Apparel product

development
Topic : Unit 1
Material , specification , properties &
constituent of fibers

prepared by
KCT-cbe(s.valarmathi(10mat12))
Definition

 Fibre – A unit of matter characterized by

flexibility , fineness and a high length to
width ratio .
 Fibre staple – A fiber of definite length
(usually 10-500 millimeters )
 Filament – A fiber of indefinite length
HISTORY
1. The history of fibers is as old as human civilization. Traces of
natural fibers have been located to ancient civilizations all over
the globe. For many thousand years, the usage of fiber was
limited by natural fibers such as flax, cotton, silk, wool and plant
fibers for different applications.

2. Fibers can be divided into natural fibers and man-made or

chemical fibers. Flax is considered to be the oldest and
the most used natural fiber since ancient times
 Classification
 Classification of fibers can be done by:
Type (Natural and manufactured)

 Length (Short staple, long staple,

continuous filament)

 Size (Ultra fine, fine, regular, course)

NATURAL FIBRE –process
 Any hair like raw material directly obtainable
from an animal, vegetable or mineral source
that can be convertible after spinning into
yarns and then into fabric.

Under them there are various

 categories:
 PLANT
 ANIMAL

 Minerals
 Vegetable fibers they can be further on
classified as:
 (a) fiber occurring on the seed( raw cotton , java cotton)
 (b) phloem fiber (flax, ramie ,hemp, jute)
 (c) tendon fiber from stem or leaves (manila hemp, sisal
hemp etc)

 (d) fiber occurring around the trunk (hemp palm)

 (e) fiber of fruit/ nut shells (coconut fiber – Coir)
 cotton and linen are the most important among them
 Vegetable fibers
 Bast fibers
 Low Lignin content – Linen or Flax (raw
and bleached) and Ramie
 High Lignin content – Jute, Hem
Man made fiber process
 Man-made fibers are typically extruded into continuous filaments. The continuous
filaments can then be:

 used directly (in general, following further shaping or texturing)

 cut into staple length and then spun in a process resembling the one used for wool
or cotton

 Three main methods are used to produce the continuous filaments (primary
spinning):
 melt spinning
 dry spinning
 wet spinning.
 Melt spinning: The polymer is melted in a melt-extruder. The liquid is forced
through the spinner opening under pressure and cooled by a jet of air to form the
filament.
 A spinning preparation (spin finish) is generally applied at the bottom of the spinning
duct.
 The melting process is suitable for thermoplastic fibers such as polyester, polyamide,
polyolefin's (e.g. polypropylene) and glass fiber.
 Dry spinning: The polymer is dissolved in a solvent. The dissolved polymer is
extruded through a spinneret into a chamber of heated air or gas where the solvents
evaporates and the filament forms.
 This filament is further after-treated with a spin finish. The dry spinning process is
principally used for acetate, triacetate and polyacrylonitrile
 Wet spinning: The polymer is dissolved in solution. The solution is forced under
pressure through an opening into a liquid bath in which the polymer is insoluble. As
the solvent is dissipated the fiber forms.
 The solvent can be dissipated through extraction or by means of a chemical reaction
between the polymer solution and a reagent in the spinning bath (reactive spinning).
 The residual solvent can be extracted by simple washing. After the thread is formed
and the solvent is washed out, a spin finish can be applied. Wet spinning produces
viscose, acrylic fibers.
 Following primary spinning, the applied treatments vary, depending on the final
product and the processed fibre. Two simplified process sequences can be identified
for this stage:
 1. process for the manufacturing of continuous filament in flat or texturised form
 2. process for the manufacturing of staple fibres
 Important fiber properties
 Fiber morphology-
 Morphology is the science of form and so fiber morphology relates to the shape
and appearance of fibers
 The ideas are applied to both man made and natural , staple fibers and
continuous filaments
 Fiber fineness –
 fiber diameter which is measured in micrometers , can only really apply to fibers
which are circular or nearly circular ,such as some man made fibers and wool

 Mass per –unit length (linear density) can easily be applied to irregular cross
sections , which make up the majority of fibers . Effectively ,this quantity is a
measure of cross sectional area since

 Cross- section area X length X fiber density = mass

 Mass = cross section area X fiber density

 If the fiber density is a constant for a given fiber then the mass –per unit length is
just a constant multiple of the cross section area
 Conti …
 Air Flow Measurement. Neither of the above measurements may be very
accurate if there is variation along the length of fibre or large variation
between fibres.
 With cotton in particular, the micronaire test value, or similar, is used to
assess fineness.
 The basic principle is that the air flow through a fixed mass of fibre in a
standard chamber will be determined by the average fineness(and length) of
the fibres.

