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DOI: 10.1177/0040517510376272
2011 81: 22 originally published online 24 August 2010 Textile Research Journal
Rong Yin and Hong-bo Gu
Numerical simulation of quasi-stationary ring spinning process linear elastic yarn

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by fiaz jutt on March 24, 2012 trj.sagepub.com Downloaded from
Original article
Numerical simulation of quasi-stationary
ring spinning process linear elastic yarn
Rong Yin and Hong-bo Gu
Abstract
This article reports a theoretical investigation on the ring spinning balloon in the textile industry. Theoretical equations
incorporating yarn elasticity are obtained, which has been ignored by most previous models. This model differs from the
earlier ones in that their choice of yarn was perfectly flexible and inextensible; those used here we presume to be more
realistic. Discussions in this paper deal with the significance of various yarn elasticity parameters on varying yarn tension
and balloon shape. Some results are given, from which the model seems to be very efficient and reliable in the simulation
of the ring spinning process. Restrictions on the applicability of the theory are also pointed out.
Keywords
Ring spinning, yarn balloon, yarn elasticity, yarn tension
Introduction
Yarn balloons, generated by surfaces of rotating loops
of the yarn, are common phenomenon in the textile
industry such as spinning, unwinding and twisting.
Ring spinning is the dominant process for manufactur-
ing high quality yarn from staple bres for apparel
application. Because the spinning process carefully con-
trols bres, the quality of ring spun yarn has been used
as a benchmark to judge the quality of the yarn pro-
duced on other spinning systems.
1
Research on the ring spinning balloon began in the
nineteenth century.
2
A modern ring spinning frame and
some of its development history can be found in
Mack
3,4
and DeBarr.
5
Batra
68
summarized theoretical
contributions to ring spinning theory and introduced
numerical solutions for steady-state balloon shapes.
Lisini
9
proposed a non-stationary mathematical
model of the ring spinning process. Fraser
10,11
investi-
gated the characteristics of air-drag, such as the eects
of air-drag magnitude on balloon shape, tension and
the bifurcation behaviours of the solution. Stump
12
developed transient solutions of the non-linear time-
dependent partial dierential equations and studied
the stability of representative quasi-stationary balloons.
Zhu
13,14
studied the steady-state response and stability
of ballooning strings under the inuence of air drag and
used the Hopf-like bifurcation to predict the limit cycles
of ballooning strings. Fan
15
calculated the natural fre-
quencies and mode shapes of a single loop balloon.
Most recently, Ishtiaque
16
optimized the ring frame
process parameters for better yarn quality and produc-
tion. Tang
1719
estimated the air drag coecients on
ballooning cotton and wool yarns. Yarn tension and
balloon shape were obtained by experimental data.
In this paper, a more realistic model is established
incorporating yarn as a linear elastic one which has
been simplied by most investigators. The equations
of motion are derived following the approach of
Fraser.
20
Numerical solutions of these equations for
small values of the elastic parameter are presented.
MATLAB software is used to develop a program cor-
responding to the model. The eect of yarn elasticity in
a quasi-stationary balloon will be discussed. This model
can be used to simulate balloon shape and predict yarn
tension under given spinning conditions for a small
College of Mechanical Engineering, Donghua University, China.
Corresponding author:
Hong-bo Gu, College of Mechanical Engineering, Donghua University,
2999 North Renmin Road, Shanghai, 201620, China
Email: zjh@dhu.edu.cn
Textile Research Journal
81(1) 2227
! The Author(s) 2011
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DOI: 10.1177/0040517510376272
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strain and can facilitate further research into the reduc-
tion of yarn breakage in ring spinning.
Theoretical model
General consideration
To simplify the mathematical formula, the assumptions
are: (1) the yarn is a linear elastic; (2) the linear density
of the yarn is uniform; (3) the balloon shape is station-
ary relative to a frame of reference rotating with the
same angular speed as the traveller mass; (4) the trav-
eller rotational velocity o is constant.; (5) the yarn
delivery speed V
0
is constant.
The motion of a yarn segment is investigated in a
xed frame, <, whose origin is set at the yarn guide and
whose z-axis, coincident with the bobbin axis, is direc-
ted downward. A moving coordinate system, =, is also
considered, with origin at the yarn guide, which rotates
about its z-axis coincident with that of the xed refer-
ence frame. The moving coordinate system is allowed to
rotate about the z-axis at the traveller rotational veloc-
ity o, as shown in Figure 1.
Viewed from the moving coordinate system, the yarn
path is a xed space curve. The vector P represents the
steady-state of inextensible yarn and the distance mea-
sured along the yarn from guide-eye O to the point P is
s, while the vector R is the nal conguration consid-
ering the yarn is extensible and the distance is l. The
unit based vectors of a cylindrical coordinate system
used here is e
r
, e

, e
z
. Thus, a material point R on a
rotating yarn has coordinate (r,,z). The position vector
of R can be expressed as
R re
r
ze
z
1
The denition of strain is consistent with the usual
denition of strain in linear-elasticity theory as the ratio
of elongation with respect to the original length. If E is
Youngs modulus, T is the tension at R and A is the
cross- sectional area of unstretched yarn, this leads to
c
ol
os
1
T
AE
2
Thus by replacing the inextensibility assumption
made in previous papers, the formula becomes
oR
os

oR
os
1 c
2
3
Now consider a small yarn segment of length dl in
the nal conguration. The general equation of motion
of this segment is
m
R
a
n
a
k
a
s
dl d T F
pt
dl F
pn
dl F
g
dl 4
where m
R
is the mass linear density of elastic yarn; a
n
is
centripetal acceleration of the segment; a
k
is Coriolis
acceleration; a
n
is relative acceleration; dT is the incre-
mental tension by the yarn segment; F
pt
is the tangen-
tial direction air drag by the unit length of yarn; F
pn
is
the normal direction air force by the unit length of
yarn; F
g
is the gravitational force by the unit length
of yarn, as shown in Figure 2.
The relationship between m
R
and m
p
is given as
follow, where m
p
is the mass linear density of inexten-
sible yarn.
m
R
dl m
p
ds 5
O
r
z
R
Z
P
U
V
s
q
w
Figure 1. Ring spinning configuration.
T
F
pt
dl
F
pt
dl
T+d T
F
g
dl
m
R
a
s
dl
m
R
a
k
dl
m
R
a
n
dl
t
Figure 2. Dynamic analysis of yarn unit.
Yin and Gu 23
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Thus, after some rearrangement, the equilibrium
equation is
m
p
a
d Ts
ds
1 cF
pt
F
pn
F
g
6
where yarn unit tangential vector s can be written as
s
oR
ol

1
1 c
oR
os
7
The signicance of air drag has been extensively
investigated. In this paper air force is composed of
two parts: the component acting normal to the thread
line and tangential component of air drag. If V
s
is the
yarn delivery speed winding onto the bobbin, V
n
is the
velocity of traveller normal to s and V
t
is the velocity of
traveller parallel to s, thus
F
pn
p
n
V
n
j jV
n
8
F
pt
p
t
V
t
V
s
j jV
t
V
s
9
where p
t
is the tangential air drag resistance coecient,
p
n
is the normal air drag resistance coecient.
V
s

V
0
1 c
oR
os
10
V
t
V ss x R ss 11
V
n
V V
t
12
F
g
m
R
ge
z
13
where g is the acceleration of gravity.
a a
n
a
k
a
s
xxR 2xV
s

d
2
R
dt
2
14
d
2
R
dt
2
r r
_

2
e
r
r

2_ r
_
e

ze
z
15
where
_
d ,dt V
0
d ,ds.
Thus the r, and z components of this equation are,
respectively
m
p
V
2
s
r
00
V
s

