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Vortex spinning technology

a a b
Nazan Erdumlu , Bulent Ozipek & William Oxenham
a
Department of Textile Engineering, Faculty of Textile Technologies and
Design , Istanbul Technical University , Istanbul , Turkey
b
North Carolina State University, College of Textiles , Raleigh , NC , USA
Published online: 06 Dec 2012.

To cite this article: Nazan Erdumlu , Bulent Ozipek & William Oxenham (2012) Vortex spinning technology,
Textile Progress, 44:3-4, 141-174, DOI: 10.1080/00405167.2012.739345

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 Textile Progress
Vol. 44, Nos. 3-4, September-December 2012, 141–174

Vortex spinning technology

Nazan Erdumlua∗, Bulent Ozipeka, and William Oxenhamb
a
Department of Textile Engineering, Faculty of Textile Technologies and Design,
Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey; bNorth Carolina State University,
College of Textiles, Raleigh, NC, USA
(Received 7 September 2011; final version received 1 October 2012)

The latest development in air jet spinning technology is the Murata Vortex Spinner
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(MVS), which was firstly introduced at Osaka International Textile Machinery Show
OTEMAS ’97 by Murata Machinery Ltd. targeting the regular wear and casual fashion
markets. Besides the main characteristics of modern spinning technologies, such as
elimination of processing stages and ease of automation, distinctive features of the
system are claimed to be the capability of spinning 100% carded cotton yarn and
obtaining ring-like yarn structure at extremely high production speeds of up to 500
m/min. This paper outlines the historical background of vortex spinning technology, the
spinning principle and the structure of the yarn spun on this system, as well as the factors
having impacts on the yarn quality and hence on the end use properties. In addition,
the properties of the vortex yarns and fabrics are evaluated in comparison to other spun
yarns and fabrics. Finally, the paper deals with the economics of this novel system.
Keywords: vortex spun yarn, air-jet, spinning, MVS

1. Introduction
1.1. Definition
Vortex spinning system is the latest development in air-jet spinning technology. The yarn
spinning machine, based on the innovative principle that uses an air vortex created in one
nozzle block, is termed as a vortex spinning machine by Murata Machinery Ltd, whereas it
is called an air-jet spinning machine by Rieter. Rieter’s air-jet spinning machine is quite new
but the Murata vortex spinning machine currently dominates the market. For this reason
most experimental studies conducted for exploring various aspects of vortex spinning were
conducted on a Murata Vortex Spinner (MVS). Therefore, in this paper, the system is
referred to as the vortex spinning system, and the yarn produced on this machine is called
a vortex-spun yarn. In addition, the yarn produced on Murata Jet Spinner (MJS) is called a
jet-spun yarn.

2. History of air-jet spinning

The use of high-speed airflow in spinning initially appeared as a variation of open-end
spinning principle. In this system, the open end of the yarn is rotated by the air vortex, in
which the fibres are fed and brought into contact with the yarn end. While the open yarn

∗
Email: nazanokur@[Link]
ISSN 0040-5167 print / ISSN 1754-2278 online

c 2012 The Textile Institute
[Link]
[Link]
 142 N. Erdumlu et al.

tail rotates, the yarn is withdrawn by rollers, and each revolution of the yarn tail in the air
vortex inserts a turn of twist into the yarn [1]. The so-called PF1 System never achieved
any commercial success.
As a way of ‘fasciated’ yarn production based on false twist principle, where the twist
is imparted pneumatically, air-jet spinning technology was firstly introduced by DuPont in
1956 and included in a number of spinning methods. The methods included applying false
twist to filaments and then heat setting, or applying only false twist to filaments together
with a certain amount of staple fibre. The latter was found suitable for short staple spinning
and the product obtained by using this method was called a ‘sheaf yarn’. In this yarn, a part
of staple fibres were tied firmly by the other part along yarn length at random intervals [2,3].
The following inventions of DuPont were based on an original concept, which involved
the drafting of filament tows and breaking them into staple fibre form and then applying
a torque to fibre bundle via an air vortex generated by a twisting jet. This system was
later modified for spinning natural staple fibres. In 1971, DuPont developed a fasciated
yarn made of staple fibres under ‘NandelTM’ trademark and the process was patented as
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the ‘RotofilTM’ process. The principle of the RotofilTM process was similar to the previous
system; however, in this process, staple fibre bundles were wrapped by surface fibres [2]. It
is interesting to note that the system, very similar to the original DuPont system (filaments
to jet-spun yarn), was a part of a joint venture between DuPont and SSM Group and was
termed as UniplexTM machine. This was exhibited at the International Machinery Exhibition
in 2003 and it was developed for processing aramids, but could have applications for almost
all filaments [4].
Murata Machinery Ltd. from Japan has developed the most commercially successful
air-jet spinning machines to date and continues to dominate globally the air-jet spinning
technology. The company introduced its first air-jet spinning machine, Murata Jet Spinner,
MJS 801, at the American Textile Machinery Exhibition in 1982 (ATME ’82). The machine
contains a three-roll drafting system and is equipped with two air-jet nozzles that create
air vortices rotating in opposite directions. In this system, the second nozzle creates false
twist on the fibre bundle coming out of front roller. Meanwhile, between the front roller
and the first nozzle in which the air vortex is created in the opposite direction, the twist is
partially removed and some of the edge fibres are separated from the fibre bundle and they
move through the second nozzle either in untwisted form or with a little twist. On the other
hand, the core fibres are guided in twisted form through the second nozzle. The resulting
structure leaving the second nozzle is indicated to have untwisted core wrapped by edge
fibres that were twisted in the opposite direction to that of the upstream twist. The system is
stated to be suitable for processing man-made fibres and their blends with cotton; however,
it was not capable of spinning 100% cotton or rich blends of cotton yarn [2].
Subsequently, Murata modified the drafting systems and developed new nozzle designs
for better control of airflow so as not to disturb the arrangement of the fibre bundle while
achieving higher delivery speeds. The new nozzle designs were also claimed to be capable
of spinning 100% cotton [2,5,6].
At the International Textile Machinery Exhibition in 1983 (ITMA ’83), Toyoda and
Howa from Japan exhibited their air-jet spinning systems, however; these two systems had
little commercial success [2].
Another Japan-based manufacturer, Toray, exhibited its first air-jet spinning machine,
the AJS 101, at the American Textile Machinery Exhibition in 1985 (ATME ’85). The
system was suitable for short-staple man-made fibres and their blends with cotton. The
machine was later improved so as to contain more automation and be able to achieve higher
speeds, but this also had no commercial impact [2,5,7].
 Textile Progress 143
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Figure 1. Murata Roller Jet Spinner (RJS 804) [6].

In 1987, Spindlefabrik Suessen from Germany exhibited its system known as Spin As-
sembly Winding at International Textile Machinery Exhibition (ITMA ’87) and developed
air-jet spinning machines under the trademark of PLYfiLTM Spin Assembly Winders. Two
variants of the system were developed for short-staple and long-staple yarn manufacturing.
In this system, two slivers of fibres are drafted simultaneously, and the two yarns are spun
in the same position and wound parallel on the same package. In the following stage, a
two-for-one-twister is used to obtain a plied yarn [2,5].
A similar concept was introduced by Murata as the Murata Twin Spinner in 1989 for
spinning two-ply jet-spun yarns by using both short- and long-staple fibres. Later, Murata
introduced Roller Jet Spinner RJS 804 at International Textile Machinery Exhibition in
1995 (ITMA ’95) with the production speed of up to 400 m/min. In this system, a set of
rubber-coated balloon rollers were used instead of a second nozzle as shown in Figure 1
but it could not achieve commercial success [2,6–8].
The latest concept in air-jet spinning developed by Murata Machinery Ltd. is known
as the vortex spinning system, which uses a modified single air nozzle. This system
is claimed to be capable of producing 100% carded cotton yarns, which have a ring-
spun-like appearance and higher tenacity due to higher number of wrapping fibres
when compared with the previous air-jet spinning systems ([Link]
com; accessed 24 January 2007) [9–11].
The first vortex spinning machine the Murata MVS 810 was exhibited at Osaka In-
ternational Textile Machinery Show in 1997 (OTEMAS ’97). The machine had a delivery
 144 N. Erdumlu et al.

speed of up to 400 m/min. The modified version of this machine, MVS 81T, was developed
to produce twin vortex-spun yarns. The yarns spun on two spinning units pass through
the same yarn cleaning and waxing unit and are wound on the same package. These are
twisted on a two-for-one twister to obtain a plied vortex yarn ([Link]
com/Articles/2002/August/Features/Compact_Or_Fancy.html; accessed 11 January 2009)
[12,13]. Subsequently, Murata introduced the MVS 851 spinning machine. Different from
the previous machine, MVS 851 is not capable of spinning core yarns. Murata exhibited
a new version of vortex spinning machine, the MVS 861, in 2003. This version allowed
the spinning of core yarns and achieved higher delivery speeds of up to 450 m/min, while
ensuring uniform winding tension with a tension ruler and enabling conical winding as
well as reduced energy consumption [13,14]. Recently, Murata introduced its third gener-
ation vortex spinning machine, Vortex III 870, at ITMA 2011. This machine is available
for up to 96 units with a maximum production speed of 500 m/min. In this machine,
Spinning Tension Stabilization (STS) System is used to obtain consistent and reliable
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yarn quality, thanks to a special friction roller used instead of the yarn withdrawal nip
rollers ([Link] accessed 12 Septem-
ber 2012).
Rieter from Switzerland introduced their J10 air-jet spinning machine at the 2009
International Textile Machinery Exhibition in Istanbul. The machine was claimed to
allow yarn delivery speed of up to 450 m/min., and the yarn spun on this machine is
marketed under the “ComforJet R
” trademark ([Link]
alternative-spinning-systems/the-various-spinning-methods/air-jet-spinning/development/;
accessed 12 September 2012). At ITMA 2011, Rieter exhibited J20 air-jet spinning ma-
chine. It is a double-sided machine with 120 spinning units; therefore, it offers flexibility
and high productivity with minimum space requirements ([Link]
yarn-systems/products-services/air-jet-spinning/j-20-air-jet-spinning-machine/; accessed
18 April 2012).

3. Vortex spinning system

3.1. Principle of yarn formation mechanism
The spinning unit of MVS is shown in Figure 2 [14]. In MVS, a drawn sliver is fed to a
four-line drafting system. The four-line drafting zone, which is illustrated in Figure 3, is
made up of a set of front rollers (D), middle rollers provided with control aprons (C) and
two back rollers (A and B) [15]. The drafted fibres delivered from the drafting unit then pass
through the nozzle block. The nozzles in the nozzle block induce swirling air currents to
twist the fibre bundle. The nozzle block also contains a needle holder with a twisting guide
surface which gently twists around the longitudinal axis of the needle holder and a guide
member. The nozzle block is followed by a hollow spindle through the inlet of which the
guide member is projecting. The fibre bundle is converted into yarn while passing through
the hollow spindle. The finished yarn is wound onto a package after the yarn cleaner has
removed any defects [10,15]. The principle of vortex spinning, spinning apparatus with
its components and the nozzle block in MVS are illustrated in Figures 4–5 respectively
[10,14,15].
When the fibre bundle leaves the front rollers of the drafting zone, the fibres are sucked
into the fibre bundle passage through the air stream created by the nozzles. As the cross-
sectional area of the fibre bundle passage gradually decreases, fibres are held together more
firmly as they move towards the needle-like guide member. Subsequently, the fibre bundle
 Textile Progress 145
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Figure 2. Spinning unit of Murata Vortex Spinner [14].

is caused to turn around the guide member as the bundle moves towards the hollow spindle
and is twisted by the swirling air current provided by the nozzles [10].
This twisting motion tends to flow upwards towards front rollers of the drafting unit;
however, the guide member protruding from fibre bundle passage prevents this upward

Figure 3. Drafting system in Murata Vortex Spinner [15].

 146 N. Erdumlu et al.
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Figure 4. Longitudinal sectional view of the spinning apparatus in Murata Vortex Spinner [10].

motion. Therefore, the upper parts of some fibres are kept open as they depart from the nip
line of front rollers. At this stage, while the leading ends of most of the component fibres
of the fibre bundle are drawn into the hollow spindle by the preceding portion of the fibre
bundle being formed into the yarn, trailing ends of some fibres exposed to the swirling air
current are separated from fibre bundle and thereby twine over the spindle. They are then
caused to wrap around core fibres to form a yarn like a real twisted spun yarn as they are

Figure 5. Principle of vortex spinning [10].

 Textile Progress 147
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Figure 6. Nozzle block [10].

drawn into the spindle. The finished yarn is wound onto a package after any defects present
are removed [8,10,15].
Pei and Yu’s 2009 study [16] examined the principle of yarn formation mechanism in the
vortex spinning system by developing a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics
(CFD) model to simulate airflow characteristics inside the air nozzle. They stated that a
negative pressure zone appears in the centre of the twisting chamber causing two air currents
flowing into the twisting chamber, i.e. one through the nozzle inlet and another through
the yarn passage of the hollow spindle. While the air current flowing through the nozzle
inlet sucks the fibre strand delivered from the front rollers into the nozzle, the air current
flowing through the yarn passage of the hollow spindle gives tension to the trailing end of
the yarn passing through the hollow spindle. The collision between two air currents causes
a disturbance of the airflow, and a reverse flow and a vortex are formed, helping to separate
fibres exposed to the airflow. The separated ends of the fibres are inverted at the inlet of the
spindle and rotated around the spindle, and they are helically wound around the fibre strand
while the leading ends of the fibres are joined with the preceding portion of the strand and
are subjected to helical twisting. Any fibres with both ends separated from the strand, flow
downstream and are expelled from the outlet of the nozzle and become lost fibres. Pei and
Yu [16] concluded that the simulation results confirm the principle of yarn formation in the
vortex spinning system proposed by the machinery maker.
The yarn formation zone in the Rieter J10 air-jet spinning machine is shown in Figure 7
[17]. Both MVS and Rieter J10 air-jet spinning machines are based on a similar principle;
however, the fibre strand in Rieter J10 air-jet spinning machine is fed to a four-line drafting
unit, and the drafted strand is fed via a fibre feed channel to the vortex chamber. The
yarn is withdrawn through a channel positioned above the fibre feed channel and guided
to the winding device [17]. MVS – MVS 861 – is shown in Figure 8 (T. Bame, Private
communication, 19 May 2009, Muratec, USA).

3.2. Structure of vortex-spun yarn

As a fasciated yarn, vortex-spun yarn is composed of an untwisted core of parallel fibres
held together by wrapper fibres. The yarns obtained in MVS, which uses only one modified
air jet, is stated to differ from jet-spun yarns produced on the Murata Jet Spinner with
 148 N. Erdumlu et al.
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Figure 7. Longitudinal sectional view of the yarn formation zone in Rieter J10 air-jet spinning
machine [17].

respect to the number of wrapper fibres. Since fibre separation occurs everywhere in the
outer periphery of the fibre bundle, a higher number of wrapper fibres are obtained with
the vortex-spun compared with jet-spun yarns as shown in Figures 9 and 10. This leads to
the production of a spun yarn with more of a ring-spun-type appearance and also with
higher tenacity [9–11].
 Textile Progress 149
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Figure 8. Murata Vortex Spinner – MVS 861 (T. Bame, Private communication, 19 May 2009,
Muratec, USA).

Figure 9. Number of wrapping fibres in MJS and MVS [9].

Figure 10. (a) Vortex-spun yarn (MVS); (b) Jet-spun yarn (MJS) [11].
 150 N. Erdumlu et al.

Table 1. Fibre configuration in vortex-spun yarn.

Tracer fibre configuration Class % of fibres

Straight 21.00
Hooked (trailing) 20.50
Hooked (leading) 6.40
Hooked (both ends) 23.00
Looped 11.50
Entangled 10.25

Note: From Basal and Oxenham [18].

Basal and Oxenham [18] examined fibre alignment and migration behaviour in 100%
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carded cotton vortex-spun yarns of count 28 Ne (cotton count) by using a tracer fibre
technique combined with image analysis. According to the results of fibre configuration
classification, the percentage of straight fibres, trailing hooked fibres and the fibres hooked in
both ends were found to be similar and higher than that of the leading hooked, entangled and
looped fibres in vortex-spun yarns as shown in Table 1. The images captured during analysis
of yarn structure revealed that most of tracer fibres first show core fibre characteristics, lying
parallel to the yarn axis and then wrapper fibre characteristics, being helically wound onto
yarn core as described in the ideal case.
Zou et al. [19] explored the three-dimensional configuration of fibres in vortex-spun yarn
structure based on the principle and process of yarn formation. They established equations
of fibre path for three types of fibres within yarn structure as core fibre, migration wrapper
fibre and regular wrapper fibre on the basis of fibre movement rule as shown in Figure 11,
and they analyzed the yarn spinning parameters influencing the fibre configuration.
They obtained the spatial trajectory for the core fibre in vortex-spun yarn as follows:

 
l−L
z = Vy t 0 ≤ t < tl = , (1)
Vy

where V y is the yarn delivery speed, l is the fibre length and L is the distance between the
front roller and the spindle.
They expressed parameter of the spatial trajectory for the migration wrapper fibre by
Equation (2):

⎧
⎨ x = r cos [ωf (t − tl)] ,
⎪
y = r sin [ωf (t − tl)] , (2)
⎪
⎩
z = Vy (t − tl) ,

where V y is the yarn delivery speed and ωf is the mean angular velocity of the open-end
trailing fibre.
 Textile Progress 151
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Figure 11. Fibre spatial trajectory in vortex-spun yarn [19].

Finally, they expressed the spatial trajectory of the regular wrapper fibre by Equation (3):
⎧
⎪ dy
⎪
⎪ x= cos [ωf (t − t2)] ,
⎪
⎪ 2
⎨
dy (3)
⎪
⎪ y= sin [ωf (t − t2)] ,
⎪
⎪ 2
⎪
⎩
z = Vy (t − t2) ,

where V y is the yarn delivery speed and ωf is the mean angular velocity of the open-end
trailing fibre and dy is the yarn diameter. Consequently, the theoretical analysis revealed
that yarn delivery speed, distance from the front roller nip point to the hollow spindle,
mean angular velocity for the open-end trailing fibre, which is dependent on the nozzle air
pressure, fibre length and yarn diameter influence the fibre configuration in vortex-spun
yarns. The effects of the above-mentioned factors are further discussed in Section 3.3.
 152 N. Erdumlu et al.
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Figure 12. Four types of structural classes of MVS yarns: (a) Class 1, (b) Class 2, (c) Class 3, (d)
Class 4 [20].

Tyagi et al. [20] utilized a tracer fibre technique for structural analysis of
polyester–cotton yarn samples in two different blend ratios (80/20 and 65/35) and in two
different yarn counts (30 Ne and 40 Ne). They studied the fibre configuration in vortex-spun
yarns to classify fibre types within the yarn, and the yarn structure.
Tyagi et al. [20] categorized fibres into three types as core fibres, wrapper fibres and
wild fibres and observed that vortex-spun yarns have about 50–60% core fibres and the
remaining is wrapper or wild fibres.
They classified the structure of vortex-spun yarns into four main categories as Class 1:
tight wrappings, Class 2: long wrappings, Class 3: irregular wrappings and Class 4:
unwrapped sections as shown in Figure 12.
The structural classes of vortex-spun yarns described by the method, which appears to
be applicable to analyse changes in the yarn structure in relation to processing parameters,
are denominated respectively as follows:
Class 1: It has a core of parallel fibres, which is tightly wrapped by a ribbon of fibres. Many
sections of this class include crimped core, as the yarn structure consists of almost
50% core fibres and 50% wrapper fibres, and they form troughs and crests along yarn
length.
Class 2: It is similar to the Class I structure, but with long regular wrappings. The core and
wrapper fibres form troughs and crests alternately.
Class 3: It has a core of parallel fibres wrapped by fibres at varying angles. In this class, yarn
sections with very low proportions of wrapper fibres or loose wrappings also exist.
Class 4: It has no wrapper fibres. In this class, core fibres are generally untwisted but yarn
sections with some residual twist are observed.
The classification proposed by Tyagi et al. [20] was used by Erdumlu [21], and it was
found that the proportion of Class 1 structure decreases as the yarn becomes finer, and the
average length of Class 1 structure is higher in coarse yarns. For Class 2 structure, it was
 Textile Progress 153

Figure 13. Schematic diagram of fibre types in yarn structure [22].

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observed that the percentage and average length of Class 2 structure increase as the yarn
becomes finer. For other classes, the percentage and average class length are not influenced
by yarn count.
Vortex-spun yarn structure was also studied by Soe et al. [22], who adopted the clas-
sification scheme of fibre arrangement developed for jet-spun yarns by Chasmawala et al.
[23], and modified it to investigate the structure of carded cotton vortex-spun yarns of 30
Ne count in comparison with ring and open-end rotor-spun yarns by using a tracing fibre
technique. They classified fibre arrangements as wild, wrapper-wild, wrapper, belly-band
and core as illustrated in Figure 13.
Each classification is described as follows:

1. Core fibres: Straight or inclined fibres that constitute a major proportion of yarn.
2. Wild fibres: Fibres that randomly protrude from the main body of yarn in various
directions. Loops forming along the yarn axis are also classified as wild fibres.
3. Wrapper fibres: Fibres wrapped around core fibres in the same direction or with
some degree of inclination with respect to the yarn central axis.
4. Wrapper-wild fibres: Fibres wrapped around core fibres in a direction different from
wrapper fibres, with some degree of inclination with respect to the yarn central axis
and with a scattered appearance. There is no common angle for wrapper-wild fibres
because of their disordered appearance.
5. Belly-band fibres: Fibres wrapping the main yarn body composed of either core
fibres or core and wrapper fibres in upright position with respect to the yarn central
axis.

Soe et al. [22] illustrated the idealized surface structures of these three types of yarns
as shown in Figure 14.
Based on the visual analysis of yarn structures, Soe et al. [22] reported that core fibres in
ring-spun yarn are completely embedded in yarn in helical position, with the yarn diameter
varying as fibres locate from the inner part to the outer part and back within the yarn.
While belly-bend fibres were observed to appear rarely, wrapper fibres were not observed
in ring-spun yarn structures. Wrapper fibres, which are the most noticeable characteristics
of vortex-spun yarn, were found to exist periodically along the yarn length in vortex-spun
yarns, and hence they concluded that vortex-spun yarn has the highest proportion of wrapper
 154 N. Erdumlu et al.
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Figure 14. Schematic diagram of yarn structures [22].

fibres of three yarn types. Absence of twist in core fibres of vortex-spun yarn was also
regarded as significant. Moreover, most wild fibres in vortex-spun yarns were observed
to protrude from wrapper fibres rather than from core because the core is encircled by
wrapper fibres. Fibres in a loop formation along the yarn axis are categorized as wild fibres
in the vortex-spun yarn structure. All designated fibre types were found in vortex-spun yarn,
although the occurrence of belly-band fibres was very low. The number of belly-band fibres
was found to be highest in open-end rotor-spun yarn, followed by ring-spun yarn [22].
As previously mentioned, the leading end of fibres in the vortex-spun yarn structures are
considered to form yarn core, while the trailing ends wrap around the core in the ideal case
[15]. However, the observations of tracer fibres in the vortex-spun yarn structure conducted
by Soe et al. [22] indicated that only some of the core fibres become wrapper fibres. These
are the fibres, which because of their trailing ends, are spread out from the fibre bundle and
twisted into the sheath of thin layer of wrapper fibres by means of swirling air current. In
order to estimate the number of wrapper fibres in vortex-spun yarn, they untwisted the yarn
until reaching zero twist for wrapper fibres. By separating untwisted wrapper fibres from
twisted core fibres and counting, they estimated the proportion of core fibres transformed
into wrapper fibres at 11%.
Soe et al. [22] also measured yarn helix angle and yarn diameter of three yarn types,
as well as wrapper fibre pitch, wrapper fibre crest width, wrapper fibre length for one-turn
twist and wrapper fibre helix angle for vortex-spun yarn. The yarn helix angles for ring and
open-end rotor-spun yarns were measured as the inclination to yarn axis on each core fibre,
while the wrapper fibres’ inclinations were measured as yarn helix angle for vortex-spun
yarn. It was found that wrapper fibre parallelization in vortex-spun yarn is the same as the
arrangement of core fibres in ring-spun yarn. It was found to be difficult to identify fibre
 Textile Progress 155

Figure 15. Wrapper fibre/core fibre ratio carded cotton vortex-spun yarns by weight [21].
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arrangements in open-end rotor-spun yarns, as the outer surface layer of the yarn has a
non-uniform appearance in comparison to ring- and vortex-spun yarns. Using the values
of wrapper fibre pitch, wrapper fibre crest width and wrapper fibre length for a one-turn
twist, they calculated the ratio of wrapping area made by the layer of wrapper fibres to the
surface area of yarn for a one-turn twist as 0.57 for vortex-spun yarn.
Kuppers et al. [24] visualized vortex spinning process by using video and high-speed
flash photography to understand yarn formation mechanism and hence to analyze yarn
structure. They found that depending on yarn count, approximately 75–85% of fibres reach
at the inlet of hollow spindle, thus forming core fibres. The residual fibres, which account
for 15–25% of total fibres in the bundle, rotate around hollow spindle and are wound as
wrapper fibres around core fibres. However, when the scanning electron microscope images
of the untwisted yarn of comparable count captured by Basal [8] are considered, a higher
percentage of wrapper fibres seem to be indicated. It was also reported that the ratio of
wrapper fibres is almost 10% lower at yarn count of 16 Ne when compared with yarn count
of 35 Ne. In addition, they stated that the number of fibres in a cross section rise with yarn
count. Accordingly, the yarn composed of cotton fibre with a fineness of micronaire value
4.0 in a yarn with a count of 35 Ne has about 100 fibres in its cross section, while a yarn
with a count of 16 Ne has 240 fibres.
As reported by Sukigara and Suzuki [25], who investigated the effect of structural
parameters on mechanical properties of viscose rayon vortex-spun yarns of count 30 Ne,
between 48% to 53% of the yarn surface per unit length is covered with wrapped fibres, in
other words, almost in accordance with the findings of Soe et al. [22].
According to Erdumlu [21], the wrapper fibres constitute an increasing ratio of total
fibres as yarn becomes finer. In addition, it was observed that cotton–polyester-blended
yarn has lower ratio of wrapper fibres to core fibres when compared with that of 100%
cotton yarns in the same count (Figure 15).
The ratio of wrapper fibres can be explained with regard to raw material properties
and the wrapping fibre formation mechanism in vortex spinning. While the leading ends
of component fibres of the fibre bundle are drawn into the hollow spindle by the preceding
portion of the fibre bundle being formed into yarn, the trailing ends of some fibres exposed
to the swirling air current are separated from the fibre bundle to form wrapper fibres.
More fibres in the fibre bundle means greater inter-fibre cohesion, which may restrain the
separation of trailing ends of fibres resulting in fewer wrapper fibres in coarse counts.
Besides, the whirling effect of air stream is expected to be greater when fewer fibres
 156 N. Erdumlu et al.

exist in the fibre bundle, leading to more wrapper fibres. Because of shorter and uneven
mean fibre length, and therefore poor inter-fibre cohesion and higher bending rigidity, it is
more difficult for cotton fibre to wrap and join the yarn structure properly within the yarn
formation zone compared with the polyester fibre of fixed diameter and controlled fibre
length distribution. As a consequence, cotton fibre is more prone to be disturbed by airflow
in the yarn formation zone, making separation of the trailing end of fibres from the fibre
bundle easy.

3.3. Effects of processing parameters on the structure and properties

of vortex-spun yarns
The spinning parameters and conditions that were proved to determine the struc-
ture, mechanical and physical properties of vortex-spun yarns can be listed as follows
[18–20,24,26–40]:
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1. Nozzle air pressure

2. Yarn delivery speed
3. Distance between front roller nip point and spindle
4. Draft
5. Nozzle angle
6. Spindle diameter
7. Spindle working period
8. Cone angle of spindle
9. Spindle type (cross section)
10. Yarn count
11. Fibre composition

3.3.1. Nozzle air pressure

The theoretical and experimental studies on the effects of nozzle air pressure on vortex-spun
yarns have shown that the nozzle air pressure directly influences the fibre configuration and
hence the yarn structure, which in turn affects yarn properties in the vortex spinning system
[8,18–20,26–34].
According to the numerical analysis of the flow field inside the nozzle block conducted
by Zou et al. [26], increase in the nozzle air pressure results in an increase in the velocity of
the airflow at the exit of jet orifice, then in turn an increase in the axial, radial and tangential
velocities inside the nozzle block.
Increasing radial velocity inside the nozzle block is stated to enhance the expanding
effect on fibre bundle that results in more open-trail-end fibres, and consequently more
wrapper fibres are produced. In the meantime, increasing the tangential velocity inside the
nozzle block is expected to increase the efficiency of twisting the open end of fibres that form
wrapper fibres. On the other hand, when the nozzle pressure is too high, the separated fibres
are easily taken out of the fibre bundle by high-speed airflow, which produces more wild
fibres and causes more fibre loss, and reduces the uniformity of the vortex-spun yarn [26,27].
Tyagi et al. [20] observed that an increase in nozzle air pressure results in an increase
in tight wrappings, which were classified as Class 1 structure, while the long wrappings
(Class 2 structure) and the proportion of unwrapped sections (Class 4 structure) decrease
with increase in nozzle air pressure. However, these structures were observed to change into
irregular wrappings (Class 3 structure) and wild fibres at a very high nozzle air pressure of
6 kgf/cm2.
 Textile Progress 157

