Effects of Processing Parameters on the Mechanical Properties of Aramid Air Textured Yarns for Protective Clothing

Abstract This study examined the mechanical properties of a para-aramid filament according to the processing conditions of air-jet textured yarns (ATY). The specimens were prepared by changing the yarn speed, over feed ratio, air pressure, and heater temperature, which are important processing factors in the ATY process. The basic physical properties of the ATY, such as denier, tenacity, breaking strain, and initial modulus, were measured and their thermal shrinkage, such as dry and wet shrinkage, were measured to determine the thermal stability of the aramid ATY. In addition, the instability of para-aramid ATY were measured and assessed with the loop formation of ATY, according to the ATY process parameters. An examination of the effects of process parameters on the physical properties of aramid ATY revealed the core overfeed and air pressure to be the main factors. A high core overfeed and air pressure make the aramid ATY crimpy in the yarn core and entangle the fluffy loops on the yarn surface, resulting in an increase in the yarn linear density and breaking strain as well as a decrease in the tenacity and initial modulus. In contrast, these yarn physical properties were unaffected by the yarn speed, heater temperature, and wetting treatment. In addition, the dry and wet thermal shrinkage were unaffected by the process parameters of ATY. On the other hand, the instability decreased with increasing core overfeed and heater temperature and increased with increasing air pressure. These results showed that a high core overfeed makes the aramid ATY crimpy with an entangled yarn structure, and high air pressure helps provide small loops on the yarn surface. Finally, a high heater temperature makes the crimpy ATY structure more stable due to the strong heat set, which results in low instability.