Simulation of air flow–yarn interaction inside the main nozzle of an air jet loom

The main nozzle of an air jet loom plays an essential role in the weft insertion process. This role involves sucking the weft yarn from the prewinder and launching it into the reed. Simulating the dynamic behavior of the weft yarn inside the main nozzle involves fluid–structure interaction (FSI). In this work, one-way and two-way FSI simulations of air flow–yarn interaction inside a main nozzle have been performed. A three-dimensional model of the flexible weft yarn, consisting of a chain of line segments, and a two-dimensional axisymmetric model of the supersonic flow have been developed and coupled to perform these simulations. The results of the simulations are compared quantitatively and qualitatively with experimental results. Good agreement has been found between the results of the two-way FSI simulations and the experiment. The coupled fluid and structure models provide an effective numerical tool to optimize the geometry of the main nozzle based on the calculated motion and speed of the weft yarn.