Relationships of cotton fiber properties to ring-spun yarn quality on selected High Plains cottons

Cotton fiber properties play an important role in determining spinning performance but explain only a portion of the variability in final yarn quality parameters. This research investigates relationships between ring-spun yarn quality and fiber properties (measured using the High Volume Instrument (HVI) and Advanced Fiber Information System (AFIS)) given additional information on harvest method and cultivar. Seventy-six samples of commercially grown cotton representing five cultivars from six locations across the Texas High Plains were collected over three years. Carded 14.5 tex (40 Ne) ring-spun yarns were produced and tested for various yarn quality characteristics. Principal component analysis and partial least squares regression were used to determine relationships between fiber and yarn properties. Neither harvest method nor cultivar explained a significant portion of yarn quality variability beyond that captured by HVI and AFIS results. Yarn work-to-break was highly correlated to fiber bundle elongation, which is not currently reported in official cotton classing reports.