Percentage of crimp is defined as the mean difference between the straightened thread length and the distance between the ends of thread while in the cloth, expressed as percentage. When warp and weft yarns interlace in fabric they follow a wavy or corrugated path. Crimp percentage is a measure of this waviness in yarns. Warp and weft crimp percentages are two of the eleven structural elements in fabric construction discussed by Pierce. The relationships between the geometry of a cloth structure and its physical behavior in use are complex. Although much pioneer work has been done there are many unresolved problems still to be investigated.

Objective:

To measure the crimp percentage in warp and weft of a given fabric.

Theory:

Percentage crimp is defined as the mean difference between the straightened thread length and the distance between the ends of the thread while in the cloth, expressed as a percentage. From the definition of crimp two values must be known, the cloth length from which the yarns is removed and the straightened length of the thread. In order to straighten the thread, tension must be applied, just sufficient to remove all the kinks without stretching the yarn. In practice it is seldom possible to remove all the crimp before the yarn itself begins to stretch. The standardized tensions recommended in the B.S. Handbook are given below:

Yarn	Count	Tension(g)
Cotton	Finer than 7 tex	0.75 tex
Cotton	Coarser than 7 tex	0.20 tex + 4
Woolen & Worsted	15 to 60 tex	0.20 tex + 4
Woolen & Worsted	60 to 300 tex	0.07 tex + 12
All man-made continuous filament yarns	All counts	Tex / 2

From those two values we can calculate the crimp percentage with the following formula:

Where,

c = crimp,
l = uncrimped length
p = crimped length.

Five groups of threads selected for test are two warp way and three weft way groups. The mean crimp percentage is calculated warp way and weft way. Rectangular strips are carefully marked on the cloth and each strip cut into the form of a flap. From each strip ten threads will be removed. Removal of threads is as follows: the central part of the first thread is separated from the flap fringe by means of a dissecting needle, but the two extreme ends are left secured. One end is then removed and place in the grip of the tester, and the other end is removed and placed in the second grip. In this way the thread is transferred from the cloth to the crimp tester without loss of twist and with a minimum handling. Several crimp testers are available, Shirley crimp tester is one of them.

Apparatus:

Crimp tester
Fabric sample
Scissor
Scale

Sample: Cotton woven fabric. Length = 10”.

Atmospheric condition:

Wet condition: – 26 ° c. & Dry condition: – 30° c.
Difference between wet and dry bulb = 30° c-26 ° c. = 4° c
So, relative humidity (RH) = 70 %

Procedure:

At first we have to select the warp or weft way of the fabric. Then we should select the test length of the yarn. Here it is 10². According to test length we will cut the flap of fabric. Now a single yarn is to remove from the flap of fabric carefully as discussed in theory. One end of the yarn is gripped in the fixed gripper of the m/c and the other end is gripped in the other setting the test length. Now the tension for the sample is found out from its count and it is set in the m/c. After that we will apply tension along the yarn length with hand by taking away the other end of yarn far from the first end. As soon as the white marl on the tension bar is on the same line of its both sides white mark, we will stop far away the other end. The length of the yarn after applying tension is taken from the scale. Now from this two lengths crimp percentage is calculated from the given formula. In this way at least 10 crimp percentage for warp and 10 for weft is taken and average crimp percentage is calculated from them.

Data:

Sl. No.	Warp Yarn				Weft yarn
Sl. No.	Crimped length p	Uncrimped length l	Crimp percentage c	Mean	Crimped length p	Uncrimped length l	Crimp percentage c	Mean
1	10”	10.7”	7%	6.7%	10”	11.1”	11%	10.5%
2		10.9”	9%			11”	10%
3		10.8”	8%			11.2”	12%
4		10.4”	4%			11.1”	11%
5		10.6”	6%			10.9”	9%
6		10.5”	5%			11.3”	13%
7		10.7”	7%			11”	10%
8		10.8”	8%			10.8”	8%
9		10.4”	4%			11.2”	12%
10		10.6”	6%			10.9”	9%

Calculation:

The count of yarn tested is 20 Ne both for warp and weft way. Therefore,

Result:

Average warp crimp percentage 6.7% &
Average weft crimp percentage 10.5%.

Remark:

We found that crimp percentage for warp is less than weft. It is because the warp yarns are kept in tension during weaving & they are stronger and better yarn than weft. So they do not extend more. On the other hand weft yarns are kept in low tension and low in quality. So they can extend more. As a result their crimp percentage is more. We should notice that variation in crimp can give rise to faults in fabrics, e.g. reduction in strength, bright picks and diamond barring in rayons, strips in yarn dyed cloths and so on. So we should control it which is also necessary for design fabric to give required extensibility.

Conclusion:

I would like to thank our respected teacher for the important instructions. I am also grateful to our lab assistants for their kind help. This experiment helps me to know about the crimp percentage of fabric that is very important for textile testing. I think this will be very helpful in my future life.

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