Alexandria Engineering Journal (2021) 60, 4639–4649

H O S T E D BY
Alexandria University

Alexandria Engineering Journal

www.elsevier.com/locate/aej
www.sciencedirect.com

An intelligent weavable dyeing method for the

environmentally-friendly dyeing of fabric
Peng Cui, Yuan Xue *

Key Laboratory of Eco-Textiles, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214021, Jiangsu, PR China

Received 5 December 2019; revised 28 February 2021; accepted 23 March 2021

Available online 3 April 2021

KEYWORDS Abstract Yarn-dyed textiles are complementary to digital printing textiles. They promise high pro-
CNC ring spinning; duction and environmentally-friendly energy efficiencies. However, the complicated structures of
Intelligent manufacturing; color-blended composite yarns cause unpredictability of colors in textile products. This has become
multicolored textiles; a roadblock in the development of environmentally-friendly textile products. In the present work,
color prediction; we propose a framework for the intelligent manufacture of color-blended composite yarn by com-
S-N model bining color prediction with a self-developed computer numerically controlled (CNC) ring spinning
system. The CNC ring spinning system consists of a ring spinning machine and an online manage-
ment platform which can regulate yarn production by changing the speeds of the rollers and spin-
dle, monitoring yarn quality and setting operational parameters through on-the-fly control; thus,
one can manufacture the fiber assembly with tunable structures. Furthermore, an analytical model
is set up to predict the color blending effect of the multicolored fabric made up of color-blended
composite yarns. The optimized blending ratios of composite yarns are obtained based on the pro-
posed linear model of parameter b, which are used to produce the multicolored fabrics. Overall, our
work establishes a basis for manufacturing textile products with high energy efficiency within an
intelligent weavable and environmentally-friendly dyeing framework.
Ó 2021 THE AUTHORS. Published by Elsevier BV on behalf of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria
University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction during fabric dyeing. Moreover, there is no need to premix col-

