Relationship of Fiber Properties to Vortex Yarn Quality via Partial Least Squares

Abstract

The Cotton Quality Research Station (CQRS) of the USDA-ARS, recently completed a comprehensive study of the relationship of cotton fiber properties to the quality of spun yarn. The five year study, began in 2001, utilized commercial variety cotton grown, harvested and ginned in each of three major growing regions in the US (Georgia, Mississippi, and Texas). CQRS made extensive measurements of the raw cotton properties (both physical and chemical) of 154 lots of blended cotton. These lots were then spun into yarn in the CQRS laboratory by vortex spinning with several characteristics of the yarn and spinning efficiency measured for each lot. This study examines the use of a multivariate statistical method, partial least squares (PLS), to relate fiber properties to spun yarn quality for vortex spinning. Two different sets of predictors were used to forecast yarn quality response variables: one set being only HVI” variables, and the second set consisting of both HVI” and AFIS” variables. The quality of predictions was not found to significantly change with the addition of AFIS” variables.