Measurement and analysis of winding thickness variations in sectional warping process

Purpose Sectional warping is the most widely used warp preparation process in weaving. Winding all warp sections with the same length and same tension is a key factor for a good quality warp preparation. It is required that winding thickness (increase in radius due to warp winding) remains the same within and between warp sections. The purpose of this paper is to investigate winding thickness variations within and between warp sections, which can lead to quality problems in woven fabrics. Design/methodology/approach A measurement system is developed and then an experimental investigation into winding thickness variations is carried out. Winding thickness is measured with respect to number of drum revolutions using a laser sensor with 20 microns resolution. The number of drum revolutions and drum angular position are measured by an incremental encoder. Both sensors are mounted on an industrial sectional warping machine. A real-time software written in C programming language collects and records the data for all sections of warp with respect to drum number of revolutions and then results are evaluated to determine winding thickness variations. Findings Results show that warp sheet thickness starts with a higher value and it decreases up to around 30 drum revolutions and then it remains constant or decreases very slightly which can be considered as insignificant from practical point of view. Warp sheet thickness (i.e. thickness of one warp layer) fluctuates within each section up to 10 percent CV with five drum revolutions average warp sheet thickness. There are also warp sheet thickness variations between warp sections up to 3 mm. Originality/value Considering the short of practical research results on winding thickness variations in the literature, results of this study will be an original contribution to understanding winding thickness variation level. Also, results presented in this paper can be used to develop control algorithms for thickness control in sectional warping machines.