The influence of nozzle air pressure on fibre configuration was also observed in vortex-
spun yarns. Basal [8] found that the mean migration intensity, which is defined as the rate
of change in radial position of a fibre in yarns, is higher at higher nozzle air pressure. The
theoretical analysis conducted by Zou et al. [26] revealed that an increase in nozzle air
pressure causes an increase in the mean angular velocity of free (open) end of fibre, and
results in increasing twist received by fibre bundle. The fibres are integrated more tightly
into the yarn structure due to the fact that the wrapper fibres whirl around the yarn core with
a greater force with increase in nozzle air pressure, and in turn, increasing the proportion of
tight wrappings, as experimentally confirmed by Tyagi et al. [20]. In addition, the width of
migration wrapper fibre and regular wrapper fibre shown in Figure 15 was stated to decrease,
while the number of wrappings created by regular wrapper fibres rises with increase in
mean angular velocity of the trailing end of the fibre [19]. These results indicate that yarn
diameter decreases and the yarn becomes more compact due to an increase in the incidence
of wrapper fibres and tight regular wrappings, and consequently the flexural rigidity of the
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yarn increases; in other words, the yarn becomes stiffer as the free movement of core fibres
is prevented when higher nozzle air pressure is used in yarn preparation [18,27,29].
With regard to yarn hairiness, Tyagi et al. [20] stated that influence of increase in nozzle
air pressure from 4 to 5 kgf/cm2 on the structural classes of vortex-spun yarns results in
obtaining lower hairiness up to a certain limit; however, hairiness increases due to increase
in wild fibres at further increase in nozzle air pressure to the level of 6 kgf/cm2. On the other
hand, Ortlek and Ulku [30,31] found that hairiness of 100% carded cotton vortex-spun yarns
shows a decreasing trend with increased nozzle pressure as a result of better wrapping due
to the fact that whirling force of the nozzle air stream increases with increasing nozzle air
pressure. On the basis of the study conducted by Basal and Oxenham [18], it was revealed
that higher nozzle air pressure and the smaller spindle diameter result in lower hairiness.
They also observed that hairiness is lower at higher nozzle angle and higher nozzle air
pressure, supporting the belief that twist increases at higher nozzle angle and nozzle air
pressure, and fibres are integrated more tightly into the yarn structure.
According to Tyagi et al. [28], despite the fact that the number of core fibres decreases
with increase in nozzle air pressure, the increased tight wrappings and reduction in pro-
portion of unwrapped sections result in improvement in tenacity; however, it was found
that tenacity decreases due to significant change of tight regular wrappings into irregular
ones in addition to increase in wild fibres at the nozzle air pressure of 6 kgf/cm2, which is
again inconsistent with the results revealed by Ortlek and Ulku [30,31], who observed a
continuously increasing trend in tenacity along with the increasing nozzle air pressure.
With regard to breaking elongation, Tyagi et al. [28] observed that increased tight
wrappings with increase in nozzle air pressure caused lower breaking elongation, but the
changes in the yarn structure with further increase in nozzle air pressure caused increase in
breaking elongation. On the other hand, Ortlek and Ulku [30] found that breaking elongation
of vortex-spun yarns increases with increase in nozzle air pressure. In addition, Ortlek and
Ulku [31] observed that breaking elongation of combed-cotton vortex-spun yarns is higher
than that of their carded counterparts and increase in breaking elongation as a result of
increase in nozzle air pressure is higher in combed-cotton vortex-spun yarns, which was
attributed to the higher length of wrappings in combed yarns comprising fibres with higher
mean length.
The studies on vortex-spun yarns also revealed that yarn evenness and imperfections
are affected significantly by the nozzle air pressure. According to Tyagi et al. [28] and
Ortlek and Ulku [30], the yarn evenness deteriorates, and the number of thin places, thick
places and neps increases with increase in nozzle air pressure, which is mainly attributed
 158 N. Erdumlu et al.

to increase in fibre loss at higher pressure. Ortlek and Ulku [31] also reported that the
effect of increase in nozzle air pressure with regard to yarn evenness and the number of
thin places was found to be higher in carded cotton vortex-spun yarns when compared with
combed yarns. In addition, it is noteworthy to mention that Ortlek and Ulku [31] observed
an increase in the number of thick places and neps with increase in nozzle air pressure in
carded cotton yarns, while this trend was not clear with regard to combed cotton vortex-spun
yarns, in particular for the number of thick places. They concluded that these results could
be attributed to lower short fibre content in combed slivers fed in spinning zone, supporting
the explanation that higher nozzle air pressure results in an increase in fibre loss.
In order to explain the generation of thin places in vortex-spun yarns that has been
generally attributed to fibre loss by researchers so far [28,30,31], Zou et al. [32] carried
out force analysis of a separated fibre twined over the top outer surface of hollow spindle
in twisting chamber based on the attenuation of low flow field inside nozzle block in the
vortex spinning system. They determined the critical angular velocity of the fibre with open
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trailing end that rotates around the hollow spindle as a function of the fibre length located
in the yarn core and the radius of the area in which the fibres are situated. The critical
angular velocity is regarded as a measure of whether the leading end of the fibre is pulled
out from the yarn tail or not, which is indicated to be able to explain the generation of fibre
loss and yarn thin places. They commented that when the fibre length that is located into
the vortex-spun yarn core increases or the radius decreases, higher critical angular velocity
is needed to pull out the core fibre from the vortex-spun yarn tail; in other words, higher
nozzle air pressure is required, which results in greater fibre loss and more thin places.
As previously mentioned, increasing the nozzle air pressure can increase the velocity of
the swirling air current in twisting chamber, and then increases the angular velocity of fibre
with open trailing end, which can enhance wrap intensity and improve vortex-spun yarn
tenacity. However, according to the force analysis conducted by Zou et al. [32], too large a
nozzle air-pressure causes angular velocity to exceed beyond critical level, resulting in the
core fibre being pulled out from the vortex-spun yarn and increasing the fibre loss and the
number of thin places. Therefore, they claimed that increasing the nozzle air-pressure first
enhances the tenacity of the vortex-spun yarn, and then deteriorates yarn quality, which
agrees with the experimental results of Tyagi et al. [20,28]. In addition, when the trailing
ends of fibres leave spiral fibre passage into twisting chamber due to negative pressure, the
leading length of fibres embodied into vortex-spun yarn trail is relatively shorter. These
fibres are easily disturbed by the swirling air current and break away from vortex-spun yarn
tail, ultimately causing fibre loss. They concluded that when the negative pressure at the
inlet of the twisting chamber is high, the leading portions of the fibres enter the vortex-spun
yarn tail more favourably and are infrequently affected by the swirling air current, which
can reduce fibre loss [32].
As far as the low-stress characteristics of polyester–cotton vortex-spun yarns are con-
cerned, Tyagi and Sharma [29] reported that increase in nozzle air pressure leads to im-
provement in structural integrity, increase in abrasion resistance, tensile energy, tensile and
compressional resilience of vortex-spun yarns; however; they all deteriorate when the noz-
zle air pressure reaches 6 kgf/cm2. Furthermore, the compressional energy of vortex-spun
yarns decreases when the nozzle air pressure increases, but at the nozzle air pressure level
of 6 kgf/cm2, the yarns require more compressional energy due to bulky and loose yarn
structure caused by irregular wrappings and wild fibres.
In two studies, Tyagi and Sharma [33,34] investigated the low-stress response and
permeability, water vapour diffusion, wickability, absorbency and thermal insulation of
scoured and finished fabrics woven with polyester–cotton vortex-spun yarns produced at
 Textile Progress 159

various nozzle air pressures, nozzle distances and yarn delivery speeds. Plied vortex-spun
yarns in two different counts, namely 30/2 Ne and 40/2 Ne, were used as weft yarns in
the production of twill woven fabrics. It was observed that compressional energy, shear
energy and coefficient of friction of fabrics decrease initially when the nozzle air pressure
increases. However, at a nozzle air pressure of 6 kgf/cm2, these all increase [33]. With
regard to thermal comfort characteristics, it was found that air permeability and water
vapour diffusion of scoured fabrics initially increase with increase in nozzle air pressure,
but then decrease at the pressure of 6 kgf/cm2. On the other hand, wickability and thermal
insulation of these fabrics reveal an initial decrease with increase in nozzle air pressure and
then increase at an air pressure of 6 kgf/cm2 [34].

3.3.2. Yarn delivery speed

In the vortex spinning system, yarn delivery speed can be as high as 500 m/min in the latest
version of spinning machine, Vortex III 870. However, undesired results in terms of yarn
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quality might be accomplished at high delivery speeds.

The yarn delivery speed determines the residence time of fibres in the yarn formation
zone. The results obtained by Tyagi et al. [20,28] revealed that the decreasing efficiency of
airflow at higher delivery speeds due to reduced time for fibres to whirl over hollow spindle
results in an increase in the amount of irregular wrappings (Class 3 structures), unwrapped
sections (Class 4 structures) and wild fibres, while a consequent reduction is observed in
tight regular wrappings (Class 1 structures) and long wrappings (Class 2 structures). Such
a kind of structural worsening of vortex-spun yarn was observed to result in deterioration
of yarn evenness and an increase in the number of yarn imperfections. According to the
theoretical analysis conducted by Zou et al. [19], higher delivery speed increases the width
of migration wrapper fibre, and decreases the number of wrappings created by regular
wrapper fibres. In addition, Basal and Oxenham [18] observed that a smaller yarn diameter
is obtained at lower delivery speeds, since the fibre bundle is exposed to the whirling force
for a longer period and hence receives more twist. As a result of higher twist and more
tight regular wrappings, it was found that hairiness decreases as the yarn delivery speed
is reduced [18,21,28,30]. Moreover, all values regarding tensile properties of vortex-spun
yarn decrease with increased delivery speed [21,28,31].
As Tyagi et al. [28], and Ortlek and Ulku [30] also observed, yarn evenness deteriorates
and the number of thin and thick places increases when a certain delivery speed is exceeded.
On the other hand, they found that the number of neps decreases as the delivery speed
increases, which was also confirmed by Erdumlu [21]. According to Basal and Oxenham
[18], lower yarn delivery speed causes lower number of thick places. Erdumlu [21] observed
that higher delivery speed deteriorates yarn physical properties in terms of yarn evenness,
number of thin places and tenacity in viscose rayon vortex-spun yarns. The lower the
delivery speed, the better the stated yarn properties.
It was reported by Tyagi et al. [28] and Tyagi and Sharma [29] that increase in de-
livery speed causes deterioration in yarn’s structural integrity and leads to a decrease
in abrasion resistance of vortex-spun yarns possibly due to poor and improper wrap-
pings formed at higher delivery speeds. Furthermore, increase in delivery speed reduces
the yarn tensile energy and tensile resilience, and leads to a decrease in yarn flexural
rigidity.
According to Kuppers et al. [24], maximum and optimum delivery speeds with regard
to yarn quality depend on yarn count. They stated that while the maximum delivery speed of
600 m/min is reached for a yarn count of 15 Ne, the optimum delivery speed is 480 m/min
for the same yarn count. On the other hand, maximum delivery speed is 350 m/min and
 160 N. Erdumlu et al.

optimum delivery speed is 300 m/min for yarn count of 50 Ne. They also determined the
stability of the spinning process by monitoring ratio between the air speed in the fibre
guidance element and the yarn delivery speed depending on the yarn count. They suggested
that finer yarns require higher ratio, therefore delivery speed should be reduced at constant
air speed. The limiting ratio that determines the spinning limit is stated to be between 12
and 19, and a further increase in the delivery speed can only be reached by increasing air
speed in fibre suction element.
Lower yarn delivery speed results in a slightly lower ratio of wrapper fibres to core
fibres, which can be attributed to the fact that the airflow caused by drafting rollers at a
high surface speed of the front roller disturbs fibre bundle more, which results in more
fibre ends separated from the main fibre strand. Moreover, the yarns spun by using lower
delivery speeds have a higher proportion and higher average length of Class 1 structures
when compared with those of yarns spun at higher yarn delivery speeds. The proportion
and average length of Class 2 structure shows an opposing trend for cotton yarn samples
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when compared with the behaviour of cotton yarns in terms of the proportion and average
length of Class 1 structure [21].

3.3.3. Distance between front roller nip point and spindle

The distance between front roller nip point and spindle in the vortex spinning system
was found to have impact on the amount of fibre loss and the number of wrapping fibres
[15,19,20,26–28,32].
Zou et al. [19,32] reported that the fibre length and the distance between the front
roller nip point and the inlet of the hollow spindle has a significant impact on the length
of fibre situated in the yarn core. The core fibre length increases along with the increasing
fibre length and shorter distance between the front roller nip point and the spindle. If this
distance increases, the length of the fibre embodied into the vortex-spun yarn tail is expected
to decrease so does the critical angular velocity of the fibre with open trailing end that was
mentioned before. Therefore, the leading ends of the fibres are more easily pulled out from
the vortex-spun yarn tail, which results in increased fibre loss and more thin places in yarn.
Also, weak control for the separated fibre results in enhancing the probability of producing
fibre loss. As a result, decreasing the distance between the front roller nip point and the
inlet of the hollow spindle is stated to reduce the fibre loss rate and decrease the number of
generated thin places.
Moreover, Zou et al. [26,27] stated that increase in the L distance results in an increase
of negative pressure at the inlet of the nozzle block, which allows the drafted fibre bundle
to successfully enter the twisting chamber. On the other hand, while increase in L distance
increases the number of open-trail-end fibres, it causes a decrease in the tangential velocity
inside the nozzle block, which results in the weakening of the twisting effect of open-
trail-end fibres. Furthermore, the fibre bundle entering the twisting chamber can be easily
disturbed by high-speed airflow when L distance is excessive.
It is also claimed by Murata Machinery Ltd. that the short front-roller-to-spindle distance
leads to better fibre control, resulting in less fibre waste. In this case, more even yarns with
fewer imperfections and lower hairiness are obtained. On the other hand, when this distance
is short, both ends of fibres are tightly assembled, resulting in fewer fibres with open trailing
ends. This, in turn, results in a yarn consisting of mostly parallel core fibres held with fewer
wrapper fibres, as in the case of jet-spun yarns [15].
The effect of nozzle distance was observed experimentally by Tyagi et al. [20,28],
who reported that increase in nozzle distance causes an increase in long regular wrappings
 Textile Progress 161

(Class 2 structures) and number of wrapper fibres due to increase in the amount of fibres
with open-end configuration, while decrease in tight regular wrappings (Class 1 structures)
and unwrapped sections (Class 4 structures), and the resultant yarn is more hairy with
longer hairs. A reduction in yarn tenacity is also observed at very high nozzle distance. The
interaction of nozzle air pressure and nozzle distance also influences yarn structure in such
a way that with increase in both nozzle air pressure and nozzle distance, more wrapper
fibres are generated causing reduction in the ratio of core fibres to wrapper fibres.
According to Basal and Oxenham [18], the interaction of high nozzle air pressure,
low yarn delivery speed and short front roller to spindle distance gives the highest mean
migration intensity values, which is the rate of change in radial position of fibre.
Tyagi et al. [28] and Tyagi and Sharma [29] observed that wider nozzle distance
offers considerable advantages in respect of structural integrity, abrasion resistance,
tensile energy and tensile resilience on account of increase in long regular wrappings
and decrease in unwrapped sections. Moreover, as the yarn diameter decreases, the yarn
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becomes more rigid and compact making it difficult to compress due to aforesaid reasons.
According to Tyagi and Sharma [33], the fabrics woven from the yarn spun with a
short nozzle distance exhibit higher compressional energy. Furthermore, the coefficient of
friction of vortex yarn fabrics decreases with increase in nozzle distance. The wider nozzle
distance obviously has the most favourable effect on the shear energy of vortex-spun yarn
fabrics, which was attributed to long regular wrappings and hence a relatively more compact
yarn structure.
With regard to thermal comfort characteristics, Tyagi and Sharma [34] reported that
the air permeability of vortex-spun yarn fabrics shows a marked increase with increase in
nozzle distance. As the nozzle distance increases, both yarn diameter and hairiness reduce
due to increased long regular wrappings, and the air permeability of fabrics is accordingly
affected. Furthermore, wider nozzle distance results in higher water vapour diffusion, lower
wickability and lower thermal insulation.

3.3.4. Draft
In the MVS spinning system, drawframe sliver is fed into a four-line drafting system, which,
as illustrated in Figure 3 in Section 3.1, is composed of front rollers, middle rollers with
controlling aprons and two sets of back rollers. The draft ratio between A and B is defined
as the break draft, the draft ratio between B and C is defined as the intermediate draft and
the draft in the zone between C and D is termed the main draft [14].
Erdumlu and Ozipek [40] investigated the role of draft ratios on vortex-spun yarn
properties. Two levels of intermediate draft ratio, 2.3 and 2.5, and three levels of total draft
ratio, 182, 216 and 267, were selected. It was found that while working with high levels of
total draft, i.e. using a heavy sliver, lower the intermediate draft, better are yarn evenness
and thin place values obtained. Regarding tensile properties, the breaking elongation and
work-to-break values were observed to be higher at an intermediate draft level of 2.5 in
the case of the highest total draft (267); however, no significant difference was observed in
terms of tenacity.

3.3.5. Nozzle angle

According to Zou et al. [26], changes in nozzle angle results in variations in tangential, axial
and radial velocities of airflow inside the nozzle block. Based on numerical computation and
analysis on the airflow field inside the nozzle block, they claimed that a decreasing nozzle
angle increases tangential velocity, which twists open-trail-end fibres expanded by radial
 162 N. Erdumlu et al.

velocity and enhances yarn strength. In addition, the negative pressure, which allows fibre
bundle to successfully enter the inlet of the hollow spindle when it is higher, first increases
and then diminishes with an increasing nozzle angle. On the other hand, according to Basal
and Oxenham [18], a high nozzle angle leads to higher tangential velocity, and in turn
higher twist; however, it has no effect on yarn tensile properties.
Basal and Oxenham [18] also reported that nozzle angle has effects on yarn evenness
and hairiness. Higher nozzle angles result in more even and less hairy yarns. They also
observed that the interaction of a high nozzle angle and short front-roller-to-spindle distance
leads to better evenness. Hairiness values, on the other hand, are low at high nozzle angle
and high nozzle air pressure due to increase in twist. With regard to fibre configuration
within the yarn, they stated that the mean migration intensity and equivalent migration
frequency increase at high nozzle angle and low yarn delivery speed.

3.3.6. Spindle diameter

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Studies on vortex-spun yarns have revealed that the spindle diameter used in vortex spinning
mainly determines the tightness of wrappings on vortex-spun yarn. A smaller spindle
diameter gives less freedom to fibre bundle to expand as it enters the spindle. This generates
higher friction between fibres and leads to tighter wrappings and higher twist, and in turn
denser yarns with less hair. With a spindle of larger diameter, the fibre bundle has more
freedom to move inside the spindle, therefore some twist is lost and wrappings become
looser; therefore yarn becomes bulky and more hairy [18,35].
According to Ortlek et al. [35], a decrease in spindle diameter from 1.3 to 1.2 mm
resulted in a significant deterioration in yarn evenness, since the fibres have more freedom
to arrange themselves with a larger spindle diameter. Moreover, relatively lower friction
occurring between fibres with larger spindle diameter results in lower yarn tenacity.

3.3.7. Spindle working period

Ortlek et al. [35] investigated the effect of five levels of spindle working period of 0, 1, 2,
3 and 4 months on the properties of 100% viscose rayon vortex-spun yarns. The results
revealed that increase in the spindle working period results in significant deterioration in
yarn evenness and increase in Uster R
hairiness index (H) due to a worsening effect of
spindle wear on yarn formation as the working period gets longer. Moreover, the tenacity,
breaking elongation and work-to-break values of vortex-spun yarns produced with a spindle
that has a four-month working period are significantly lower than those of yarns produced
with spindles that have shorter working periods. It was observed that spindle wear mainly
occurs in the tip zone and the inner surface of the spindle, and after a four-month working
period, the negative effects of spindle wear become more critical with respect to evenness,
hairiness and tensile properties of vortex-spun yarns.

3.3.8. Cone angle of the spindle

Guo et al. [36] investigated the effect of cone angle of hollow spindle on vortex-spun
yarn properties by simulating airflow patterns inside the nozzles with three different cone
angles of 8◦ , 12◦ and 16◦ . The simulation results showed that counter-rotating vortex pairs
(CVP) over the spindle, a high supersonic zone in the inlet of the swirling chamber and
the distribution of wall shear stress (WSS) along the outer wall of the spindle caused by
variation of cone angle of the spindle, are significantly related to fluid flow and hence to
properties of vortex-spun yarns. They concluded that a small cone angle of 8◦ is unsuitable
 Textile Progress 163

to spin staple fibre yarn, as larger and higher supersonic zone and lower WSS can lead to
high fibre loss rates and insufficient twisting of the yarn. On the other hand, a big cone angle
of the spindle does not ensure sufficient twisting of the yarn for fibres with higher flexural
rigidity and longer peripheral length due to a large eccentric CVP and high oscillation WSS.
Conforming the simulation results, experiments verified that the yarns spun by using a cone
angle of 12◦ have the highest tenacity and better evenness values due to high velocity and
suitable supersonic zone.

3.3.9. Spindle type

A study was carried out by Johnson [37], using three different types of spindles, which
were round spindles with diameters of 1.3 mm and 1.4 mm, and a flat spindle with the
diameter of 1.4 mm. These were used to spin 100% cotton vortex-spun yarns with varying
nozzle air pressure and yarn delivery speed, and it was shown that hairiness is highest at the
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highest delivery speed with flat spindle. The yarn that was spun under the same condition
is also bulkier; on the other hand, yarn evenness and imperfections are affected negatively.
It was also observed that spindle type affects the tensile properties of vortex-spun yarns.
Yarn tenacity, breaking elongation and work-to-break values are lower when a spindle with
flat cross section is used.

3.3.10. Yarn count

As experienced in all types spun yarns produced on different systems, yarn evenness and the
number of imperfections in vortex-spun yarns are influenced negatively as the yarn becomes
finer due to decrease in the number of fibres in the yarn cross section [21,28,30,41].
Leitner et al. [41], from Rieter Machine Works Ltd. and Lenzing AG, compared the
processing characteristics of Tencel R
LF-cotton blends on conventional ring, compact,
open-end rotor and Rieter air-jet spinning machines, and also reported that with increasingly
fine yarn counts, yarn irregularity values deteriorate in vortex-spun yarns as in all other
spinning processes. Erdumlu [21] also observed that as the yarn becomes finer, it becomes
more uneven and the amount of yarn imperfections increases markedly. The regularity
of the yarn mainly relies on the arrangement of the fibre within the yarn as well as the
number of fibres in the yarn cross section. The uniform arrangement of fibres within the
yarn is generally deteriorated due to variations in fibre characteristics and processing. As
the number of fibres in the yarn cross section decreases, the uniform arrangement of fibres
becomes more difficult to achieve.
Tensile properties of vortex-spun yarns also vary with regard to yarn count. Although
Murata Machinery Ltd. claims that the yarn tenacity improves as the yarn becomes finer,
the results of the studies carried out by both Tyagi et al. [28] and Ortlek and Ulku [30]
revealed that coarser vortex-spun yarns possess higher tenacity, breaking elongation and
work-to-break values than the finer ones. Tyagi et al. [28] attributed this behaviour to the fact
that only about 50–60% of fibres are core fibres bound by a sufficient number of wrapper
fibres. Therefore, as the finer yarns contain a higher proportion of wrapper fibres (and
a lower proportion of load-bearing fibres, namely core fibres), they have lower tenacity
in comparison to the coarser ones [9,28,30]. The results of the experiments conducted
by Leitner et al. [41] also confirm that coarser yarns have higher tenacity and breaking
elongation. In addition, they stated that there are minor changes in tenacity and breaking
elongation values of fine count vortex-spun yarns which is expected to make downstream
processing of fine count yarns possible without any difficulty. However, Erdumlu [21] found
 164 N. Erdumlu et al.

that coarser yarns tend to have a higher tenacity; however, the differences among sample
means are statistically insignificant, and since the values are very close to each other, it
can be concluded that the tenacity of cotton vortex-spun yarns remains almost unchanged
as the yarn becomes finer. Erdumlu [21] also concluded that trend in tenacity test results
shows that the tenacity of vortex-spun yarns is dependent on both the ratio of wrapper and
core fibres and the wrapping length of sheath fibres. As the yarn becomes coarser, wrapping
length of wrapper fibres declines and this results in a decrease in tenacity; however, this is
counteracted by the fact that more core fibres contribute to yarn tension; in other words,
breaking-load increases. This contrasting trend holds for the finer yarns. Therefore, the
tenacity behaviour of vortex-spun yarns can be attributed to these two opposing effects.
The tenacity of jet-spun yarns is mainly affected by the wrapping length of edge
fibres in fibre bundle, which is independent of the total number of fibres in the bun-
dle, and as the yarn becomes coarser, wrapping length of wrapper fibres, and hence
the tenacity declines ([Link] accessed 24 January 2007). It
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can be concluded that the tenacity of vortex-spun yarns is dependent on the ratio of
wrapper and core fibres, which differs in respect of yarn count. On the other hand,
according to Kuppers et al. [24], optimal values in terms of fibre substance utilization
in the vortex spinning process and yarn tenacity are obtained in yarn count range of 24–38
Ne. They stated that there is decrease in yarn tenacity both with fine and coarse yarns.
According to Tyagi and Sharma [29,33,34], the coarser polyester–cotton vortex-spun
yarns exhibit higher rigidity, abrasion resistance and tensile energy and require more energy
to compress. The fabrics woven from coarse vortex-spun yarns display higher bending
rigidity, coefficient of friction and compressional and shear energies. With regard to thermal
properties, it was found that fabrics woven from coarse yarns having higher cotton content
have better absorbency and wickability, and the fabrics composed of finer yarns have lower
thermal insulation as less air is kept in the fabric.
With regard to the hairiness, Ortlek and Ulku [42] observed an increase in S3 values
with finer yarn count; however, this trend was not clear for the Uster R
hairiness index. On
the other hand, Leitner et al. [41] and Erdumlu [21] found that finer yarns have lower Uster
hairiness index.

3.3.11. Fibre composition

Basal and Oxenham [11] compared the properties of vortex- and jet-spun yarns made from
various polyester–cotton blends, and examined the yarn structure under optical microscope.
Visual comparison of vortex- and jet-spun yarns showed that there is no apparent tendency
of cotton or polyester fibres to become either wrapper or core fibres in blended yarns.
According to Tyagi et al. [28] and Tyagi and Sharma [29], the percentage of each fibre
type in polyester–cotton blended vortex-spun yarns has impacts on various yarn and fabric
properties. Yarns with higher proportion of cotton fibre are less even and have a higher
number of imperfections. Moreover, the yarns with higher cotton content are more hairy
on account of higher bending and torsional rigidity of cotton fibre, and flexural rigidity
and abrasion resistance are considerably higher in yarns with higher polyester content. In
addition, the air permeability of the fabrics woven from vortex-spun yarns was found to
decrease as the cotton content of the yarn is increased, since higher cotton content results
in larger yarn diameter and more hairiness; on the other hand, it was also reported by
Tyagi et al. [28] and Tyagi and Sharma [34] that the fabrics with a higher polyester content
exhibited higher water vapour diffusion.
Kilic and Okur [38], who investigated the properties of cotton-Tencel R
and cotton-

R
ProModal blended yarns at a count of 30 Ne spun on conventional ring, compact and
 Textile Progress 165

vortex spinning systems, found that increasing the proportion of regenerated cellulose
fibre caused an increase in hairiness values of vortex-spun yarns. They attributed this
behaviour to the increasing length of wrapper fibres associated with increasing mean fibre
length. However, this explanation conflicts with the results, since increased wrapping length
restrains fibre ends protruding from the yarn body. The increased proportion of regenerated
cellulose fibre also resulted in better evenness and a decrease in the number of thin places,
thick places and neps. However, irregularity and the number of thin places and thick places
increased again unexpectedly in 100% ProModal R
vortex-spun yarns. With regard to tensile
properties, it was observed that increasing the proportion of regenerated cellulose fibre in
the yarn caused an increase in tenacity and in breaking elongation values, explained by
increase in fibre length, fibre length uniformity and number of fibres in the fixed count yarn
cross section increasing with fibre fineness. For roughness and roundness of yarns, they
stated that the increasing ratio of regenerated cellulosic fibre content causes a decrease in
roughness and an increase in roundness.
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Confirming the results obtained by Kilic and Okur [38], Leitner et al. [41] found that
knitted fabrics with a Tencel R
content of 67% display higher yarn tenacity and correspond-
ingly higher bursting strength in the fabric compared with knitted fabrics made from a
50/50 Tencel R
-cotton blend. On the other hand, they observed higher pilling propensity in
the fabrics knitted from the yarns with higher Tencel R
content.
The results of the survey conducted by Gordon [39] at the Commonwealth Scientific and
Industrial Research Organisation, Australia (CSIRO) showed that moisture conditions in
storage and heat conditions in ginning, especially with respect to fibre moisture and drying
temperature, significantly affect the cotton fibre properties and therefore yarn quality. He
concluded that dry seed cotton and hot air in the ginning lead to high levels of short fibre
content, shorter staple length, increased neps and reduced fibre strength. These effects
result in greater fibre loss during spinning, lower yarn tenacity and poorer yarn evenness, a
higher number of imperfections, higher hairiness and lower spinning efficiency. However,
he commented that increasing neps level in the fibre did not translate into higher yarn
imperfections, because neps are removed at the twist insertion point during spinning. He
added that the cotton fibre stored under ambient conditions and treated with standard heat
performed worst in terms of almost all yarn properties, and the results revealed that the
cotton fibre stored at higher moisture levels and treated with less heat in ginning performed
better in terms of less fibre loss, yarn quality and vortex spinning efficiency.
It was observed that more even yarns were obtained as the short fibre-content decreased
in the sliver with the delivery speed of 300 m/min, while no significant difference was
observed with regard to evenness of the yarns spun at 425 m/min. The short fibre content
significantly influenced the number of thin places for all yarn samples. As the short fibre
content decreased, the number of thin places also decreased. This was also true for the
number of neps. Moreover, combed yarns had higher breaking elongation values than
carded yarns for both delivery speeds, while short fibre content does not play a significant
role on yarn tenacity. However, combed cotton yarns have a slightly lower hairiness, and this
may be attributed to longer mean fibre length resulting in better wrapping and preventing
fibre ends protruding from the yarn body [21].

4. Properties of vortex-spun yarns in comparison with jet-spun, conventional

ring-spun, compact ring-spun and open-end rotor-spun yarns
4.1. Yarn hairiness, bulk and rigidity
The most outstanding feature of vortex-spun yarns is claimed to be their low hairiness in
comparison with yarns spun on other systems ([Link] accessed
 166 N. Erdumlu et al.

24 January 2007) [41]. According to Basal and Oxenham [11], vortex-spun yarns have lower
hairiness compared with jet-spun yarns. When compared with conventional ring, compact
ring and open-end rotor spinning systems, the yarns spun on the vortex spinning system
were observed to exhibit lower hairiness due to uniformly distributed layer of wrapper
fibres [21,22,38,42–45].
As far as yarn bulk and stiffness is concerned, Soe et al. [22] reported that vortex-
spun yarn is bulkier and stiffer than ring-spun and open-end rotor-spun yarns. Due to the
untwisted core fibres, the bending rigidity of vortex-spun yarn is also higher than ring-spun
and open-end rotor-spun yarns. Moreover, the bulkiness and higher resistance of wrapper
fibres make vortex-spun yarns less compressible. According to Kilic and Okur [38], the
diameter of vortex-spun yarn is generally higher and the density is lower when compared
with those of compact-spun yarns for 100% cotton, 100% regenerated cellulose fibres and
their blends.
Leitner et al. [41] also concluded that lower yarn hairiness in vortex-spun yarns resulted
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in lower yarn abrasion.