 Linear Density-TEX - The linear density, in tex, is the mass in grams of

1000 metres of the material.

 Fibre Tensile Properties – Tensile stress is the pull along the direction of
the major axis of the fibre.

Stress = Load/ Area of cross section

Elastic Recovery
Elastic Recovery= recovered extension ⁄ total extension
=(extended length – recovered length) ⁄ (extended length-original length)

Regain and Moisture Content

Moisture Content(%)=(mass of moisture in the sample ⁄ mass of the undried sample)*100
Moisture Regain(%)=(mass of moisture in the sample ⁄ mass of the dry sample)*100

 Fiber luster – looking at an object it is the reflected light from it that can be seen on a
mirror surface , we gat a specular reflection in which the reflected rays of light are parallel
to each other .
 Other surface may give a diffuse reflection where the incident light rays are reflected in
different direction
Fibers-yarn –fabrics end uses

Molecular Properties Fibre structure

Yarn structure Fibre properties Non woven structure

Yarn
Fabric structure
properties

Fabric properties

End use behavior

Identification of the fiber
 Identification of Fibers
 BURNING TEST
 This test helps to identify fibers. Once fibers are identified it will help the
buyer to choose as per requirement, and not be cheated by salesmen.
 Procedure:- For the burning test:-
 Take out a yarn from the fabric.
 Burn one end of the yarn either with a match stick or burning candle.
 Check the following.
 1. How the fiber catches fire.
 2. Type of flame.
 3. Smell after burning.
 4. Ash left behind.
 Answers to all these points will to help to identify the fibers.
 FIBRE INFLAME TYPE OF FLAME SMELL ASH
 FIBRE FINENESS: 
Fibre fineness is another important quality characteristic which plays a
prominent part in determining the spinning value of cottons.
 If the same count of yarn is spun from two varieties of cotton, the yarn spun
from the variety having finer fibres will have a larger number of fibres in its
cross-section and hence it will be more even and strong than that spun from the
sample with coarser fibres.
 Fineness denotes the size of the cross-section dimensions of the fibre.
 AS the cross-sectional features of cotton fibres are irregular, direct
determination of the area of croo-section is difficult and laborious.
 The Index of fineness which is more commonly used is the linear density or
weight per unit length of the fibre. The unit in which this quantity is expressed
varies in different parts of the world.
 The common unit used by many countries for cotton is microgrammes per inch
and the various air-flow instruments developed for measuring fibre fineness are
calibrated in this unit. 
 Following are some methods of determining fibre fineness.
 gravimetric or dimensional measurements
 air-flow method
 vibrating string method
 Some of the above methods are applicable to single fibers while the majority of
them deal with a mass of fibers.
 As there is considerable variation in the linear density from fiber to fiber, even
amongst fibers of the same seed, single fiber methods are time-consuming and
laborious as a large number of fibers have to be tested to get a fairly reliable
average value.
 It should be pointed out here that most of the fineness determinations are likely to
be affected by fiber maturity, which is an another important characteristic of cotton
fibers.
 FIBROGRAPH:

Fibro graph measurements provide a relatively fast method for determining
the length uniformity of the fibers in a sample of cotton in a reproducible
manner.
 Results of fibro graph length test do not necessarily agree with those
obtained by other methods for measuring lengths of cotton fibers because of
the effect of fiber crimp and other factors.
 Fibro graph tests are more objective than commercial staple length
classifications and also provide additional information on fiber length
uniformity of cotoon fibres.
 The cotton quality information provided by these results is used in research
studies and quality surveys, in checking commercial staple length
classifications, in assembling bales of cotton into uniform lots, and for other
purposes.
 Fibro graph measurements are based on the assumptions that a fiber is
caught on the comb in proportion to its length as compared to toal length of
all fibres in the sample and that the point of catch for a fibre is at random along
its length
 DIFFERENT METHODS OF TESTING MATURITY:
MATURITY RATIO:
The fibres after being swollen with 18% caustic soda are examined under the microscope
with suitable magnification. The fibres are classified into different maturity groups depending
upon the relative dimensions of wall-thickness and lumen.
 However the procedures followed in different countries for sampling and classification differ
in certain respects. The swollen fibres are classed into three groups as follows
 Normal : rod like fibres with no convolution and no continuous lumen are classed as "normal"
 Dead : convoluted fibres with wall thickness one-fifth or less of the maximum ribbon width are
classed as "Dead"
 Thin-walled: The intermediate ones are classed as "thin-walled"
  
