Effects of Process Parameters on Single Step Fixation of Reactive Printing

Effects of Process Parameters on Single Step Fixation of Reactive Printing and Crease Resistance Finishing of Cotton Fabrics using 23 Factorial Design

Fareha Asim¹, Muzzaffar Mahmood²

• ¹Department of Textile Engineering NED University of Engineering & Technology Karachi, Pakistan
• ²Department of Mechanical Engineering NED University of Engineering & Technology Karachi, Pakistan

Correspondence to: Fareha Asim, Department of Textile Engineering NED University of Engineering & Technology Karachi, Pakistan.

Copyright © 2012 Scientific & Academic Publishing. All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

Effects of process parameters on single step fixation for reactive printing and crease resistance finishing of cotton fabric has been investigated in this research work using factorial design. 23 factorial design have been designed and conducted to check the effect of concentration of crease resistant, urea and time-temperature profile of fixation conditions on the single step fixation process of reactive printing and crease resistance finishing. The results from the experiment suggest that two out of three factors were significant, which are concentration of crease resistant and fixation condition. Evaluation of the single step fixation process in comparison to the two-step combination has been made with respect to k/s value and dry crease recovery angle (DCRA) using software Design Expert 7.0. The statistical and graphical analyses of experiment revealed the significant effect of concentration of crease resistant and fixation condition on the response variables of single step fixation process. Furthermore, the models have been tested for adequacy and found that the assumption of normality and independency are not violated. R2 values were very high, suggesting that models accounted for most of the variability.

Keywords

Crease Resistance Finishing, DOE, DCRA, Factorial design, k/s, Reactive Printing, R2

Cite this paper

Fareha Asim, Muzzaffar Mahmood,

Effects of Process Parameters on Single Step Fixation of Reactive Printing and Crease Resistance Finishing of Cotton Fabrics using 23 Factorial Design,

International Journal of Textile Science, Vol. 2 No. 1, 2013, pp. 7-11. doi: 10.5923/j.textile.20130201.02.

1. Introduction

Cotton is an important fibre in textiles, because of its numerous advantages which need no explanation. One of the main disadvantages of cotton is creasing after washing[1]. On creasing the cotton fabrics, the molecular chains in the amorphous region slip past each other, breaking the weak hydrogen bonds. The stretched chains then form hydrogen bonds in the stretched places and thus the fabric holds the creases. The mechanism of the crease recovery process in cotton fibres is based on introducing stable cross-links so as to prevent slippage of molecular chains[2]. Cotton fabric is usually printed with reactive dyes of low reactivity, mainly Monochlorotriazine (MCT), since these dyes exhibit high solubility, low affinity, high diffusion and high print paste stability. Printing of cotton fabric with these kinds of dyes offers the following advantages: minimum hydrolysis of the dyes during the printing process, maximum fixation on cotton fabrics, minimum staining on white grounds during the washing off process and good all-round fastness properties of the print[3]. The current procedure for printing and crease resistant finishing of cotton fabric involves the application of two processes separately and in succession. The present research work was undertaken with a view to exploring the feasibility of carrying out single step fixation of reactive printing and crease resistance finishing of cotton fabric and to investigate the effects of process parameters on single step fixation of reactive printing and crease resistance finishing of cotton fabric using design of experiment (DOE). An extensive literature review had been conducted for the identification of key factors which were systematically examined through 23 factorial design.

2. Experimental

After a critical study of reactive printing and crease resistance finishing processes[4-21] a pre-experimental plan was developed. The 23 factorial design were conducted to examine the significant factors affecting the single step fixation process. Potential design factors, held constant factors, nuisance factors, response variables and experiment design for the single step fixation process were outlined. The particulars of the plan are given in Table 1 and 2. The values at (-) and (+) levels of various factors were chosen based on standard practices followed in textile industry.

2.1. Pre experimental plan

2.1.1. Process Route

Initially two routes were examined for carrying out the single step fixation process for reactive printing and crease resistance finishing. The process followed in both routes is as follows; 

Route 1

Crease Resistance Finish-Dry-Reactive Print-Dry-Fix- Wash-Dry

Route 2

Reactive Print-Dry-Crease Resistance Finish -Dry-Fix- Wash-Dry

2.2. Findings

It was found that in the case of Route 2 after application of print paste and drying when fabric was immersed in the liquor containing crease resistant and auxiliaries, the print bleeds and loses its localization. Therefore, Route 1 has been selected for the single step fixation process.

2.3. Experiment Design

Design of experiment (DOE) is a standard statistical technique to identify key factors and levels that influence system performance and variability. This technique is especially useful when there is the need to understand the interactions and effects of several system variables and an absence of concrete information[22]. The supplemental text material for DOE may be found in[23].

2³ factorial design was used to investigate the effect of process parameters namely: (i) Urea, (ii) concentration of crease resistant, (iii) fixation Conditions on single step fixation of reactive printing and crease resistance finishing. A 2³ two-level factorial design of 8 trials with two repetitions was run according to the design matrix in Table 3. The experiments were performed in random order. The results were analyzed using software Design Expert 7.0. The responses investigated were the colour yield and dry crease recovery angle (DCRA). The details of the experimental design arrangement are shown in Tables 1, 2 and 3.

1. Introduction

2. Experimental

    2.1. Pre experimental plan

        2.1.1. Process Route

    2.2. Findings

    2.3. Experiment Design

    2.4. Evaluation of Response Variables

        2.4.1. Color Yield Measurement

        2.4.2. Evaluation of Dry Crease Recovery Angle

3. Results and Discussion

    3.1. Assessment of the Significant Factors in Single Step Process

        3.1.1. Influence of Concentration of Crease Resistant

        3.1.2. Influence of Fixation Conditions

    3.2. Influence of Urea

4. Conclusions

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS