if the size of the yarn remains constant,
then increase loop size produces a decrease of weight per unit area. The effect is an inverse ratio [10]. Here the
following Table 5 shows the measuring data of fabric weight per unit (Before wash and after wash) of single
jersey 100% cotton knitted fabric and elastomeric knitted fabric with different feeding speeds of elastomeric yarn.

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The fabric before wash and after wash which depicted in the Figure 6 shows that with a mix of elastomeric yarn
with 100% cotton yarn gives an increasing inclination of fabric weight per unit area of elastomeric knitted fabric
compared to 100% cotton knitted fabric, so elastomeric knit fabric is denser when the elastomeric yarn speed is
less. But with increasing elastomeric yarn feeding speeds the fabric weight start to decrease. For 100% cotton
knitted fabric difference of GSM after wash is around more (18-19)%. At the same time for elastomeric knitted
fabric with the changes of feeding speed of elastomeric yarn the variation of increased fabric weight after wash is
around (31-38)% increase

By this analysis the effect of increasing the feeding speed of elastomeric yarn on different dimensional properties
in elastomeric single jersey knitted fabric shows the following relationship where the changing tendency
dissimilar from one properties to another properties. If all the properties summarize in one equation then its
shows the following relationship:

Conclusion

The results obtained in this in this work indicated that the feeding speed of elastomeric yarn has a significant

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effect on the dimensional properties of single jersey knit fabrics. The results indicated that with the increasing the
feeding speed of elastomeric yarn, the all dimensional properties of single jersey knitted fabric did not show
same increasing trend. There is dissimilarity between one to another property. With the increasing the feeding
speed of elastomeric yarn wales per inch and GSM is decreased where fabric weight per unit area (GSM) is
another important aspect related directly to the buyers requirement. All other properties shows an increasing
tendency with the increasing the feeding speed of elastomeric yarn. 100% CottonElastomeric yarn-
195Elastomeric yarn-215Elastomeric Yarn-235150223.33220.33215177.66309292.66282.66 GSM (g/m2)Fabric
typesBefore WashAfter Wash

References

1. Machine manual of Mayer & Cie. 2007, Mayer & Cie. GmbH & Co. KG, Rundstrickmaschinen, Germany
2. Operating instructions of MLT WESCO (MEMMINGER-IRO GMBH), 2003, Dornstetten, Germany.
3. Operating instruction MER 2 (MEMMINGER-IRO GMBH), 2003, Dornstetten, Germany.
4. AS 2001.1.6, Standard test method for measuring wales and courses per unit length (Stitch density).
5. DIN EN 14970: 2006, Determination of stitch length and yarn linear density in weft knitted fabrics.
6. ISO 3801, Standard method for measuring fabric weight.
7. DIN EN ISO 6330:200, Domestic washing and drying procedures for textile testing.
8. Anand S C, Brown K S M, Higgins L G, Holmes D A, Hall M E and Conrad D (June 2002). Effect of
Laundering on the Dimensional Stability and Distortion of knitted Fabrics. AUTEX Research Journal. Vol.
2, No.2, pp.85-100.

9. Saravanan, D., Timble, N.B., Gunasekar, E. and Kandasamy, V.A. (February 2008). Influence of
Compacting on Knitted fabrics. IE(I) JournalTX. 88, pp.13-16.
10. Terry Brackenbury, 1992. Knitted Clothing Technology. Edition. Wiley-Blackwell.

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