 A combined index known as maturity ratio is used to express the results.
 Maturity ratio = ((Normal - Dead)/200) + 0.70 
where,
N - %ge of Normal fibres
D - %ge of Dead fibres
 MATURITY CO-EFFICIENT:
Around 100 fibres from Baer sorter combs are spread across the glass slide(maturity slide) and the overlapping fibres
are again separated with the help of a teasing needle.
 The free ends of the fibres are then held in the clamp on the second strip of the maturity slide which is adjustable to keep
the fibres stretched to the desired extent.
 The fibres are then irrigated with 18% caustic soda solution and covered with a suitable slip.
 The slide is then placed on the microscope and examined. Fibres are classed into the following three categories
 Mature : (Lumen width "L")/(wall thickness"W") is less than 1

 Half mature : (Lumen width "L")/(wall thickness "W") is less than 2 and more than 1

 Immature : (Lumen width "L")/(wall thickness "W") is more than 2

 About four to eight slides are prepared from each sample and examined.
 The results are presented as percentage of mature, half-mature and immature fibres in a sample. The results are also
expressed in terms of "Maturity Coefficient"
 Maturity Coefficient = (M + 0.6H + 0.4 I)/100 Where,

 M is percentage of Mature fibres

 H is percentage of Half mature fibres

 I is percentage of Immature fibres

 If maturity coefficient is 

 less than 0.7, it is called as immature cotton

 between 0.7 to 0.9, it is called as medium mature cotton

 above 0.9, it is called as mature cotton

 FIBRE LENGTH: 
The "length" of cotton fibres is a property of commercial value as the price is generally based
on this character.
 To some extent it is true, as other factors being equal, longer cottons give better spinning
performance than shorter ones.
 But the length of a cotton is an indefinite quantity, as the fibres, even in a small random
bunch of a cotton, vary enormously in length.
 Following are the various measures of length in use in different countries
 mean length
 upper quartile
 effective length
 Modal length
 2.5% span length
 50% span length
 Mean length:
It is the estimated quantity which theoretically signifies the arithmetic mean of the length of all
the fibres present in a small but representative sample of the cotton. This quantity can be an
average according to either number or weight.
 Upper quartile length:
It is that value of length for which 75% of all the observed values are lower, and 25% higher.
 Effective length:
It is difficult to give a clear scientific definition. It may be defined as the upper quartile of a 
numerical length distribution
eliminated by an arbitrary construction. The fibres eliminated are shorter than half the
effective length
 Modal length:
It is the most frequently occurring length of the fibres in the sample
and it is related to mean and median for skew distributions, as
exhibited by fibre length, in the follwing way.

(Mode-Mean) = 3(Median-Mean)
 where,
Median is the particular value of length above and below which
exactly 50% of the fibres lie.
 2.5% Span length:
It is defined as the distance spanned by 2.5% of fibres in the
specimen being tested when the fibres are parallelized and randomly
distributed and where the initial starting point of the scanning in the
test is considered 100%. This length is measured using "DIGITAL
FIBROGRAPH".
 50% Span length:
It is defined as the distance spanned by 50% of fibres in the specimen
being tested when the fibres are parallelized and randomly distributed
and where the initial starting point of the scanning in the test is
considered 100%. This length is measured using "DIGITAL
FIBROGRAPH
 The South India Textile Research Association (SITRA) gives the following
empirical relationships to estimate the Effective Length and Mean Length from the
Span Lengths.
 Effective length = 1.013 x 2.5% Span length + 4.39 
Mean length = 1.242 x 50% Span length + 9.78
 FIBRE LENGTH VARIATION: 
Eventhough, the long and short fibres both contribute towards the length irregularity of
cotton, the short fibres are particularly responsible for increasing the waste losses, and
cause unevenness and reduction in strength in the yarn spun. The relative proportions of
short fibres are usually different in cottons having different mean lengths; they may even
differ in two cottons having nearly the same mean fibre length, rendering one cotton more
irregular than the other.It is therefore important that in addition to the fibre length of a cotton,
the degree of irregularity of its length should also be known. Variability is denoted by any
one of the following attributes
 Co-efficient of variation of length (by weight or number)
 irregularity percentage
 Dispersion percentage and percentage of short fibres
 Uniformity ratio
 Uniformity ratio is defined as the ratio of 50% span length to 2.5% span length expressed as
a percentage. Several instruments and methods are available for determination of length.
Following are some
 shirley comb sorter
 Baer sorter
 A.N. Stapling apparatus
 Fibrograph
 uniformity ration = (50% span length / 2.5% span length) x 100
uniformity index = (mean length / upper half mean length) x 100
Some important testing
images

Mega sitar ele trash

Multi strength tester
Nep tester
Ana moisture tester
ANY QUESTIONS ?
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THANK YOU