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European Scientific Journal January 2015 edition vol.11, No.3 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e - ISSN 1857- 7431

COMPARATIVE STUDY ON RING, ROTOR AND

AIR-JET SPUN YARN

Sharif Ahmed
Lecturer, Dept. of Yarn Manufacturing Engineering,
Bangladesh University of Textiles, Bangladesh
Md. Syduzzaman
Lecturer, Dept. of Textile Management and Business Studies,
Bangladesh University of Textiles, Bangladesh
Md. Sultan Mahmud
Lecturer, Dept. of Yarn Manufacturing Engineering,
Bangladesh University of Textiles, Bangladesh
S.M. Ashique
Mohammad Mahbubur Rahman
Lecturer, National Institute of Textile Engineering and Research

Abstract
Although ring spinning is the universal spinning system but main
limitation of this system is its limited spindle speed which causes lower
production rate. Now-a-days spinners are trying to finding out various
alternative spinning systems among which only rotor and air-jet has
established market value. So it is very important for spinners to find out a
suitable one according to end use and others economic aspects. Ring, Rotor
and Air-jet spinning systems provide yarn with different structures and
properties. Each system has its advantages and limitations in terms of
technical feasibility and economic viability. We have produced 20's Ne,
100% cotton yarn from the above systems and their properties are tested by
UT5 and lea strength tester. The main object of the project is to study the
yarn properties (Um%, CVm%, Imperfection, Hairiness etc) of ring, rotor
and air-jet spun yarn and compare among them. We observed how yarn
properties are changed with the change of process. We analyzed the various
yarn properties by the graphical representation.

Keywords: Yarn, Textile, Ring Spinning, Rotor spinning and Air-Jet

Spinning

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Introduction:
Spinning is an ancient textile art in which plant, animal or synthetic
fibers are drawn out and twisted together to form yarn. For thousands of
years, fiber was spun by hand using simple tools, the spindle and distaff.
Only in the High Middle Ages did the spinning wheel increase the output of
individual spinners, and mass-production only arose in the 18th century with
the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution (Barber & Elizabeth, 1995). Now
yarn are producing by different methods. Among them ring, rotor and air-jet
spinning are mostly used. The title of our project is “Comparative study on
ring, rotor and air-jet spun yarn”. It is a special type of project work as it
is an observing and analytical work. It is very much important in this time
because although ring spinning machine produces best quality yarn but some
limitations specially limited productivity bounds the spinners to choose
alternative spinning system. From the multitude of spinning processes
developed in recent decades, only ring, rotor spinning and with reservations
air-jet spinning have established themselves successfully on the market.
In our project work we observed the various yarn properties like
U%., CV%, Imperfection Index (thick/km, thin/km, neps/km), hairiness and
strength (CSP) of ring, rotor and air-jet yarn.

Research Objectives:
Main objectives of this study are as follows-
 To study different types of spinning methods.
 To explore the comparison among these spinning methods.
 To produce yarn using these methods.
 To test the yarn quality by testing machine.
 To compare the tested result and finally to find out-which spun yarn is the
best.

Defining Different terms:

Spinning: Spinning is the process of producing yarn from fiber by
twisting.
Ring, Rotor and air-jet: These are the main three spinning
techniques to produce yarn from fiber in the spinning mills.
U% and CV%: These are the mass variation calculations along yarn
length. Testing machine measures the mass of each centimeter of yarn and
U% and CV% values are calculated using following formula and these are
worldly used to determine how uniform or even the yarn is.

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Thick/km, thin/km, neps/km: These are the number of faults within

one kilometer length, where mass values are taken from each centimeter of
length. We considered (+50%) thick place,( -50%) thin place -50% and neps
+200% where these values mean ‘average value of mass + mentioned
percentage of that mass’. These three faults are commonly called
Imperfection Index.
CSP (Count Strength product): Count in English system (Ne) ×
Strength in pound.
Uster Tester 5: A testing machine to perform the tests and to find
out the results in printed form.
Carded yarn and combed yarn: Ring spun yarn can be categorized
into carded and combed yarn. Combed yarn is better quality yarn where to
produce yarn short fibers are removed.
TM (Twist multiplier): A constant value on which yarn twist
depends.
Sliver: Continuous fiber strand without twist, an intermediate stage
between fiber and yarn.
Roving: Slightly twisted fiber strand, the stage immediate before
yarn forming.
Ne (English count): It a numbering system which indicate how much
the yarn is finer or coarser. Ne is the number of hank of 840 yards per pound.

Methodology:
We have divided our working methodology for this study into three
major steps-
1. Literature review has been conducted to find out the comparison
among different types of spun yarn. And articles that are related with
spinning methods especially ring, rotor and air-jet spinning are
reviewed to find out this comparison.
2. 20Ne yarns are produced by Ring, Rotor and Air-jet machines from
same raw materials. Produced yarns are then tested by Uster Tester
5 machine. All the production and experiment are done in Square
Spinning Mills Ltd., a leading Textile mill in Bangladesh.
3. And finally showed a clear comparison among different parameters
like U%., CV%, Imperfection Index (thick/km, thin/km, neps/km),
hairiness and strength (CSP) of ring, rotor and air-jet yarn.

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Development of Spinning:
Seven thousand years ago spinning was already well established as a
domestic craft. At that time and until the early Middle Ages spinning was an
incredibly slow and tedious task. Throughout this period the spinning of one
pound of cotton into a yarn suitable for the weaving of what we would now
regard as a fairly heavy apparel fabric would keep as spinner busy for several
weeks.
A revolutionary change had come in spinning when ring spinning
machine was invented by an American named Thorp in 1828, and Jenk –
another American – added the traveler rotating around the ring in 1830. In
the intervening period of more than 170 years the ring spinning machine has
undergone considerable modification in detail, but the basic concept has
remained the same (Melissa, 2012). For many years any noteworthy further
development hardly seemed possible, yet a significant process of evolution
took place during this time. The productivity of the ring spinning machine
has increased by 40% since the late nineteen-seventies. This has been
achieved by using smaller ring and cop formats introducing piecing in the
winding department substantial improvements in rings and travelers.
Commercial rotor spinning began in 1967 in Czechoslovakia. Rotor
spinning has been characterized from the outset by incomparably higher
production potential than ring spinning this potential has been steadily
increased by the continuous rise in rotor and winding speeds. Rotor-spun
yarns have therefore always been successful where they could be
manufactured more cheaply than ring-spun yarns and proved suitable for the
range of application in question.
The first industrial pneumatic spinning frame, called PF-1, was
manufactured at the beginning of the 1970s in Poland in the WIFAMA
Textile Machinery Factory. The yarn formation in this spinning frame was
based on the open-end (OE) method with the product continuity being
broken during the yarn formation. The swirled air jet that formed the yarn
was generated by the suction of the air from the chamber (a sub-atmospheric
pressure chamber). The yarn was characterized by a specific structure and a
true twist. An invention by the Japanese company Murata was the next step
in the progress of air-jet spinning methods. At the beginning of the 1980s,
this company manufactured (and still manufactures) an air-jet spinning frame
in which the yarn is formed by means of the false-twist MJS (Murata Jet
Spinning) method and the product continuity is maintained during the whole
spinning process. The yarn obtained with this method has a carrier almost
without twist, which is braided on the yarn surface.
These two systems i.e. rotor and air-jet are very much popular and
economic among all other new spinning process. But as their spinning

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principle and product quality differ from each other so comparative

discussion often arises to choose a suitable one for a definite purpose.

Process Flow chart of Ring Spinning:

Blow room

Blow room Carding m/c

Breaker draw
Carding m/c frame

Breaker Draw Lap former

Frame
Comber
Finisher Draw
Frame Finisher draw
frame
Simplex
Simplex

Ring Frame Ring Frame

Auto-coner Auto-coner

(Carded Yarn) (Combed Yarn)

Process Flow chart of Rotor Spinning: Process Flow chart of Air-jet Spinning:

Blow room

Carding m/c

Blow room
Draw Frame I

Carding m/c
Draw Frame II

Draw Frame Draw Frame III

Rotor Spinning m/c Air-Jet Spinning m/c

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Basic Principle of Ring Spinning

The roving bobbins (1) are inserted in holders (3) on the creel (Fig.
01). Guide bars (4) guide the roving’s (2) into the drafting system (5), where
they are drawn to their final count. The drafting system is at an angle of 45-
60° and is one of the most important units on the machine, since it exerts a
very considerable influence on the uniformity of the yarn in particular.
After the resulting thin ribbon of fibers (6) leaves the delivery roller,
the twist necessary for imparting strength is provided by spindle (8) rotating
at high speed. In the process each rotation of the traveler on the spinning ring
(10) produces a twist in the yarn. Ring traveler (9) is also necessary for
taking up this yarn onto a tube mounted on the spindle. This traveler - a
remnant of the flyer on the roving frame - moves on a guide rail around the
spindle, the so-called ring (10). The ring traveler has no drive of its own; it is
dragged with spindle (8) via the yarn attached to it. The rotation of the ring
traveler lags somewhat behind that of the spindle due to the relatively high
friction of the ring traveler on the ring and the atmospheric resistance of the
traveler and the thread balloon between yarn guide eyelet (7) and traveler
(9).
This difference in speed between the spindle and the traveler results
in the thread being wound onto the tube. In contrast to the roving frame, the
ring spinning machine spindle operates with at higher speed than the traveler
(9). The yarn is wound up into a cylindrical cop form by rising and lowering
of the rings, which are mounted on a continuous ring rail.
The layer traverse of the ring rail is also less than the full winding
height of the tube. The ring rail therefore has to be raised slightly (shift
traverse) after each layer has been wound. For a time, machines were also
built featuring shift traverse produced by lowering the spindle bearing plate
rather than raising the ring rail. These machines are no longer available
today.

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Fig. 01: Principle of ring spinning (Operating principle, Ring spinning)

Basic Principle of Rotor Spinning
The rotor spinning machine is unlike any other machine in the short
staple spinning mill in the range of tasks it has to perform, namely all the
basic operations (Fig. 02):
• Sliver feed: A card or draw frame sliver is fed through a sliver guide
via a feed roller and feed table to a rapidly rotating opening roller.
• Sliver opening: The rotating teeth of the opening roller comb out the
individual fibers from the sliver clamped between feed table and feed
roller. After leaving the rotating opening roller, the fibers are fed to
the fiber channel.

Fig. 02: Principle of Rotor spinning ( Sheikh & Emeritus, 2013)

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• Fiber transport to the rotor: Centrifugal forces and a vacuum in the

rotor housing causes the fibers to disengage at a certain point from
the opening roller and to move via the fiber channel to the inside wall
of the rotor.
• Fiber collection in the rotor groove: The centrifugal forces in the
rapidly rotating rotor cause the fibers to move from the conical rotor
wall toward the rotor groove and be collected there to form a fiber
ring.
• Yarn formation: When a spun yarn end emerges from the draw-off
nozzle into the rotor groove, it receives twist from the rotation of the
rotor outside the nozzle, which then continues in the yarn into the
interior of the rotor. The yarn end rotates around its axis and
continuously twists-in the fibers deposited in the rotor groove,
assisted by the nozzle, which acts as a twist retaining element.
• Yarn take-off, winding: The yarn formed in the rotor is
continuously taken off by the delivery shaft and the pressure roller
through the nozzle and the draw-off tube and wound onto a cross-
wound package. Between takeoff and package, several sensors
control yarn movement as well as the quality of the yarn and initiate
yarn clearing if any pre-selected values are exceeded.

Basic Principle of Air-Jet Spinning

Sliver is fed into the machine and is further drawn out to the final
count and twist is inserted by means of a rotating vortex of high pressured
air. By the action of the vortex, the fiber ends eventually whirl around the
spindle tip and are thus twisted around the twist less yarn core and
transformed into a twisted yarn surface or cover fibers. This occurs at the
spindle tip.
Once inside the spindle tip, the yarn formation process is finished,
and the yarn can be taken off and wound onto a package.

Fig. 03: Air-jet yarn formation ( Vortex Spinning, Muratec)

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Fig 04: Air-jet spinning principle by Murata (MVS) (left) & by Rieter (J 10) (right)

Table-1: Process parameters for 20 Ne ring (carded), rotor and air-jet spun yarn:
Parameters Ring spinning Rotor spinning Air-jet spinning
Fiber type 100% cotton 100% cotton 100% cotton
(CIS Uzbekistan) (CIS Uzbekistan) (CIS Uzbekistan)
Staple length 28 mm 21mm* 28mm
Fiber fineness 4.1 Mic 4.1 Mic 4.1
Drawn Sliver 70 grain/yard 70 grain/yard 70 grain/yard
Hank
Roving Hank 0.78 Ne - -
T.M. 4.7 4.7 4.7
Yarn Count 20 Ne 20 Ne 20Ne
*We selected 21mm fiber for producing rotor yarn due to the process limitation of higher
length fiber in rotor machine.

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Machines Description
a) Machineries for yarn production
Ring Spinning Machine
Manufacturer: Zhangjiagang Jinqiao Light Machinery Co. Ltd
Model: FA507
Origin: China
Number of Spindle: 1008
Spindle speed: 14,500

Rotor Spinning Machine

Manufacturer: Schlafhorst
Model: SE12
Origin: Germany
Number of Head: 312
Rotor R.P.M.: 1, 25,000

Air-Jet Spinning Machine

Manufacturer: Muratec
Origin: Japan
Number of Head: 16
Delivery speed: 120-300 m/min

b) Machineries for yarn testing:

 Uster Tester 5
 Wrap reel
 Wrap block
 Lea strength tester
 Electrical balance

Test Result
Table-2: Experimental value of various parameters.
Properties Ring spun Rotor spun Air-jet spun yarn
yarn(Carded) yarn
Mass variation U% 11.03 10.17 9.68
CVm% 13.81 12.68 12.51
Imperfection Thin(-50%)/km 3.0 6.3 5.1

Thick(+50%)/km 98.0 32.8 22.0

Neps(+200%)/km(Ring); 135.2 24.7 44.5
(+280%)/km(Rotor)

IPI 236.2 63.8 71.6

Hairiness H 5.37 4.75 4.24
Sh 1.15 1.19 1.13
Strength (CSP) 2300 1750 1800

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Discussion
Comparison of mass variation
Evenness of air jet yarn is the highest. Rotor spun yarn shows higher
evenness than ring spun yarn.