ors, as this can be readily performed on demand [3]. However,
Inkjet printing is a popular method of textile printing, partic- the essential task of fully controlling the printing quality is
ularly for the production of patterned knit goods and carpets made difficult by the complicated printing process, which
[1]. Its advantages include fast response, excellent pattern qual- involves a complex interplay of factors, such as the hydrody-
ity, mass customization and low cost in comparison with con- namics of ink spray and the elasticity, viscosity, electricity
ventional screen printing [2]. Various patterns can be formed and piezoelectricity of ink drops [4]. From the drop formation
to the interaction of the substrate and the ink drops, there
must be a delicate calibration of one or multiple factors at each
* Corresponding author.
step to produce a high-quality reproducible image with excel-
E-mail address: fzxueyuan@qq.com (Y. Xue).
lent lightness, sharpness, contrast and color appearance. In
Peer review under responsibility of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria
some cases, repeated measurement experiments are required
University.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2021.03.060
1110-0168 Ó 2021 THE AUTHORS. Published by Elsevier BV on behalf of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
4640
to find an optimal operation parameter. Furthermore, differ-
ent types of printing machines work through different mecha-
nisms [4], e.g., the charge-dropped type, bubblejet and piezo
printer, and this further complicates matters.
In textile printing, repeating patterns have become a stan-
dard method for introducing extra interest to clothes. This is
nonetheless an inherently limited approach, since it only
repeats the same thing [3]. Alternatively, varying the color of
the repeated pattern has become a promising method for
attracting customer attention. This is known as creating a dif-
ferent ‘‘colorway”[3,5,6]. Therefore, the functionalization and
intelligence use of fiber colors have emerged as a new field of
study, which is receiving a great deal of attention for various
applications, such as fashion, camouflage, sensors and even
the military uses. For example, multifunctional devices can
be integrated into fiber production to manufacture an elec-
trochromic fabric that demonstrates a gradient color [6] by
adjusting the electrochemical voltage. Although the fiber is
the basic unit of fabric, its color cannot be directly passed onto
the fabric because the color of a linear fiber assembly, i.e.,
yarn, is different from that of a single fiber. For example,
Wang et al. reported that an implantable electrochromic fabric
changed color in contrast to the electrochromic fibers because
of the spatial arrangement of fibers in the yarn [7]. In relation
to this, there is a simple approach for fabricating smart fabric
by combining different colored fibers into yarn in a predictable
fashion. In our proposed approach, fabric dyeing begins with
three primary-colored fibers; then, different colored fibers are
spun into yarn using a CNC ring-spinning frame combined
with the Stearns-Noechel model, and are subsequently woven
into a fabric, as illustrated in Scheme 1. The mixed coloring
of yarn can be expressed as the weighted-average R, G and
B values from various fiber components caused by the additive
optical natures, i.e., absorption and scattering, of opaque
fibers in fabric [8]. This provides the possibility to predict the
color of the composite yarn and the color appearance of the
Scheme 1 The framework of the intelligent weavable dyeing
method.
P. Cui, Y. Xue
fabric using computer-aided design. Therefore, this weavable
dyeing method is analogous to inkjet and screen printing.
In the textile industry and printing industry, color control is
often performed by mixing the multichromatic pigments of
chemical dyes, paints, inks, etc. The color of the pigment mix-
ture usually depends on the colors and ratios of the pigments
and the methods of mixing. Because different pigments can
be fully and uniformly mixed, the color of the pigment mixture
can be considered as mainly depending on the color and ratio
of each pigment. In general, design stylists separate the color
of artwork into composite colors based on a qualitative
description of the HSB color space [3,10,11], which is con-
structed from three primary colors: red, yellow and blue [9].
However, in textile production, the actual colors of yarns do
not exactly match the colors of fibers due to the sample prepa-
ration, the fiber’s physical form (fineness, length and surface
state), and fiber configurations in the yarn and spinning pro-
cess [12], i.e., the color blending effect. Very few studies have
focused on controlling the colors of composite yarn, due to
the complexity of the fabrication process, which requires com-
bining the manufacturing system with a color prediction algo-
rithm to achieve such control [12,22–27].
Recently, rotor spinning and ring spinning have emerged as
effective tools for manufacturing color-blended composite
yarns. For example, Gao et al. manufactured two-color
blended spun yarns using a self-developed two-channel ring
spinning machine [22,23]. Yang et al. produced three-color
blended spun yarns using a digital rotor spinning machine
[12,24]. The color-blended composite yarns possess unique
advantages, such as slow aging and environmental-
friendliness. In particular, the aging of color-blended compos-
ite yarn is due to the bond-breaking and depolymerization of
cellulose, which is commonly described by the well-known
Ekenstam equation or its modification following first-order
kinetics [28]. Therefore, the aging of color-blended composite
yarn can be manipulated by the chemical modification of cel-
lulose fiber. However, the structures and colors of the yarn
are limited by the lack of an effective algorithm for predicting
the color-blending effect of the yarn. The analytical model is a
useful approach for investigating the color-blending effect of
the yarn. The Kubelka-Munk theory is a typical model widely
used in paper manufacturing and other industries that work
with color [13]. In recent years, many people have used the
Kubelka-Munk model to predict the color-blending effect of
fiber blends and have claimed to achieve qualitatively satisfac-
tory results [14–17]. However, the Kubelka-Munk model was
originally designed to explain the light propagation in parallel
colorant layers of infinite xy extension [18,19], and has not
been successful for other types of materials. The Kubelka-
Munk model even fails to predict the color of dyed paper
[13] in some situations. Therefore, the accuracy of the