4.2. Yarn evenness and imperfections

The comparative studies on different spinning systems generally revealed that more even
yarns are obtained in the vortex spinning system compared with jet-spinning and open-end
rotor-spinning systems; however, vortex-spun yarns are worse than the conventional and
compact ring-spun yarns in terms of yarn evenness [11,21,38,41–45]. On the other hand,
Soe et al. [22] found no significant difference between the evenness values of vortex-spun,
ring-spun and open-end rotor-spun yarns.
It was concluded in earlier studies that the number of thin places in vortex-spun
yarns is lower than for open-end rotor-spun yarns and higher than for conventional and
compact ring-spun yarns [38,42–45]. These results are again inconsistent with the find-
ings of Soe et al. [22], who concluded that there was no significant difference between
the number of thin places measured on vortex-spun, ring-spun and open-end rotor-spun
yarns.
In terms of the number of thick places and neps, the results obtained in earlier studies
are not consistent. According to Rameshkumar et al. [43], vortex-spun yarns are better
than open-end rotor-spun yarns and worse than ring-spun yarns in terms of the number of
thick places and neps. On the other hand, while Ortlek and Ulku [42], and Soe et al. [22]
commented that a higher frequency of thick places and neps is observed in 100% cotton
vortex-spun yarns when compared with ring and open-end rotor-spun yarns, Beceren and
Nergis [45] found that the number of thick places in 100% cotton vortex-spun yarns is lower,
and the number of neps is higher when compared with conventional ring and compact ring
yarns. On the other hand, Ortlek and Onal [44] reported that the number of thick places in
100% viscose rayon vortex-spun yarn is lower than for open-end rotor-spun and compact
ring-spun yarns, and the lowest level of neps is observed in vortex-spun yarns. According to
Kilic and Okur [38], the number of thick places is higher in vortex-spun yarns than that of
conventional ring-spun and compact ring-spun yarns for cotton, ProModal R
and Tencel R

and their blends with cotton. However, they did not find any significant difference in terms
of neps.
In addition, Basal and Oxenham [11] observed that vortex-spun yarns have fewer thick
places than jet-spun yarns, while they found no significant difference between jet-spun yarns
and vortex-spun yarns with regard to the number of thin places and neps. Erdumlu [21]
reported that the difference between the number of thin places and thick places between the
 Textile Progress 167

ring-spun and vortex-spun yarn samples in counts of 30 Ne was not statistically significant,
but that significant differences did occur in finer yarn counts; the difference between the
number of neps for ring-spun and vortex-spun yarns was not significant except for the
50 Ne cotton yarn.

4.3. Tensile properties

On the basis of the study conducted by Basal and Oxenham [11], vortex-spun yarns can
be expected to exhibit higher tenacity values than jet-spun yarns for every blend ratio of
cotton and polyester but not for 100% polyester where yarns spun on both systems have
the same tenacity. As the cotton content increases in the blend, the difference between
tenacity values of yarns also increases. With regard to breaking elongation, they observed
that vortex-spun yarns have lower breaking elongation, and this offsets the gains in tenacity
and results in insignificant differences in their work-to-break values. The higher tenacity
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of vortex-spun yarns was attributed to the higher number of wrapper fibres compared with
jet-spun yarns by researchers. The number of wrapper fibres was stated to be critical for
yarn tenacity, since they hold the internal parallel fibre bundle tightly together, and this
effect was stated to be more critical for cotton fibres. According to researchers, edge fibres
ultimately produce wrapper fibres in jet spinning, and therefore the number of wrapper
fibres depends on the fibres at the outside. However, in the vortex spinning system, fibre
separation from the bundle occurs everywhere in the outer periphery of the bundle, and
therefore a higher number of wrapper fibres are obtained in vortex-spun yarns. The lower
breaking elongation of vortex-spun yarns was attributed to decrease in fibre slippage due
to better grip by wrapper fibres. The drop in hairiness of vortex-spun yarns is declared as
another result of better wrapping.
It was reported by Ortlek and Ulku [42] that the tenacity of vortex-spun yarns is almost
equal to 85% of the tenacity of ring-spun yarns, while the tenacity of open-end rotor-spun
yarns is around 75% of the tenacity of ring-spun yarns. Soe et al. [22] found that these
figures are 66% and 61%, and Rameshkumar et al. [43] found these figures as 95% and 84%,
respectively. The results of the studies conducted by Ortlek and Onal [44], Beceren and
Nergis [45], Leitner et al. [41] and Erdumlu [21] also revealed that the tenacity of vortex-
spun yarns is lower than that of conventional and compact ring-spun yarns, and higher
than that of open-end rotor-spun yarns. Kilic and Okur [38] confirmed that breaking force
of vortex-spun yarns is lower than that of conventional ring-spun and compact ring-spun
yarns.
The breaking elongation values of spun yarns obtained by different systems also varies
due to their unique structures. Although the breaking elongation of vortex-spun yarns is
expected to be lower due to the presence of wrapper fibres that prevent fibre slippage,
it was found to be higher than conventional ring-spun, compact ring-spun and open-end
rotor-spun yarns in some of the studies [42,45]. Leitner et al. [41] reported that vortex-spun
yarns display good yarn elongation values equivalent to those of ring-spun yarns. However,
contrary to these findings, Ortlek and Onal [44] commented that breaking elongation of
viscose rayon vortex-spun yarns is lower than that of conventional and compact ring-spun
yarns and higher than that of open-end rotor-spun yarns. Kilic and Okur [38] also confirmed
the lower breaking elongation of vortex-spun yarns when compared with the yarns spun on
conventional ring and compact spinning systems. On the other hand, Rameshkumar et al.
[43] reported that vortex-spun yarns have higher breaking elongation than ring-spun yarns
but lower than that of open-end rotor-spun yarns.
 168 N. Erdumlu et al.

5. Properties of fabrics made from vortex-spun yarns in comparison with

conventional ring-spun, compact ring-spun and open-end rotor-spun yarns
5.1. Fabric strength
Ortlek and Onal [44] compared the performances of 100% viscose rayon vortex-spun,
conventional ring-spun, compact ring-spun and open-end rotor-spun yarns in knitted fabrics.
The results revealed that the lowest bursting strength is obtained from the fabrics knitted
from open-end rotor-spun yarns in both undyed and dyed forms, whereas the fabric knitted
from ring-spun yarns has the highest bursting strength in undyed condition and the fabric
knitted from compact ring-spun yarns has the highest bursting strength in the dyed condition.
These results are consistent with the tenacities of the related yarns, where compact ring-
spun and conventional ring-spun yarns have higher tenacities than vortex-spun yarns, since
most of the fibres are axially positioned along the axis of yarn by means of real twist and
this improves the tenacity of the yarn. Rameshkumar et al. [43] also found that the fabrics
knitted from ring-spun yarn have the highest bursting strength due to its high tenacity and
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uniformity, and the bursting strength of the fabrics knitted from vortex-spun and open-end
rotor-spun yarns were ranked in order of the tenacity values of the yarns. Similar results
were obtained by Erdumlu [21].
A similar behaviour relating to bursting strength of knitted fabric produced from 100%
combed cotton vortex-spun yarn is stated by Beceren and Nergis [45]. Fabric knitted from
vortex-spun yarn had lower bursting strength than its conventional and compact ring-spun
counterparts at all tightness levels; the tenacity of the yarns used in the fabrics was directly
reflected in their bursting strength behaviour [45]. Higher yarn tenacity conferring higher
bursting strength on the knitted fabrics was also confirmed by Leitner et al. [41], who
concluded that the bursting strength of knitted fabrics made from vortex-spun yarns is
higher than that of knitted fabrics made from open-end rotor-spun yarns, but lower than
that of knitted fabrics made from conventional ring-spun or compact ring-spun yarns.

5.2. Abrasion resistance

Rameshkumar et al. [43] reported that fabrics knitted from ring-spun yarns have low
abrasion resistance due to easy fibre migration, whereas the fabrics knitted from vortex-spun
and open-end rotor-spun yarns have higher abrasion resistance. Similarly, it was concluded
by Ortlek and Onal [44] that the average mass loss value of dyed fabrics knitted from 100%
viscose rayon vortex-spun yarns is significantly lower than that of all other dyed fabrics
knitted from conventional ring-spun, compact ring-spun and open-end rotor-spun yarns for
10,000 rubbing cycles. The fabric samples knitted from vortex-spun yarns generally have
the highest abrasion resistance in both undyed and dyed forms. In both studies, high abrasion
resistance of the fabrics made from vortex-spun yarns was attributed to the existence of
wrapper fibres, which resist the movement of tightly packed parallel core fibres in yarn
structure during abrasion [43,44]. In accordance with the findings of Rameshkumar et al.
[43] and Ortlek and Onal [44], Erdumlu [21] concluded that the average mass loss values
in abrasion of both greige and dyed fabrics knitted from vortex-spun yarns are generally
lower than that of the fabrics knitted from ring-spun and open-end rotor-spun yarns.
On the other hand, according to Beceren and Nergis [45], cotton fabrics knitted from
compact ring-spun yarns are more abrasion-resistant when compared with ring-spun and
vortex-spun yarns, and the fabrics made of vortex-spun yarns have the worst abrasion
resistance, although the hairiness of vortex-spun yarns was found to be the lowest during
yarn tests. The possible reason for this result was explained by the fact that the grip of
 Textile Progress 169

wrapper fibres in vortex-spun yarn may not be strong enough to resist abrasive forces
during testing.

5.3. Pilling propensity

Comparative analysis revealed that the fabrics knitted from vortex-spun yarns exhibit less
pilling tendency than the fabrics knitted from conventional and compact ring-spun yarns.
Moreover, the fabrics knitted from open-end rotor-spun yarns are usually considered to
have lower pilling tendency due to belt fibres in its structure; however, these fabrics cannot
achieve the results obtained by the ones knitted from vortex-spun yarns. Fabrics knitted
from open-end rotor-spun yarn have higher pilling rate than its vortex counterpart, since
vortex-spun yarn has longer wrapped fibre zones along the yarn with less protruding fibres
[21,41,42,45]. Consequently, pilling test results obtained by Ortlek and Ulku [42] and
Beceren and Nergis [45] confirmed that pilling propensity decreases with decrease in hairi-
ness of yarns. Disconcertingly, Rameshkumar et al. [43] reported that fabrics knitted from
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ring-spun and open-end rotor-spun yarns have equal pilling propensity and fabrics knitted
from vortex-spun yarns are less resistant to pilling. The comparative experiments carried
out by Murata Machinery Ltd. ([Link] accessed 24 January
2007) also revealed that the knitted fabrics produced from both 100% cotton and 100%
viscose rayon vortex-spun yarns have better pilling resistance than fabrics knitted from
ring-spun yarns.

5.4. Dimensional properties

Based on the experiments carried out on the fabrics knitted from combed cotton vortex-spun
and ring-spun yarns, Murata Machinery Ltd. ([Link] accessed
24 January 2007) claimed that dimensional changes in both widthwise and lengthwise
directions and the spirality in fabrics knitted from vortex-spun yarns are lower when
compared with the fabrics knitted from ring-spun yarns. Leitner et al. [41] also reported
that the open-end rotor-spun yarn and vortex-spun yarn displayed the best dimensional
stability in knitted fabric, in both length- and widthwise directions when compared with
ring-spun and compact spun yarns.
According to Ortlek and Onal [44], the fabrics knitted from 100% viscose rayon vortex-
spun yarn of 30 Ne count have the lowest widthwise shrinkage in comparison to its
conventional ring-spun, compact ring-spun and open-end rotor-spun counterparts, whereas
lengthwise shrinkage is the highest of all. They also explored relation between twist-
liveliness and fabric spirality, and concluded that vortex-spun yarns are less twist-lively
than conventional and compact ring-spun yarns; but more lively than their open-end rotor-
spun counterparts. Hence, spirality of fabrics knitted from vortex-spun yarns is lower than
conventional and compact ring-spun yarns, but higher than that of open-end rotor-spun
yarns in both dry and fully relaxed states.
Li et al. [46] examined the dimensional and mechanical properties of wool–polyester-
blended plain weave fabrics made from two-fold and steamed vortex-spun and conventional
ring-spun yarns. In addition, fabric samples made from unsteamed vortex-spun yarns were
subjected to pressure steaming to achieve permanent setting of the wool component in
those fabrics. They stated that greater hygral expansion and relaxation shrinkage in loom
state fabrics made from un-steamed vortex-spun yarns were observed when compared with
conventional ring-spun yarns. While the magnitude of relaxation shrinkage in loom state
fabrics can be reduced by pre-steaming of yarn, permanent setting of wool in fabrics by
pressure steaming is more effective in reducing relaxation shrinkage of fabrics. Moreover,
 170 N. Erdumlu et al.

permanent setting of fabrics by pressure steaming resulted in similar levels of hygral

expansion and relaxation shrinkage in fabrics irrespective of the yarn spinning system.
The visual assessments carried out by Murata Machinery Ltd. ([Link]
[Link]; accessed 24 January 2007) and Leitner et al. [41] on changes to the surface of
the fabrics after repeated laundering revealed that fabrics knitted from ring-spun or compact
ring-spun yarns displayed a clearer change in appearance than knitted fabrics produced from
vortex-spun and open-end rotor-spun yarns in terms of change in the surface due to napping
and formation of creases, pilling and change in colour.

5.5. Fabric thickness, compressional properties and fabric handle

According to Li et al. [46], wool–polyester woven fabrics made from vortex-spun yarns are
relatively heavier and thicker than fabrics made from ring-spun and open-end rotor-spun
yarns due to higher bulkiness as explained by Soe et al. [22], and this is reflected in greater
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fabric weight and thickness. In addition, fabrics woven from vortex-spun yarns were found
to have higher shear rigidity when compared with the fabrics woven from ring-spun yarns.
Li et al. [46] concluded that the fabrics made of vortex-spun yarns have firmer fabric handle.
Rameshkumar et al. [43] comparatively examined the drapability and colour matching
of fabrics knitted from ring-spun, open-end rotor-spun and vortex-spun yarns. They found
that drapability of fabrics knitted from vortex-spun yarn is poor compared with that of
ring-spun and open-end rotor-spun yarns. On the other hand, the shade was similar for
fabrics knitted from ring-spun and vortex-spun yarns.
Unal [47] investigated the effect of spinning systems and twist direction of folded
cotton yarns on the handle properties of woven fabrics. Single yarns with Z twist were plied
and used as weft yarns in woven fabrics. Yarn liveliness, bending properties, stiffness and
drape angle were measured and surface properties, such as friction coefficient of fabrics,
as the components of the fabric handle. The results revealed that applying twist in opposite
direction in folded yarns resulted in lower yarn liveliness for all yarn samples, as expected.
In addition, folded vortex-spun yarns were found to have the highest twist liveliness in both
directions; however, the differences were not statistically significant.
Fabrics produced with folded vortex-spun yarns were observed to have the highest value
of circular bending rigidity and the highest value of stiffness in all types of fabrics regardless
of the plying twist direction. The high bending rigidity of fabrics woven from vortex-spun
yarns was attributed to high bending rigidity of vortex-spun yarns, as formerly found by
Soe et al. [22]. The high stiffness of fabrics woven from vortex-spun yarns was correlated
with high twist liveliness of yarns. In addition to yarn liveliness, a high correlation between
bending rigidity and stiffness was also found [47].
With regard to surface properties, Unal [47] observed that fabrics produced with rotor-
spun yarns gave the lowest values in tests and, referring to Soe et al. [22], attributed this
result to the fact that rotor-spun yarns are bulkier than ring-spun and vortex-spun yarns.
However, Soe et al. [22] had in fact stated that vortex-spun yarn is bulkier than ring-spun
and open-end rotor-spun yarns.
Unal [47] concluded that the subjective evaluation of fabric handle also supported the
objective results, that is to say, fabrics produced from folded ring-spun yarns were the
softest samples, while the fabrics produced from folded vortex-spun yarns were the stiffest.
Contrary to the findings of Li et al. [46] and Unal [47], Ozdemir and Ogulata [48]
measured the bending resistances of knitted fabrics using the A & T Digital Pneumatic
Stiffness Tester, and reported that fabrics produced from vortex- and open-end rotor-spun
yarnshave a softer fabric handle than that of fabrics knitted from conventional and compact
 Textile Progress 171

ring-spun yarns. They attributed this behaviour to the bulkiness of vortex-spun and open-end
rotor-spun yarns, and the bulky structure of these yarns is thought to contribute positively
to the handle of the fabric.

5.6. Dyeing properties

Kirecci et al. [49] investigated the colourfastness and colorimetric properties of fabrics
knitted from vortex-spun and ring-spun yarns. The results revealed that while the wash-
fastness of fabrics knitted from both vortex-spun yarns and ring-spun yarns are similar,
fabrics knitted from vortex-spun yarns are generally better than their counterparts made
from ring-spun yarns in terms of acidic and alkaline perspiration fastness. In addition, it
was found that dry-rubbing fastness values of fabrics made from air-vortex-spun yarns are
slightly better than those made from ring-spun yarns. However, the results indicated that
wet-rubbing fastness values of fabrics made from vortex-spun yarns are much better than
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those for fabrics made from ring-spun yarns. Finally, they stated that lightness values of
undyed and dyed fabrics are very close to each other for fabrics made from either vortex-
spun or ring-spun yarns, and there is no clear difference between the whiteness values of
the undyed fabrics.
Ortlek et al. [50] assessed the colour values of viscose rayon fabrics knitted from vortex-
spun yarns after abrasion in comparison to the fabrics knitted from ring-spun and open-end
rotor-spun yarns for different dyeing concentrations and abrasion cycles. They reported
that the greatest colour decrement with abrasion cycles is observed for fabrics knitted from
vortex-spun yarns. Moreover, they found that reflectance (R%) values of fabrics knitted from
vortex-spun yarns were higher than those for fabrics made from ring-spun and open-end
rotor-spun yarns whereas colour strength (K/S) values for fabrics knitted from vortex-
spun yarns were lower than those for ring-spun and open-end rotor-spun yarns before and
after abrasion cycles. Finally, Murata Machinery Ltd. ([Link]
accessed 24 January 2007) claimed that towels made using vortex-spun yarns have a higher
absorption rate than towels made from ring-spun [Link] absorption rate was evaluated
in terms of water absorption index, which comprises absorption speed and quantity.

6. Economics of vortex spinning system

Since the twist is imparted by airflow in the vortex spinning system, high-speed rotating
mechanical parts are not required, and therefore considerably high production rates can
be achieved. The system is claimed to reach a delivery speed of 450 m/min, which means
approximately two to three times higher productivity compared with rotor spinning, and
20 to 30 times more productive than ring spinning depending on the yarn count. The
comparative productivity of spinning systems was illustrated by Murata Machinery Ltd. as
seen in Figure 16 ([Link] accessed 24 January 2007).
Ortlek et al. [51] compared investment costs, raw material costs, power costs and labour
costs for 1 kg of yarn produced on vortex, conventional ring and open-end rotor spinning
systems for theoretical mill models producing 20 tonnes of 100% carded cotton yarns of
30 Ne count per day. They found that the investment cost and labour cost for vortex spinning
is higher than for the open-end rotor spinning system but lower than for the ring spinning
system. Contrary to expectations, the vortex spinning system was found to be advantageous
compared with both ring and open-end rotor spinning systems in terms of energy cost,
despite the high-pressure air consumption in vortex spinning. On the other hand, the raw
material cost was stated to be higher for vortex spinning system than for ring and open-end
 172 N. Erdumlu et al.
Downloaded by [[Link]] at 22:42 12 October 2014

Figure 16. Productivity of spinning technologies ([Link] accessed 24

January 2007).

rotor spinning systems, and it further increased when the material included a higher content
of short fibre.

7. Conclusions
The latest development in air-jet spinning systems, vortex spinning seems to be a promising
technology due to its high productivity, low production cost and especially its suitability
for the spinning of 100% cotton yarns. As a result of the higher number of wrapper fibres
and a decrease in unwrapped sections, vortex-spun yarns have significantly better tensile
properties, better evenness and lower hairiness than jet-spun yarns.
The low yarn hairiness is the most outstanding feature of vortex-spun yarns. Fabrics
produced from vortex-spun yarns have advantages in terms of abrasion resistance and
pilling propensity over those made from ring-spun or open-end rotor-spun yarns; however,
problems with fabric handle still exist. The system offers an alternative to ring spinning
system in medium-fine count yarns in terms of productivity and total production cost. On
the other hand, further research is required in order to analyze airflow in the yarn formation
zone and its impacts on yarn structure, particularly on the ratio of wrapper fibres to core
fibres. This may help to improve some quality aspects such as obtaining more even yarns
in fine counts and softer fabric handle.

References
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