Indian Journal of Fibre & Textile Research
www.niscom.res.in
CODEN : IJFRET
VOLUME
27
ISSN : 0971-0426
NUMBER
3
SEPTEMBER 2002
CONTENTS
Thermal conductivity of unidirectional fibre composites made from yarns and
computation of thermal conductivity of yarns
S Kawabata & R S Rengasamy
217
Effect of process variables on the properties of air-jet textured yarns using
response surface design
Deepali Palta & V K Kothari
224
Influence of frictional characteristics of core and sheath in relation with coresheath ratio and spinning drums’ speed on tensile characteristics of DREF3 friction-spun yarns
K R Salhotra, S M Ishtiaque & R V M Gowda
230
Structure and properties of polyester MJS plied yarns
G K Tyagi, A Patnaik, A Goyal, K R Salhotra & S M Ishtiaque
236
Generating textile designs using cellular automata
S Rajasekaran & R Amalraj
242
Prediction of fibre quality from anatomical studies of jute stem: Part I 
Prediction of fineness
S Majumdar
248
Prediction of fibre quality from anatomical studies of jute stem: Part II 
Prediction of strength
S Majumdar
254
Development of protective clothing for pesticide industry: Part II — An
ecofriendly approach in selection of resin
Mona Suri & M Chakraborty
259
Modification of cotton fabrics via radiation graft copolymerization with acrylic
acid, acrylonitrile and their mixtures
Eglal H K El-Gendy
266
Contd
Preparation and characterization of guaran carbamate as a thickener in disperse
dye printing pastes
S H Nassar
274
Effect of hydrogen peroxide bleaching on sulphonated jute-cotton blended
fabric
Md. Ibrahim H Mondal
280
Short Communications
Influence of process parameters on hairiness of polyester MJS yarns
G K Tyagi & A Goyal
284
Mechanical properties of commingled yarn composites
Li Long, Wang Shanyuan & Yu Jianyong
287
Review Articles
Aramid fibres – An overview
M Jassal & S Ghosh
290
Microfibres  An overview
Samrat Mukhopadhyay
307
Engineering design of woven fabricsA recent approach
B K Behera & S B Muttagi
315
Conference Report
Forty-third Joint Technological Conference of ATIRA, BTRA, SITRA and
NITRA
J V Rao & A Das
323
Indian Journal of Fibre & Textile Research
Vol. 27, September 2002, pp. 217-223
Thermal conductivity of unidirectional fibre composites made from
yarns and computation of thermal conductivity of yarns
S Kawabata & R S Rengasamy
Received 1 March 2001; accepted 6 July 2001
Measurement of thermal conductivity of fibre composites made from different fibre assemblies
(yarns) consisting of apparel, industrial and high performance fibres is described. From the measured
thermal conductivity values of composites, the computation of longitudinal and transverse conductivity of
yarns is reported. The thermal conductivity of yarn along its axis is much higher than the thermal
conductivity in transverse direction for all types of fibres, except E-Glass, showing that the phenomenon
of thermal conductivity of fibres is anisotropic in nature. The behaviour of E-Glass in conducting the heat
is close to isotropic. Polyethylene filament yarn shows the highest anisotropy followed by Vectron,
Kevlar, Technora, linen, high-tenacity polyester and jute. For the fibres of same chemical structure, hightenacity fibres have slightly higher longitudinal and lower transverse thermal conductivity values
compared to apparel-grade fibres. Industrial-grade polyester and nylons have high anisotropy in
conducting heat than the apparel-grade fibres. The effect of fibre chemistry on the thermal conductivity of
fibres is predominant than the effect of orientation of the molecules.
Keywords: Anisotropy, Composites, Longitudinal conductivity, Thermal conductivity, Transverse
conductivity
Indian Journal of Fibre & Textile Research
Vol. 27, September 2002, pp. 224-229
Effect of process variables on the properties of air-jet textured yarns
using response surface design
Deepali Palta & V K Kothari
Received 4 April 2001; accepted 19 June 2001
The effect of the main process variables, namely overfeed, air pressure and texturing speed, on the
properties of air-jet textured yarns produced from three different polyester POY yarns of 115/36, 115/48
and 115/72 deniers has been studied. The interaction between the process variables has been taken into
consideration by using response surface methodology based on the Box-Behnken design without
producing samples with all the possible combinations of process variables. The response surface graphs
obtained by varying two variables at a time keeping the third variable at a constant level have been studied
and some of the graphs for air-jet textured yarns produced from 2 ends of 115/48 denier yarns are
presented and discussed. The physical bulk of air-jet textured yarns increases significantly with the
increase in overfeed and air pressure whereas it slightly decreases with the increase in texturing speed.