Kubelka-Munk model is highly system-dependent, and its pre-
dicted results may be fortuitous. To the best of our knowledge,
there has been no report of the production of composite yarn
rationalized by the structure-color relationship. Therefore,
there exists an urgent need to establish a framework for the
intelligent manufacture of color-blended composite yarn using
a ring spinning machine in conjunction with a color-prediction
algorithm.
In this study, we establish a framework to manufacture
color-blended composite yarn by using a self-developed
computer numerically controlled (CNC) ring spinning system
An intelligent weavable dyeing method for the environmentally-friendly
combined with the Stearns-Noechel model. The Stearns-
Noechel model is an analytical method used to study the
color-blending effect of fibrous materials. It is particularly use-
ful for predicting the color-blending effect on color-blended
composite yarn and nano dyeing [20–22]. The b value of
monochromatic fiber is determined to produce the analytical
equations, and then the color differences and optimal blending
ratios of composite yarns are predicted using the Stearns-
Noechel model. To achieve intelligent manufacturing, we com-
bine the CNC ring spinning system with a self-developed
online management platform, through which the client can
log in to the central computer to set up the operation param-
eters, monitor the yarn quality and change the speeds of the
rollers and spindle of the CNC ring-spinning machine through
on-the-fly control. In previous works, we used this method to
manufacture ring-spun slub yarns [29]. So far, we have three
US patents: No. 10,316,434 B2, No. 10,316,435 B2 and No.
10,316,436 B2 issued on the self-developed CNC ring spinning
system. The online management platform was jointly devel-
oped with Wuxi Dongfang Yunfeng Technology Co., Ltd.[30].
2. Materials and methods
2.1. CNC system
The CNC ring spinning machine can realize variable drafting
by the uneven feeds of rovings given by five independently-
regulated servo motors. A photograph and schematic diagram
of the CNC ring spinning system are shown in Fig. 1(a) and
(b). By changing the drafting ratios of three rovings, one can
manipulate the linear density and blending ratio of yarns.
[12,13] After receiving the parameter information, the PLC
executes commands to control the operational speeds of the
front, middle and back rollers. The servo motor rotates
according to a set of user-specified rules, and the photoelectric
encoder sends the real-time running parameters to the PLC.
The PLC compares the measured rotor speed with the preset
speed. If the deviation exceeds a fixed threshold value, the sys-
tem sends the modified frequency to the frequency converter
according to the PID algorithm to adjust the rotor speeds to
realize precise rotor motion.
2.2. Intelligent digital control system
A CNC ring spinning system can be integrated into an intelli-
gent digital control system, where each CNC ring spinning sys-
tem serves as a drone node that receives commands from a
remote control or a local control system. A schematic drawing
of the intelligent digital control system is shown in Fig. 1 (d). A
central industrial computer is used to control each drone
machine PLC. The operational information of each drone is
collected, and the data are subsequently uploaded to a cloud
server. A self-developed management platform provides an
interface for the client to access the cloud server. The client
can set up the initial parameters of the CNC spinning ring
machine and manage the system by collecting real-time operat-
ing parameters and analyzing the operational status. When a
fault occurs, it is immediately identified by an alarm signal,
and the faulty operational condition is automatically detected.
This greatly improves production efficiency, product quality
and productivity.
4641
2.3. Manufacturing color-blended composite yarn
The color-blended composite yarns were made from three dif-
ferent cotton rovings that were dyed prior to yarn production.
The uniformity ratio, length and strength of cotton fiber were,
respectively, 45.2%, 27.1 mm and 22.3 cN/tex. The raw cotton
was transformed into roving by going through conventional
opening, blending and combing. The unevenness of the roving
was measuredas 3.19%. The dyes were C.I. Reactive Red 239
(Reactive Red 3BSN), C.I. Reactive blue 19 (Reactive blue
KN-R) and C.I. Reactive Yellow 176 (Reactive Yellow 3RS)
purchased from Taopri Ltd. (Zhejiang, China). The ring-
spun yarns were spun on a JWF1551 spinning frame (Jingwei
Textile Machinery Co. Ltd., Yuci Branch). The spindle speed
was set as 12,000 r/min; the yarn count was set as 19.43 tex;
the linear density of roving was 0.4 tex; the twist of yarn was
set as 725 turns/meter.
The linear densities of the three rovings were q1, q2 and q3;
the feeding speeds of the three back rollers were assumed to be
Vb1, Vb2 and Vb3, respectively; the feeding speeds of the middle
and front rollers were assumed to be Vm and Vf, respectively.
The yarn linear density can be expressed as
X3
qi X 3
Vbi  qi
q¼ ¼ ð1Þ
i¼1
ei i¼1
Vf
Vf
ei ¼ ð2Þ
Vi
where e1,e2 and e3 are the total drafting ratios for the three
rovings.
The blending ratio of the roving is
q Vbi
ki ¼ P3 i ð3Þ
i¼1 qi Vbi
Equations (1) to (3) show that changing the velocities of the
back and front rollers changes the linear density of the spun
yarn and the blending and drafting ratios of the rovings via
online regulation.
For manufacturing composite yarns with tunable local
structures, the speeds of the back rollers are adjusted, i.e.,
0
Vi ¼ Vi þ DVi , for some production cycles. An increase in
roller speed increases the thickness of the yarn along the axis
direction of the composite yarn. The linear density of a com-
posite yarn can be written as
0
X3
qi ðVbi þ DVbi Þ
q ¼ qy0 þ Dq ¼ ð4Þ
i¼1
Vf
0
where q is the linear density of the composite yarn; qy0 is the
linear density of the base yarn; Dq is the yarn linear density
variation. The operational parameters can be set according
to equations (1) to (4) to generate various local structures.
The linear trajectory of the convergence point is critical for
the formation of composite yarn, based on the geometrical
relationship in the spinning triangle zone under dynamic flow
conditions, where the linear trajectory of the convergence
point depends on the detailed force balances in the spinning
triangle zone [31,32]. Our manufacturing technique for the
two-strand yarn was firmly established on such a geometrical
relationship. In the case of three-strand yarn, the flow of the
middle strand was carefully controlled such that there were
4642 P. Cui, Y. Xue

Fig. 1 (a) and (b) Schematic diagram and photograph of a three-channel CNC ring spinning machine. 1–3: back rollers; 4–6: rovings; 7–
9: back rollers; 10–11: middle roller; 12: condenser; 13–14: front rollers; 15: attenuated roving; 16: thread guide; 17: spindle. (c) Schematic
illustration of the computer-aided design of color-blended composite yarn and multicolored fabric. (d) Schematic illustration of the
intelligent manufacturing system of the CNC ring spinning machine.

negligible tensions in the middle strand, and therefore the lin-
ear trajectory of the convergence point for the three-strand
yarn can be treated as approximately the same as for two-
strand yarn.
The actual blending ratio of each colored roving can be
used to determine the b value in the Stearns-Noechel model,
as will be discussed below. We then optimize the blending
ratios based on the Stearns-Noechel model to realize the intel-
ligent production of textile products by combining color pre-
diction and CNC ring-spinning into one framework. Hence,
the uniqueness of the intelligent weavable dyeing method lies
in the realization of fabric dyeing by manipulating the color
blending effect of yarn through controlling the structures of
the fiber assembly. This opens up new possibilities for the
rational design of the color appearance of fabrics. Fig. 2 shows
the manufactured color-blended composite yarns and multi-
colored fabrics. Their manufacturing details are provided in
supplemental materials.
2.4. Testing method
Color-blended composite yarns were spun with the 10% gradi-
ent combination of red, yellow and blue rovings. Table 1 lists
the blending ratios of the samples. Each sample was
30 cm  30 cm, and the fabric had a density of 120 /cm2 as fab-
ricated by a TF-S3F4 circular knitting machine (Single Jersey)
purchased from Nantong NTEC Ltd. The fabrics were tested
using a Datacolor 650 color measurement spectrophotometer.
The spectral reflectance of the fabric was measured at the spec-
ified wavelength of 380–700 nm with a wavelength interval of
10 nm, and the 30-mm aperture was selected. During the color
testing, the samples were folded into five layers to ensure that
An intelligent weavable dyeing method for the environmentally-friendly 4643

Fig. 2 Color-blended composite yarn and multicolored fabric. (a) Melange yarn with different blending ratios; (b) melange yarn with
variable blending ratios; (c) melange yarn with segmented colors; (d) slub yarn; (e) melange yarn with the dotted line texture; (f) melange
yarn with variable linear densities and blending ratios; (g) knit fabric made of yarn with the appearance in (a); (h) knit fabric made of
melange yarn with two different blending ratios; (i) knit fabric made of melange yarn with variable blending ratios; (j) fabric made of slub
yarn; (k) fabric made of melange yarn with the dotted line texture; (l) fabric made of melange yarn with variable linear densities and
blending ratios.

light did not directly transmit through the fabric. For each 100
k ¼ P700  ð6Þ
380 RðkÞSðkÞ yðkÞDk
sample, the color measurement was conducted at several loca-
tions. The value with average color differences less than 0.2
CIELAB color unit was taken as the result. All samples were 8
kept under standard room conditions (65 ± 2% RH and >
> L ¼ 116ðY=Y0 Þ1=3  16
>
> h i
20 ± 2 °C) for at least 48 h before the test. >
>
>
> a ¼ 500 ðX=X0 Þ1=3  ðY=Y0 Þ1=3
The color difference between the measured and predicted >
< h i
values was calculated by the CIE 1976 color-difference for- b ¼ 200 ðY=Y0 Þ1=3  ðZ=Z0 Þ1=3 ð7Þ
>
>
mula [33]. Based on the predicted and measured reflectivities, >
> qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
>
>
the chromaticity values L, a, and b of the actual and reference >
> C ¼ ðaÞ2 þ ðbÞ2
samples were obtained by solving the following coupled >
:
h ¼ artanðb=aÞ
equations:
8 P700 
< X ¼ k  Dk  P380 x SðkÞ  RðkÞ
> where X/X0, Y/Y0 and Z/Z0 must be larger than 0.008856;

Y ¼ k  Dk  700 380 y SðkÞ  RðkÞ
ð5Þ otherwise, the following equations are used to calculate L, a
>
: P  and b.
Z ¼ k  Dk  700 380 z Sð kÞ  Rð kÞ
4644 P. Cui, Y. Xue

Table 1 Actual blending ratios of the samples.

No R:Y:B No R:Y:B No R:Y:B
1 0.9:0:0.1 22 0:0.4:0.6 43 0.3:0.1:0.6
2 0.8:0:0.2 23 0:0.5:0.5 44 0.3:0.2:0.5
3 0.7:0:0.3 24 0:0.6:0.4 45 0.3:0.3:0.4
4 0.6:0:0.4 25 0:0.7:0.3 46 0.3:0.4:0.3
5 0.5:0:0.5 26 0:0.8:0.2 47 0.3:0.5:0.2
6 0.4:0:0.6 27 0:0.9:0.1 48 0.3:0.6:0.1
7 0.3:0:0.7 28 0.1:0.1:0.8 49 0.4:0.1:0.5
8 0.2:0:0.8 29 0.1:0.2:0.7 50 0.4:0.2:0.4
9 0.1:0:0.9 30 0.1:0.3:0.6 51 0.4:0.3:0.3
10 0.1:0.9:0 31 0.1:0.4:0.5 52 0.4:0.4:0.2
11 0.2:0.8:0 32 0.1:0.5:0.4 53 0.4:0.5:0.1
12 0.3:0.7:0 33 0.1:0.6:0.3 54 0.5:0.1:0.4
13 0.4:0.6:0 34 0.1:0.7:0.2 55 0.5:0.2:0.3
14 0.5:0.5:0 35 0.1:0.8:0.1 56 0.5:0.3:0.2
15 0.6:0.4:0 36 0.2:0.1:0.7 57 0.5:0.4:0.1
16 0.7:0.3:0 37 0.2:0.2:0.6 58 0.6:0.1:0.3
17 0.8:0.2:0 38 0.2:0.3:0.5 59 0.6:0.2:0.2
18 0.9:0.1:0 39 0.2:0.4:0.4 60 0.6:0.3:0.1
19 0:0.1:0.9 40 0.2:0.5:0.3 61 0.7:0.1:0.2
20 0:0.2:0.8 41 0.2:0.6:0.2 62 0.7:0.2:0.1
21 0:0.3:0.7 42 0.2:0.7:0.1 63 0.8:0.1:0.1

8
>
< L ¼ 903:3ðY=Y0 Þ where DL, Da and Db represent the differences in the chro-
a ¼ 3893:5ðX=X0  Y=Y0 Þ ð8Þ maticity values between the actual sample and the standard
>
: sample.
b ¼ 1557:4ðY=Y0  Z=Z0 Þ
where X , Y, and Z are the measured tristimulus values of 3. Stearns-Noechel model and experimental verification
the actual sample; S(k) represents the spectral power distribu-
  
tion of the light source; xðkÞ, yðkÞ, and z ðkÞ are the CIE tris- Multicolored fabrics are made of color-blended composite
timulus color values; Dk is the wavelength interval and set as yarn with monochromatic fibers at specific blending ratios.
10 nm; k is the normalized constant; X0, Y0 and Z0 are the tris- The color appearance of fabric depends on the light scattered
timulus values under the CIE Standard Illuminant. from the surface of the fabric. To investigate the color blend-
The color difference (DE) of CIE 1976 Lab is given by the ing effect, one must establish the relationship between the
following coupled equations: reflectivity of the fabric, the reflectivity of the fibers and the
1 blending ratio of the fibers. The Stearns-Noechel model is a
DE ¼ ½ðDLÞ2 þ ðDaÞ2 þ ðDbÞ2 2 ð9Þ

Fig. 3 Schematic diagram of the computing process of parameter b.

An intelligent weavable dyeing method for the environmentally-friendly 4645

prediction method for the relationship between the reflectivity

of fabric and the reflectivity of monochromatic fibers [20].
X
n
f½Rblend ðkÞ ¼ xi f½Ri ðkÞ ð10Þ
i¼1

1  RðkÞ
f½RðkÞ ¼ ð11Þ
b½RðkÞ  0:01 þ 0:01
where b is an experimental parameter; Rblend ðkÞ is the reflectiv-
ity of fabric at wavelength k; k is the wavelength of incident
light; Ri ðkÞ is the reflectivity of a monochromatic fiber.
Eqs. (10) and (11) show that if parameter b and the reflec-
tivity of a monochromatic fiber are known, one can deter-
minethe reflectivity of the fabric at the specified wavelength.
Furthermore, it is a general principle that the light scattering
from the fabric surface is correlated with the wavelength of
the incident light, which implies that b depends on the wave-
length of the incident light. The dependence of b on the wave-
length of incident light can also be found in other references
[20,34]. Assuming that the reflectivities of the monochromatic
fiber and color-blended fabric are known, and these can be
obtained using the Datacolor 650 color measurement spec-
trophotometer, we can perform a best-fit algorithm of opti-
mization [35] to obtain parameter b at a specific wavelength
k based on Eqs. (10) and (11). The optimized parameter b cor-
responds to the smallest difference between the predicted and
the measured chromaticity values, as illustrated in Fig. 3.
For each wavelength, there are several samples with different
blending ratios. For each sample, we can obtain an optimized
b value. The best b value at each wavelength corresponds to the
smallest value of the sum of the absolute values of the color
differences for all samples. Thus, we establish the relationship
between parameter b and wavelength k. Subsequently, SAS
statistical analysis software is used to fit the linear regression
relation between b and the wavelength k:
1
b¼ ð0:0415  k þ 90:48Þ ð12Þ
1000
Substituting Eq. (12) into (11), we obtain
1 000  ½1  RðkÞ
fðRðkÞÞ ¼ ð13Þ
ð0:04147  k þ 90:48Þ  ½RðkÞ  0:01 þ 0:01
At each wavelength, we have the following relation based
on equation (10):
8 s
>
> f½R ð380Þ ¼ x1 f½R1 ð380Þ þ x2 f½R2 ð380Þ þ   þ xn f½Rn ð380Þ
> s
>
>
> f½R ð390Þ ¼ x1 f½R1 ð390Þ þ x2 f½R2 ð390Þ þ   þ xn f½Rn ð390Þ
>
<
..
> .
>
>
>
> f ½ Rs
ð 700Þ  ¼ x f½ R ð 700Þ  þ x f ½ R ð 700Þ  þ   þ x n f½Rn ð700Þ
>
> 1 1 2 2
Fig. 4 (a) Dispersion and (b) median value of b at each :
wavelength; (c) frequency distribution of optimized b values. 1 ¼ x1 þ x2 þ   þ xn
ð14Þ

Table 2 Color difference calculated with actual blending ratios using the Stearns-Noechel model.
Model The average value of the color difference Distribution of color difference/%

