Test faster, test more

Image source: Hohenstein Institute The textile and apparel industry has put immense emphasis upon quality. And running tests seems to be the best possible way to ensure products' quality in terms of the pledged functionalities, performance level and absence of harmful substances. Nowadays, when it comes to testing instruments, testing labs are increasingly looking for faster tests and higher sample rates through automation as well as new standards for new materials and articles. Also they are on the lookout for the testing instruments more convenient and easier to use which require less training for operators and have built-in knowledge on how to interpret test results, testing instrument manufacturers told ATA Journal. Daunting challenges facing the testing labs However, increasing costs of labor and raw materials as well as the fashion trend for fancy yarn have presented unrelenting challenges to the testing and quality control industry in the textile and apparel sector. One of the major problems today is the increasing cost of staff. It is no easy feat to get educated employees to work with the instruments and analyze the produced data to enable mills to fully leverage the available optimization potential throughout their production process, which is to understand how to interpret test results in terms of production problems and translate them into solutions for production, says Uster Technologies, one of the leading supplier of testing instruments. "The high price of cotton is also increasing the pressure on mills to optimize the efficiency of their raw material consumption and production process - mills see the need to optimize quality (not too high, not too low), yet lack the know-how and test instruments to fully leverage the possible benefits from textile testing," noted Gabriela Peters, Uster's Product Manager of Yarn. She added that due to higher production speeds the sample rate has to increase which means much more samples have to be tested in a single shift. Besides, the trend in fashion is quite clearly towards fancy yarns as most of the denim and a major part of women apparel like T-shirts are now produced out of slub yarn. Uster explains that the skill of manufacturing slub yarns is to make the effects appear irregular, but at the same time produce them consistently in the context of quality control. Aside from that, ring spinning has changed dramatically since the commercial introduction of the compact spinning technique in the late 1990s, and this has had a profound impact on quality requirements, such as the need for improved control of hairiness values and imperfection levels, stressed Ms Peters. Forthcoming trends Testing instrument suppliers told ATA Journal that there has seen an increase in quality demand among retailers. Facing high costs for faulty end products and having optimized downstream production processes, they are now turning upstreams to spinning mills in their pursuit of quality problems and being more selective in their supplier evaluations. Another trend in spinning mills, Uster says, is total testing concept which is the combination of on-line control on the winding machine with off-line, laboratory testing (evenness tester). "The rejected bobbins from the winder are analyzed in laboratory to determine the cause of the problem. Spinning mills that use this procedure for optimization of the yarn quality have to test more samples which require testing instruments with a high testing speed. Compact yarn has more challenging requirements than conventional ring yarn in the form of an increased need for more sensitive control of hairiness values and imperfection levels," explained Ms Peters. This is due to the lower hairiness of compact yarns, resulting in a number of issues during the compacting process such as shorter life cycles of the ring traveler, critical maintenance schedule and every thick and thin place is visible in the yarn, she added. Some technologies provided by testing and quality control equipment suppliers With the elevating demand for quality, testing and quality control instruments providers have greatly advanced their products in terms of testing speed, accuracy and degree of automation. ATA Journal has selected some of the latest products from major providers in the field of testing and quality control. Hunterlab's ColorFlex EZ US-based HunterLab's next generation Color Flex EZ spectrophotometer has 45/0 design for the ultimate in color measurement preciseness. Combining versatility, simplicity and performance, the ColorFlex EZ is easy-to-use, compact instrument. HunterLab's ColorFlex EZ HunterLab's ColorFlex EZ offers the advantage of 45/0 design ensuring that users get colors right every time. It is the optimal and only instrument design that measures their samples the way the human eye does. It lets users see the colors exactly the way customers do, not just in the lab but in the real world. The spectrophotometer has more capabilities for increased performance and better outcomes. It has sampling versatility to measure everything from opaque solids, liquids, powders, granules and pellets to translucent solids and liquids; it has expanded sample storage for 250 setups, product standards and tolerances and up to 2000 sample measurements. Labsphere's UV-2000F Ultraviolet Transmittance Analyzer Labsphere's UV-2000F Ultraviolet Transmittance Analyzer Labsphere's