The instability increases with the increase in overfeed and texturing speed while it decreases with the
increase in air pressure. The tenacity values show a decreasing trend with all the three process parameters,
i.e. overfeed, air pressure and texturing speed. The overfeed is found to be the most dominant process
parameter out of the three parameters studied. The interaction effect of overfeed and air pressure is
maximum on the physical bulk while the interaction of texturing speed and overfeed has the least effect.
The interaction effect of texturing speed and overfeed on instability is maximum while that of overfeed
and air pressure is the least. The response surfaces of yarn tenacity indicate that there is a significant
interaction between air pressure and texturing speed whereas the interaction effect is least in case of
overfeed and texturing speed.
Keywords: Air-jet texturing, Box- Behnken design, Physical bulk, Polyester yarn, Response surface design,
Tenacity
Indian Journal of Fibre & Textile Research
Vol. 27, September 2002, pp. 230-235
Influence of frictional characteristics of core and sheath in relation with
core-sheath ratio and spinning drums’ speed on tensile characteristics of
DREF-3 friction-spun yarns
K R Salhotra, S M Ishtiaque & R V M Gowda
Received 13 March 2001; revised received and accepted 20 June 2001
The influence of frictional characteristics of core and sheath, core-sheath ratio, and spinning drums’
speed on the tensile characteristics of DREF-3 friction-spun yarns has been studied. The increase in fibreto-fibre friction due to the increase in the level of add-on finish on core fibres/sheath fibres/both the fibres
increases the yarn tenacity, initial modulus and energy-to-break. The tenacity increases by 18% for ~ 914% increase in fibre-to-fibre frictional force due to the increase in PEG-600 finish from 0% to 0.4%. For
the same level of AVF-5/32 finish, the fibre-to-fibre frictional force increases by
~ 14 -19% which results in 20% increase in tenacity. The increase in fibre friction does not affect the yarn
breaking extension but significantly increases the initial modulus. The core-sheath ratio of 70:30 results in
maximum yarn tenacity, initial modulus and energy-to-break. The increase in spinning drums’ speed from
3500 rpm to 5000 rpm increases the tenacity; the improvement in yarn tenacity is however maximum at
lower level of fibre friction and vice versa. The maximum tenacity is achieved at 5000 rpm spinning
drums’ speed and higher level of friction.
Keywords: Add-on finish, Core-sheath ratio, DREF-3 yarn, Frictional characteristics, Initial modulus, Yarn
tenacity
Indian Journal of Fibre & Textile Research
Vol. 27, September 2002, pp. 236-241
Structure and properties of polyester MJS plied yarns
G K Tyagi, A Patnaik , A Goyal, K R Salhotra & S M Ishtiaque
Received 23 March 2001; revised received and accepted 21 August 2001
The influence of ply twist and twist direction on the structure and properties of polyester MJS yarns
has been studied. It is observed that the effect of plying on fibre and yarn structural parameters is
significant. If the direction of Z-wrapped surface fibres is coincident with the direction of ply twist, the
helix angle and helix diameter are high, but the mean fibre extent is very low. The increase in ply twist
factor results in larger helix angle, larger helix diameter, smaller yarn diameter and lower fibre extent.
Yarn properties also remarkably improve after plying. The improvement in yarn properties depends upon
the amount and direction of ply twist. A plied yarn produced by twisting in a direction opposite to that of
wrapping of surface fibres is stronger, less extensible, less rigid, more even, and has higher abrasion
resistance. Yarns plied in the Z- direction are more rigid than those plied in the S-direction. While the
flexural rigidity of yarns plied in the S-direction with higher ply twist factor is considerably lower than
that of the corresponding single yarns, the flexural rigidity of those yarns ply twisted in the Z - direction
invariably decreases as the ply twist factor is increased.
