Fibre Thermal Damage in Ring Spinning

Synthetic fibres are more susceptible to thermal damage and have to be processed at lower spindle speeds than cotton on ring spinning machines. Blends of polyester-cotton were spun using ring spinning machine at various spindle speeds. Analysis of the properties of the yarns and the fibres in the yarn revealed that spinning fibre blends with a high polyester content at higher spindle speeds resulted in weaker yarns. Thermal damage of the polyester fibre in the yarn could be seen from SEM photographs. Blending polyester with cotton significantly reduced the risk of thermal damage to the polyester fibre. Yarn hairiness decreased with the increase of spindle speed, but this reduction could not be attributed to fibre thermal damage alone.