UV-2000F Ultraviolet Transmittance Analyzer is a quality control tool designed specifically to measure the Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF) of fabric used in the manufacturing of clothing. This measurement capability gives the manufacturers the reliable control over the design and production of chemically-treated UV protective clothing. The UV-2000F rapidly measures the diffuse transmittance of sunscreen samples in the Ultraviolet wavelength region from 250-450nm. Labsphere's Spectralon integrating sphere incorporates a re-optimized xenon flash lamp to provide exceptional diffuse illumination of the product sample and minimize data integration time. New high performance diode array spectrometer coupled by new, advanced fiber optics are optimized at the system level for low stray light with superior wavelength stability and flash-to-flash repeatability. The analyzer features one touch sample analysis, with results in less than 5 seconds. Its simple instrument performance validation routine ensures accurate, repeatable measurements with automatically compute UPF value (UVB 280-315nm, UVA 315-400nm). Lloyd Instruments introduces new LS1 single-column materials tester LS1 single-column materials tester from Lloyd Instruments A UK-based supplier of materials testing machinery, Lloyd Instruments has introduced a new single-column materials testing machine, Model LS1, to provide enhanced speed, accuracy and flexibility for all materials testing applications under 1kN force. The company said that high-precision displacement measurement is assured by linear guide technology, pre-loaded ball screws and advanced software compensation systems. Industry applications include plastics, packaging, medical devices, automotive, electronics, rubber, pharmaceuticals and textiles. According to the company, the tester can be used for tensile and compression testing, friction, tearing, peeling, insertion/extraction, creep/relaxation and many other measurements in manufacturing, product development and research. Available in standard (500mm) and extended (800mm) travel versions, the LS1 universal testing machine has an extended crosshead speed range from 0.01-2032mm/min. Load accuracy of +/-0.5 down to 1% of load cell value provides high dynamic range, reducing the number of load cells required to cover the force range, according to the company. The wide throat depth (180mm) provides a large working area for sample placement. A more compact physical orientation takes up less side-to-side bench space than previous models, the company added. Lloyd Instruments is a unit of Ametek Measurement & Calibration Technologies Division. Ametek, Inc, is a global manufacturer of electronic instruments and electromechanical devices. Mahlo's QUALISCAN QMS-10A Mahlo's QUALISCAN QMS-10A Quality Control System Germany-based Mahlo's QUALISCAN QMS-10A Quality Control System is flexible to fit the monitoring and control needs of paper, film, nowoven and textile industries. Different sensors are available for measuring critical production parameters such as weight, moisture or thickness. For different applications, specific sensors are available to effectively and accurately cover the customer's online monitoring needs. Various control solutions make it possible for the QMS010A to be integrated into either new or existing production lines where quality improvement and assurance are needed. The open, Ethernet-based platform allows for easy access to all measurement data through a variety of network interfaces. Its Central Control Station in an upright standing steel cabinet (IP 53 standards) contains a rigid industrial PC with integrated UPS and 15" LCD, TFT color display with touch screen. The system also features intelligent sensors and gauging systems with integrated microprocessors for signal treatment and/or measurement value processing. Mesdan's ELMATIC Automatic Fabric Tearing Tester Mesdan's ELMATIC Automatic Fabric Tearing Tester and MARTINDALE Abrasion & Pilling tester Italian splicer and laboratory equipment producer Mesdan's ELMATIC Automatic Fabric Tearing Tester features automatic pendulum identification, complete safety cover with safety lock. It can measure from 200 - 30.000 cN for fine and heavy-duty materials (textiles, leather, paper, plastic and so on). With high accuracy (0,09 degree) and results repeatability, the tester is in conformity with major international testing standards. Mesdan's MARTINDALE Abrasion & Pilling Tester is characterised by very silent and vibration free movement and three different motions for abrasion, pilling and linear. Q-Lab's QUA Weathering Tester Q-Lab's QUV Accelerated Weathering Tester The QUV is used in more labs throughout the world than any other accelerated weathering tester. In just a few days or weeks, the QUV can reproduce damage that may occur over months or even years outdoors. Ultraviolet light causes almost all the photodegradation to materials exposed outdoors. The QUV tester reproduces only the UV portion of the spectrum. UVA-340 lamp is an excellent simulation of short-wave sunlight. It is especially useful for comparing the performance of different types of polymers and stabilizers. It is the best lamp for correlation studies. Products outdoors can be exposed to moisture, in the form of dew, for up to 15 hours per day. All models of QUV provide a rigorous, yet highly realistic, moisture exposure with