2
r o
2
r
2oV
s
r
0
1 c
_ _

1
1 c
Tr
00
r
02

1
1 c
2
r
0
T
0
16a

p
n
o
2
r
3
r
0

0
1 c
2

r
02
z
02
_
p
t
1 c
2
or
2

0
1 c
2

V
s
1 c
_ _
2
r
0
m
p
V
2
s
r
00
2r
0
V
2
s

2oV
s
1 c
r
0
_ _

1
1 c
Tr
00
2r
0

0

r
0
T
0
1 c
2

p
n
r
2
o
2
1 c
2
r
02
z
02

3
2
p
t
1 c
2
or
2

0
1 c
2

V
s
1 c
_ _
2
r
0
16b
m
p
V
2
s
z
00

Tz
00
1 c

T
0
z
0
1 c
2

p
n
r
3
o
2

0
z
0
1 c
2

r
02
z
02
_
p
t
1 c
2

or
2

0
1 c
2

V
s
1 c

2
z
0
m
p
g 16c
where
0
d ,ds.
The boundary conditions of this problem are can be
expressed, as follows.
At the guide-eye: R0 0, that is r0 0,
0 0, z0 0. 17a
At the traveller: Rs
l
ae
r
he
z
, that is rs
l
a,
zs
l
h. 17b
The dimensionless equations
Before solving the stationary balloon equations, they
are dened in a dimensionless form so that the relative
importance of various terms can be clearly seen. The
dimensionless variables used here are similar to those
used by Fraser et al.
10
In the following denitions, a
stick over a parameter is used to indicate that it is
dimensionless, and a is the traveller ring radius.

R
R
a

r
a
e
r

z
a
e
z
re
r
ze
z
18a
s
s
a
18b

h
h
a
18c

T T,m
p
a
2
o
2
18d

V
s

V
s
oa
18e
p
t0
16p
t
a,m
p
18f
p
n0
16p
n
a,m
p
18g
g g,ao
2
18h
24 Textile Research Journal 81(1)
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The dimensionless elasticity parameter

m
p
o
2
a
2
AE

,o
2
a
2
E
18i
is zero for the inextensible model, and the density of the
yarn is , m
p
,A.
The system has the normalized form as follows:
r
00

B
2
r

V
2
s

02
1 B r

0
2

V
s

0
r
0

T
0

1
16
p
n0
r
3
r
0

0

r
02
z
02
p

1
16
p
t0
r
2

V
s
B
2
r
0
B
2
V
2
s
B

T
19a

00

2B
2
r
0

V
2
s

0
2B r
0

V
s
r

0

T
0

1
16
p
n0
r
2
r
02
z
02

3
2

1
16
p
t0
r
2

0
B

V
s

2
r

0
B rB

V
2
s


T
19b
z
00

T
0
z
0

1
16
p
n0
r
3

0
z
0

r
02
z
02
p

1
16
p
t0
r
2

0
B

V
s

2
z
0
B
2
g
B
2
V
2
s
B

T
19c
where B 1

T.
The boundary conditions appropriate to the station-
ary spinning balloon problem are as follows:
r0 0, 0 0, z0 0, r s
l
1, z s
l


h. 20
There are seven variables existing in Equation 19,
therefore two other boundary conditions need to be
added to solve these equations.

0
0 0, z
0
0

1

T
0

2
r
0
0
_
21
Derivation of the tension equation
To derive the tension equation, note that dierentiation
of equation gives
d
2

R
d s
2

d

R
d s
B

T
0
22
And since the normal air force is normal to the yarn
d

R
d s
F
pn
0 23
When use is made of the equation above and after
some rearrangement, the nal result is

T
_
s
0
r r
0

1
16
p
t0
r
2

0
BV
s

2
B g z
0
B
2
B 1,

T 1
ds 24
Computer simulation
A program is implemented on the above system using
MATLAB 7 with the shooting method. A Runge-Kutta
ODE solver is used to integrate the component
equations. As it applies to the cylindrical component
equations, the procedure is to solve as an initial value
problem, subject to initial conditions, with prescribed
trial values of s
l
,

T
0
and r
0
0. For a given

T
0
, adjust the
values of s
l
and r
0
0 until the two boundary conditions
are satised. For a given value c 40, the approximate
error satises the following function
E rs
l
1

zs
l


h

5c 25
According to Kothari and Leaf,
21
the ratio of the
tangential air-drag coecient to the normal air-drag
coecient is set to 0.05. The normal air-drag coecient
(normalized) used here is 3.3, balloon height (normal-
ized) is 10, yarn delivery speed (normalized) is 0.1 and
acceleration of gravity is 6 10
5
for simulation.
Before calculating the elasticity parameter, equation
18i is rewritten as below

,o
2
a
2
E

o
2
a
2
~
E
26
where
~
EcN,tex E,, is the modulus widely used
in bre and textile industry. Based on values of the
traveller ring radius a 1.75 10
2
2.5 10
2
m,
and the traveller rotational velocity o 1.047 10
3

2.618 10
3
rad,s, various initial moduli of dierent
bres for spinning and the maximum elasticity param-
eters are listed in Table 1.
22
Result and discussion
Figure 3 displays the partial curves of tension at the
guide-eye versus yarn length in the balloon from
Table 1. Initial modulus and maximum elasticity parameter of
staple fibres
Material
Initial
modulus
(cN/tex)
Maximum
elasticity
parameter
Vinylon 616924 0.001
Cotton 200300 0.002
Polyester 220440 0.002
Acrylic 220546 0.002
Lyocell 250270 0.002
Nylon66 88396 0.005
Viscose 4050 0.011
Cuprammonium 3050 0.014
Yin and Gu 25
by fiaz jutt on March 24, 2012 trj.sagepub.com Downloaded from
simulation. The major dierences of the various elas-
ticity parameters take place with a high tension single-
loop balloon. For tension at guide-eye less than 8, the
various curves have little dierence which can be clearly
seen. Thus, the high tension single-loop balloon is our
research emphasis. The results of various elasticity
parameters with the same yarn length are tabulated in
Table 2, where the distance l in the nal conguration
considering extensible yarn is given by the integral

l
_
s
0
1

Tds and the average strain is obtained by
c
a


l
s
1.
Yarn elasticity causes yarn tension to decrease. For
dierent from 0.001 to 0.014, tensions at guide-eye for

l 10.19 are decreased by 2.3% to 25.85%. Yarn elas-

ticity leads to a small increase in the maximum balloon
radius compared with the inextensible yarn balloon,
which is dierent from the conclusion obtained by
Fraser
20
for an unwinding problem. For dierent elas-
ticity parameters of 0.002 and 0.005, the maximum bal-
loon radii are increased by 1.98% and 5.33%, which are
displayed in Figure 4.
For material like cotton and lyocell, the elasticity
parameter is somewhat less than 0.002. Even for the
highest tension, the average strain is only 3.7%. If the
elasticity parameter reaches more than 0.01, the aver-
age strain is more than 15%. With regard to material
like viscose and cuprammonium, the average strains
can reach 16.59% and 19.88%, respectively. For such
large strain, the elastic factor greatly aects the ring
spinning process, which needs special attention.
However, the assumption is that all the materials are
linear elastic ones for simulation. The initial modulus
given assumes that the strain is less than 5%. For large
strain material, the present model can not give an accu-
rate value. Therefore, a framework of non-linear elastic
will be derived further to investigate ballooning yarn
having other deformation properties.
Conclusion
The present paper derives the equations for ballooning
elastic yarn which has been simplied by previous
investigators. Theoretical analysis of the result shows
that yarn tension is decreased by elasticity. Moreover, it
is observed that elasticity does cause a slight increase in
balloon radius. For material where the initial modulus
is larger than 200 (cN/tex), such as cotton and polyes-
ter, the average strain is less than 3.7%. However, if the
initial modulus is less than 50 (cN/tex), the average
strain reaches more than 15% which can not be
ignored. For large strain material, the non-linear elastic
model should be considered to enable more accurate
values to be obtained.
References
1. Stalder H. Ring-spinning advance. Textile Asia 2000; 31:
4346.
2. Ludicke A. Ein studie uber die ringspindel. Dinglers
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3. Mack C. Theoretical study of ring and cap spinning
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20
16
12
8
4
Yarn length in the balloon
Elasticity parameter

T
e
n
s
i
o
n

a
t

g
u
i
d
e
-
e
y
e
10
0.000
0.002
0.005
0.011
0.014
11 12 13 14
Figure 3. Curves of tension at guide-eye versus yarn length for
varying elasticity parameters (normalized).
2
0
4
6
8
10
Balloon radius
B
a
l
l
o
o
n

h
e
i
g
h
t
Elasticity parameter
0.000
0.002
0.005
0.011
0.014
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
Figure 4. Balloon profiles for varying elasticity parameters
(normalized).
Table 2. Results from simulation

l s
l

T
0

R
max
c
a
0.000 10.19 10.19 20.00 1.312 0.000
0.001 10.19 10.00 19.54 1.329 0.019
0.002 10.19 9.83 18.86 1.338 0.037
0.005 10.19 9.40 17.48 1.382 0.084
0.011 10.19 8.74 15.70 1.411 0.166
0.014 10.19 8.50 14.83 1.424 0.199
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