Mass variation
15

10 Ring
Rotor
5
Air-jet

0
U% CVm
Fig 5: Comparison of mass variation among ring, rotor and air jet yarn (From table 2)

Roller drafting system is liable to produce more uneven yarn in ring

spinning and less irregularity in rotor spun yarn is the result of positive
influence of back doubling. [6]

Comparison of imperfection
Imperfection of rotor spun yarn is very much lower than ring spun
yarn but rotor spun yarn contains more thin places. IPI of air jet yarn lies
between ring and rotor yarn.

Fig 6: Comparison of IPI mass variation among ring, rotor and air jet yarn (From table 2)

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Comparison of hairiness
Air jet yarn shows least hairiness whereas hairiness of rotor spun
yarn is lower than ring spun yarn.
6

3
Hairiness
2

0
Ring Rotor Air-jet
Fig 7: Comparison of Hairiness mass variation among ring, rotor and air jet yarn (From table
2)

The higher hairiness of ring-spun yarns is caused by the uncontrolled

passage of edge fibers in roller drafting and friction occurred in balloon
control ring. In rotor spinning the wrapping fibers wound crosswise around
the yarn help to “bind-in” loose fiber ends.

Comparison of strength (CSP)

Strength of ring spun yarn is higher than rotor spun yarn whereas
strength of air jet yarn lies between ring and rotor yarn.
2500

2000

1500
CSP
1000

500

0
Ring Rotor Air-jet
Fig 8: Comparison of CSP mass variation among ring, rotor and air jet yarn (From table 2)

Strength of rotor spun yarn is lower due to its core twist structure.

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Summary of the experiment

• Mass variation of Rotor spun yarn is about 8% less and air jet
yarn is about 12% less than Ring spun yarn.
• IPI of Rotor spun yarn is about 27% and air jet is about 30% of
Ring spun yarn.
• Hairiness of Rotor spun yarn is about 12% less and air jet is
about 21% less than Ring spun yarn.
• Strength of Rotor spun yarn is about 24% less and air jet is about
20% less than Ring spun yarn.
120
100
80
60 Ring
%

40 Rotor
20 Air-jet
0
Mass variation Imperfection Hairiness Strength
Yarn Properties

Fig 9: Comparison of all yarn properties of rotor and air jet yarn with ring yarn (From table
2)

Conclusion
Spinners are always trying to produce better quality yarn with low
cost. But with the increase of quality cost also increase. Another important
parameter is production time. Rotor is the cheapest technique and produced
yarn evenness is also better than ring yarn. It is also a fast process. But
limitation of rotor yarn is less strength of the produced yarn. If it is possible
to increase rotor yarn strength then the yarn will be the best one. So
researchers should give emphasize on rotor spinning process. As most of the
time we consider yarn strength, almost all the yarns are produced in ring
spinning machine as it gives strong yarn. Another reason for greater
acceptance of ring yarn is that a wide range of count can be produced by
ring spinning system.

References:
Application Handbook of UT5, http://www.uster.com
Barber & Elizabeth (1995) : Hand spinning, Women's Work: The First
20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times, W. W. Norton &
Company, new edition, 1995.

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HVI and AFIS reports, Square spinning mills Ltd.

Lünenschloss, J., and Hummel, E. (1968): Comparative studies on open-end
and ring-spun yarns.
Melissa Mall ( 2012) : The History of Yarn
Operating principle , Ring spinning, http:// www.rieter.com/Ring Spinning/
Operating Principle
Ramesh & Anand ( 2008): Comparative Studies on Ring, Rotor and Vortex
yarn knitted fabrics, Autex Research journal, Vol. 8, No4, December2008
Sheikh & Emeritus ( 2013) : Development of open-end rotor spinning
system, Pakistan Textile Journal, vol- 3
U_T5_S800_The_measurement_of__the_yarn_diameter,
http://www.uster.com
Vortex Spinning: Vortex Spinning Machine, Operating Principle
http://www.muratec.net/tm/ products/vortex/
W. Klein; Manual of Textile Technology, New Spinning System, Vol-5, page-
252- 253;
W. Klein; Manual of Textile Technology, New Spinning System, Vol-5, page-
263- 264;

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