Optimising splicing parameters for splice aesthetics for a continuous filament synthetic yarn

Pneumatic yarn splicing is a well-established technique for joining two yarn ends together by means of a blast of compressed air in a device known as a splicing chamber. Earlier research has addressed the effect of variables such as air pressure and splicing chamber design upon easily quantifiable outputs such as splice strength. This paper continues the work on splice strength done by Webb et al. (2007), in this instance addressing the issue of optimising splice appearance. The research uses the same statistical methods of Taguchi analysis which were established in the earlier work. By combining the results from the splice strength experiments with this new work on splice appearance, it has been demonstrated that the strongest splice does not in general correspond with the best appearance. In general, therefore, it is necessary to establish an overall optimum splicer configuration, offering an acceptable compromise between splice strength and splice appearance.