Keywords : Air-jet spinning, Flexural rigidity, MJS yarn, Plying, Polyester yarn, Yarn properties
Indian Journal of Fibre & Textile Research
Vol. 27, September 2002, pp. 242-247
Generating textile designs using cellular automata
S Rajasekaran & R Amalraj
Received 19 April 2001; revised received and accepted 14 September 2001
Cellular automata (CA) are discrete dynamical systems of simple construction but complex and
varied behaviour. Algebraic techniques are used to give an extensive analysis of the global properties of a
class of finite cellular automata. The rule numbers in one-dimensional automata ranging from 0 to 255
have been tested and found to generate mostly geometric patterns. In two-dimensional automaton, the
various rule numbers have been tested in 8080 matrix with a grid size of five pixels and the matrix size
extended to 110110 with a grid size of three pixels each that resulted in chaotic, stable and high life. The
behaviour of the neighbourhood cells has been analyzed by their categories, grouped together and
represented graphically, resulting in uniform and non-uniform patterns, which may well be utilized for
textile designs. The algorithm is designed with an option to generate the rule number itself randomly and
hence the design generated is highly unpredictable and it is observed that different patterns are generated
to each iteration of the algorithm.
Keywords: Cellular automaton, Textile design
Indian Journal of Fibre & Textile Research
Vol. 27, September 2002, pp. 248-253
Prediction of fibre quality from anatomical studies of jute stem:
Part IPrediction of fineness
S Majumdar
Received 8 November 2000; revised received and accepted 2 August 2001
Some structural parameters of fibre bundles, as revealed by the microscopical study of the transverse
section of jute plant stems, have been found to have high positive correlations with filament fineness of
extracted fibres. Equations have been derived by linear regression analysis to predict the fineness of
extracted fibres. The study would not only be very helpful in selecting the fine fibre producing plants in
breeding programmes, but will also provide some information on the structure -quality relationship of jute
fibre, necessary for genetic upgradation of fibre quality.
Keywords: Anatomical study, Fibre fineness, Jute fibre
Indian Journal of Fibre & Textile Research
Vol. 27, September 2002, pp. 254-258
Prediction of fibre quality from anatomical studies of jute stem:
Part II  Prediction of strength
S Majumdar
Received 14 December 2000; revised received and accepted 2 August 2001
The tenacity values of bundles of jute fibres belonging to different varieties have been predicted from
the structure of their fibre bundles as seen in the transverse section of jute stems and the length of the
constituent ultimate cells by multivariate regression analysis. Jute plant stems having fibre bundles
comprising greater number of compactly arranged long and fine ultimate cells give fibres of higher
strength when retted under standard conditions.
Keywords : Anatomical study, Jute fibre, Tenacity
Indian Journal of Fibre & Textile Research
Vol. 27, September 2002, pp. 259-265
Development of protective clothing for pesticide industry: Part II ─
An ecofriendly approach in selection of resin
Mona Suri & M Chakraborty
Received 23 January 2001; revised received and accepted 31 July 2001
Two low formaldehyde-based resins along with one normal resin based on DMDHEU have been
applied separately as well as along with fluorocarbon finish on 100% cotton and 70/30 polyester-cotton
blended fabrics in varying concentration and their effects on add-on, durability in terms of water and oil
repellency and tensile strength studied to make the finishing process more ecofriendly and suitable for its
use in protective clothing for pesticide industry. The resins have also been evaluated in terms of their
influence on water vapour permeability, creasing behaviour, stiffness and free formaldehyde content of
the finished fabrics. It is observed that the type of resin and its concentration affect the durability of
fluorocarbon finish to laundering. Glyoxal-based resin exhibits minimum free formaldehyde content,
minimum loss in strength and better durability to laundering even at lower concentration. The optimized
recipe consists of the fluorocarbon finish, glyoxal-based resin, magnesium chloride as a catalyst and a
softener applied in acidic conditions, and could be used to prepare the dress materials suitable for the
persons working in pesticide industry.
Keywords: Cotton, Fluorocarbons, Polyester-cotton fabric, Protective clothing, Water vapour permeability
Indian Journal of Fibre & Textile Research
Vol. 27, September 2002, pp. 266-273
Modification of cotton fabrics via radiation graft copolymerization
with acrylic acid, acrylonitrile and their mixtures
Eglal H K El-Gendy
Received 29 December 2000; revised received and accepted 6 June 2001
Radiation-induced grafting of acrylic acid (AAc), acrylonitrile (AN) and their mixtures onto cotton
fabrics has been studied at 2.56 Gy/s gamma dose rate and 1:40 fabric-to-liquor ratio. The grafting process
was performed in the presence of aqueous AAc containing 0.75% (owm) Mohr’s salt, and 65:15
methanol-water mixture for AN. The effect of monomer concentration and irradiation time (dose) on the
degree of grafting has also been investigated. The dependence of the initial grafting rate on monomer
concentration follows a second order kinetics for AN and a negative first order one for AAc. Grafts from
monomer mixtures show different kinetic behaviour, depending on AN/AAc ratios in solutions with
constant monomers mixture concentration of 20%. The degree of grafting increases with the increase in
AN/AAc ratio from 20/80 to 80/20 for all the doses applied. The reaction order changes from a positive
order of 0.55 to a negative order of 0.41 as the ratio of AN/AAc decreases. The swelling properties of
cotton fabrics improve with the increase in degree of grafting of AAc and deteriorate with the increase in
graft yield of AN. Fabrics grafted with monomer mixtures show swelling behaviour between those of
AAc and AN. The electrical conductivity of grafts prepared from the monomers or their mixtures shows a
fast initial decrease followed by a tendency to level-off as the graft yield increases up to 35%, irrespective
of the type of monomer or the mixture ratio. The dyeability of cotton fabrics towards Sandocryl Blue B3G, a basic dye, improves considerably as the graft yield with AAc increases up to 20% with no further
appreciable changes for higher degrees of grafting. Grafts with AN and AAc/AN mixtures show lower
dyeing affinity than that for AAc grafts. The pH of the dye bath affects considerably the dyeability of the
grafted fabrics, giving an optimum condition at pH 3.9. Proposed schemes for grafting and dyeing of
cotton fabrics with Sandocryl Blue B-3G are given.
Keywords: Acrylic acid, Acrylonitrile, Cotton, Dyeing, Radiation-induced grafting
Indian Journal of Fibre & Textile Research
Vol. 27, September 2002, pp. 274-279
Preparation and characterization of guaran carbamate as a
thickener in disperse dye printing pastes
S H Nassar
Received 31 July 2000; revised received 27 July 2001; accepted 30 October 2001
Guaran gum has been isolated from guar seeds and subjected to chemical modification via
carbamation using different concentrations of urea. The guaran carbamate samples were analyzed for
nitrogen. The results show that the maximum nitrogen content is obtained on using 8g urea/20g guaran
gum at 150C for 30 min and further increase in urea concentration is accompanied by a decrease in the
nitrogen content. The printing pastes of these derivatives are characterized by a non-Newtonian
pseudoplastic behaviour and their apparent viscosity decreases with the increase in nitrogen content. The
utilization of guaran carbamate, either alone or in a mixture with a synthetic thickener Carbopol, in
printing polyester fabrics with disperse dyes has also been studied. It is observed that the K/S values and
fastness properties of the samples treated with guaran derivatives are nearly comparable with those of the
samples printed using Carbopol alone.
Keywords: Carbopol, Disperse dye, Guaran carbamate, Polyester fabric, Printing paste
Indian Journal of Fibre & Textile Research
Vol. 27, September 2002, pp. 280-283
Effect of hydrogen peroxide bleaching on sulphonated
jute-cotton blended fabric
Md. Ibrahim H Mondal
Received 25 April 2001; revised received and accepted 24 August 2001
Raw sulphonated jute, raw sulphonated jute-cotton and cotton fabrics were bleached under different
conditions by varying pH, treatment time, temperature, hydrogen peroxide concentration and fabric-liquor
ratio. Bleaching affected the brightness and breaking strength, and the optimum brightness (76.9%) and
breaking strength (13.6 kg/f) for the blended fabric were obtained with 6.5% hydrogen peroxide at pH 11,
temperature 90 oC, treatment time 100 min and fabric-liquor ratio 1:3. The thermal degradation of
bleached sulphonated jute-cotton fabric was characterized by TG analysis and compared with the
bleached cotton and bleached sulphonated jute fabrics. It has been observed that the thermal stability as
well as brightness and breaking strength of the blended fabric largely depend on the amount of lignin and
hemi-cellulose present in the fabric sample.
Keywords: Bleaching, Breaking strength, Thermal degradation
Indian Journal of Fibre & Textile Research
Vol. 27, September 2002, pp. 284-286
Influence of process parameters on hairiness of polyester MJS yarns
G K Tyagi & A Goyal
Received 19 March 2001; revised received and accepted 4 July 2001
The influence of processing parameters on the hairiness of polyester MJS yarns has been studied. It is observed that
the spinning speed has considerable influence on the hairiness followed by the first nozzle pressure. For a constant first
nozzle pressure (2.0 or 2.5 or 3.0), an increase in spinning speed from 180 m/min to 200 m/min increases the yarn
hairiness. The hairiness decreases with the decrease in fibre denier, main draft and yarn linear density, and on
annealing. Plying also significantly reduces the yarn hairiness; the reduction is more in Z-ply yarns and it increases
with the increase in ply twist.
Keywords: Air-jet spinning, First nozzle pressure, Main draft, Polyester yarn, Yarn hairiness
Indian Journal of Fibre & Textile Research
Vol. 27, September 2002, pp. 287-289
Mechanical properties of commingled yarn composites
Li Long, Wang Shanyuan & Yu Jianyong
Received 22 May 2001; revised received and accepted 18 September 2001
The unidirectional thermoplastic commingled yarn composites have been fabricated from three different varieties of
yarns in a hot press and then studied for the bending properties on DCS-500 tester using three-point loading system. It
is observed that the bending properties of composites, especially the transverse bending properties, are affected by the
mixing degree of reinforcing fibre/matrix fibres and bulkiness of reinforcing fibres bundle.
Keywords: Air-jet commingling, Glass fibre, Polypropylene
Indian Journal of Fibre & Textile Research
Vol. 27, September 2002, pp. 290-306
Aramid fibres – An overview
M Jassal & S Ghosh
Received 16 July 2001; accepted 24 September 2001
The history, preparation and structure of aramids in general and of Nomex and Kevlar aramid fibres
in particular are discussed. The structure-property correlation and the application areas of these fibres are
reviewed. Aramid fibres are characterized by their superior thermal properties, resistance to chemicals and
outstanding mechanical properties.
Keywords: Aramid fibre, Aromatic polyamides, Kevlar, Liquid crystalline spinning, Nomex, Technora
Indian Journal of Fibre & Textile Research
Vol. 27, September 2002, pp. 307-314
Microfibres  An overview
Samrat Mukhopadhyay
Received 6 June 2001; revised received and accepted 18 December 2001
A microfibre can be polyester, nylon, acrylic, rayon or lyocell, spun in such a way so that the
filaments are finer than 1.0 denier. The article is an overview on some of the important developments that
have taken place in the field of microfibres. The interesting applications of microfibres in various fields
have introduced leading fibre manufacturers like DuPont, BASF, Hoechst, Trevira, Teijin, Lenzing and
Wellman make their own brands of microfibres. Nevertheless, high cost, lack of experimentation, less
research in the field of new machinery and want of expertise to handle these fibres have hindered the
growth of the microfibre market. These areas need particular attention if the potential of this fibre is
required to be tapped.
Keywords: Artificial leather, Bi-component fibres, Microfibres, Texturing
Indian Journal of Fibre & Textile Research
Vol. 27, September 2002, pp. 315-322
Engineering design of woven fabricsA recent approach
B K Behera & S B Muttagi
Received 5 May 2000; revised received and accepted 20 December 2001
The fabric engineering is still largely based on experience and trial and error. The major task is to
develop comprehensive and user-friendly program packages with database on fibre, yarn and fabric
properties by the application of fabric objective measurement technology, a knowledge-based expert
system to provide graphical tools and numerical solutions for the fabric designer and engineer to meet the
needs of fabric manufacturers. Compared to mathematical modeling, artificial neural network can be a
powerful tool to model the non-linearities and complexities involved in the predictions of fabric
proprieties. Artificial neural network embedded expert system can be developed to aid in engineering the
design of woven fabric.
Keywords: Artificial neural network, Computer-aided designing, Fabric engineering, Woven fabric