cycles of hot condensing humidity. A QUV/spray can simulate the effects of rain, such as thermal shock and erosion. Ozone Exposure Chamber from SDL Atlas Ozone Exposure Chamber from SDL Atlas SDL Atlas now offers a more accurate and reliable way of testing. Ozone Exposure Chamber allows for accelerated testing to evaluate these effects using precise closed-loop control of ozone concentrations. Ozone Exposure Chambers determine the resistance of the color of textiles to the presence of ozone in the atmosphere at room temperature with relative humidities not exceeding 67%t. The instrument offers a high output ozone generator, touch screen controller, closed-loop ozone concentration control and a rotating sample rack that can hold up to 24 specimens. Easy set-up features allow both set and current test parameters to display on the screen, providing increased control and accuracy in test results. Textest's FX 3150 Water Vapor Transmission Rate Tester Textest's FX 3150 Water Vapor Transmission Rate Tester and FX 3500 On-line Tester Switzerland-based Textest's FX 3150 Water Vapor Transmission Rate Tester GRAVITEST is used for automatic, accurate, and cost-effective determination of the water vapor transmission rate of a wide variety of materials, such as plastic films, roofing and building materials, woven and nonwoven textiles, coated fabrics, barrier and medical materials, with the gravimetric method. Testing of small samples and special materials such as concrete is also possible using special accessories. It features high accuracy due to repeated tests until the system is in equilibrium and the test results are stable. Fast and convenient sample clamping, it works in accordance with all relevant test standards. FX 3500 On-line Tester COMBISCAN FX 3500 On-line Tester COMBISCAN is an advanced instrument for continuous measurement of air permeability or pressure drop, respectively, thickness and basis weight of woven fabrics, nonwovens, felts, films and paper machine clothing at the moving web. The instrument is designed for direct integration into new or existing production lines. The operating principle is based on the well-tried FX 3386 Air Permeability Tester PROFILAIR. It has high measuring accuracy with high resolution of up to 1mm test point pitch. It measures cross profiles, length profiles and zigzag profiles and handles web speeds of up to 200 m/min (660 ft/min). Its modular system adapts easily to the requirements of the production machine. Thermo Scientific's Niton XL3 Series XRF Analyzer Thermo Scientific Niton XL3 handheld x-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzer combines purpose-built, proprietary electronics with an ergonomic design and easy-to-use software, transforming XRF analysis. Thermo Scientific's Niton XL3 Series XRF Analyzer It is the only handheld XRF analyzer platform to offer you a choice of excitation sources - either a 50 kV miniaturized x-ray tube in the Niton XL3t for the ultimate performance and flexibility, or the patented Infiniton in the Niton XL3p, which never requires source replacement. From the integrated, tilting, color, touch-screen display to the customizable menus for ease of use, both lightweight Niton XL3 XRF analyzers provide you with heavyweight performance and a set of features engineered to improve your productivity and profitability. Uster's TESTER 5 controlling evenness parameters Uster's TESTER 5 Uster's latest models of TESTER 5 - the S800 and S400 for spun yarns and the C800 for filament yarns - offer new and valuable features like speed in the business (800 m/min), the FM Sensor (classification of foreign fibers) and the unique FANCY YARN PROFILE for the measurement of slub yarn. Quality is critical in today's competitive textile markets, so the fundamental advantages of evenness testing are more valuable than ever - and especially for the growing percentage of compact-spun yarns now being produced. Ring spinning has changed dramatically since the commercial introduction of the compact spinning technique in the late 1990s - and this has had a profound impact on quality requirements. This development is driven by benefits such as better tenacity, lower hairiness, increased elongation, (often) improved evenness and greatly reduced imperfections. Shanghai Yin's HY-Scanner310 3D Body Scan System For compact yarns, unevenness, imperfections and hairiness need to be measured with absolute precision, and the TESTER 5 sensors CS and OH provides the ideal solution. Hairiness variation is a critical aspect of quality especially in compact-spun yarns, and accounts for about 15% of all subsequent fabric appearance problems. Shanghai Yin's HY-Scanner310 3D Body Scan System Chinese Shanghai Yin Science and Technology Co Ltd's HY-Scanner310 3D body scan system has greatly improved mismatch problem between body and cloth in garment industry. Realized the clothes' tailored and personalized production. The system offers more accurate body measurement and realizes clothes' personalized production. It has fast clothing speed: from body measurement till complete model produced takes only 4 minutes. Fixed data acquisition devices provide more stable result. It is easy to carry, convenient for establishing objective and accurate database of human body database.

ATA Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel - Jun 2011 Issue

Source:Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel