Investigation of self crimp method as applied to polypropylene fibers

Use of man-made fibers supersedes that of natural fibers by the development of technology in textile field. Moreover, man-made fibers have been reached a widely used. Especially, they are needed to have crimps, curls, loops and bulk appearance in order to be used in manufacturing hosiery goods, upholstery, drapery, carpet and industrial fabrics. These properties can be obtained by using different texturing processes according to the type of the man-made fibers. But, texturing process is required for using high levels of air, power and heat. This condition causes increase in production cost. To be a competitive in the world, high speed production rates are required at the low production costs. This study includes the investigation of self crimp method on applied polypropylene (PP) fibers used in producing man-made carpet as a pile yarn. Self crimping filament yarn spinning (FYS) process is used to deform the molecular structure of melted yarn by using intensive-local cooling having low temperature. This changed molecular orientation causes the crimp effect in filaments. For investigation, spinnerets are designed, local cooling unit is invented. Both of them are mounted on bulk continuous filament (BCF) spinning machine. In the experimental studies, 48 sample yarns are obtained by changing BCF spinning machine parameters with designed units. The physical properties of them tested in laboratory are compared with both BCF yarn and continuous filament (CF) yarn. In conclusion, according to test results and visible outcomes, it is proved that the self-crimp FYS has crimp effect on the yarn. Key words: Self Crimp, texturing, polypropylene, bulk continuous filament (BCF)