DE DE  1 DE  1:5 DE  2 DE  2:5 DE  3

Stearns-Noechel 1.15 37.78% 77.78% 88.89% 96.67% 100.00%

4646 P. Cui, Y. Xue
 1
where x1 ; x2 ;    ; xn are the blending ratios; s is the actual sam- X ¼ BT B BT Y ð17Þ
ple. Then, equation (14) is rewritten as
Eqs. (16) and (17) can be iteratively solved using the least-
Y ¼ BX ð15Þ squares method [36]. Furthermore, we can predict the blending
2 3 ratios of monochromatic fibers by solving equation (17). With
f½Rs ð380Þ
parameter b, the blending ratios and measured reflectivity of
6 f½Rs ð390Þ 7
6 7 monochromatic fibers, one can solve for the reflectivity of the
Y¼6
6
7
.. 7; color-blended fabric at a specific wavelength k using Eqs. (10)
4 . 5
and (11). Ultimately, we obtain the predicted chromaticity val-
f½Rs ð700Þ ues, i.e., L, a, and b, by substituting the predicted reflectivity of
2 3
f½R1 ð380Þ f½R2 ð380Þ  f½Rn ð380Þ the color-blended fabric into the CIE 1976 color-difference for-
6 f½R ð390Þ f½R ð390Þ  f½Rn ð390Þ 7 mulas and calculating the color differences using equation (9).
6 1 2 7
6 7 To optimize the blending ratios to minimize the color dif-
6 .
.. .. .. 7;
B¼6 .  .7 ference between the actual sample and the reference sample,
6 7
6 7
4 f½R1 ð700Þ f½R2 ð700Þ    f½Rn ð700Þ 5 one can use the augmented Lagrangian method [37] to obtain
1 1  1 the reflectivity of each wavelength that corresponds to the min-
2 3 imal color difference. Then one solves equation (17) to obtain
x1
the optimized blending ratios.
6x 7
6 27
X¼6 7
6 .. 7 ð16Þ
4 .5
xn

Table 3 Predicted results based on Stearns-Noechel model.

Serial No Actual blending Chromaticity values of reference Predicted chromaticity Optimized blending ratio Color difference
ratio (R:Y:B) samples values
L* a* b* L* a* b*
1 0.1:0.1:0.8 45.92 1.67 11.89 47.19 0.43 11.38 0.16:0.15:0.69 0.42
2 0.1:0.2:0.7 47.09 0.17 0.70 48.65 0.39 1.15 0.14:0.26:0.60 1.02
3 0.1:0.3:0.6 48.45 1.44 7.99 49.65 1.95 6.80 0.14:0.35:0.51 0.55
4 0.1:0.4:0.5 49.12 1.89 11.23 50.21 2.61 9.84 0.14:0.38:0.48 0.54
5 0.1:0.5:0.4 49.87 3.21 11.59 50.05 3.80 10.38 0.16:0.39:0.45 0.60
6 0.1:0.6:0.3 51.26 3.86 16.18 50.97 4.81 14.84 0.15:0.44:0.41 0.36
7 0.1:0.7:0.2 54.20 8.87 26.90 52.98 10.22 25.48 0.16:0.55:0.29 0.47
8 0.1:0.8:0.1 58.63 17.34 41.56 56.62 19.04 40.41 0.17:0.70:0.13 0.55
9 0.2:0.1:0.7 43.44 10.74 11.13 44.84 7.58 11.03 0.29:0.13:0.58 2.21
10 0.2:0.2:0.6 44.27 9.49 0.88 46.34 7.69 1.85 0.26:0.24:0.50 1.73
11 0.2:0.3:0.5 46.91 9.96 5.76 47.41 8.99 4.57 0.26:0.31:0.43 0.40
12 0.2:0.4:0.4 47.11 11.59 7.68 47.48 10.53 6.38 0.27:0.33:0.40 0.33
13 0.2:0.5:0.3 48.05 12.14 10.38 47.96 11.42 9.07 0.27:0.36:0.37 0.24
14 0.2:0.6:0.2 49.07 17.56 17.74 48.80 16.73 15.92 0.30:0.42:0.28 0.19
15 0.2:0.7:0.1 52.14 26.05 29.58 51.16 25.20 27.62 0.33:0.53:0.14 0.13
16 0.3:0.1:0.6 42.41 15.35 10.05 43.78 11.95 10.30 0.36:0.12:0.52 1.75
17 0.3:0.2:0.5 43.61 14.52 2.86 44.89 12.09 3.76 0.34:0.20:0.46 1.50
18 0.3:0.3:0.4 45.46 14.19 3.16 46.01 12.56 2.05 0.32:0.27:0.41 0.59
19 0.3:0.4:0.3 46.71 15.22 8.69 46.96 14.11 7.36 0.32:0.33:0.35 0.24
20 0.3:0.5:0.2 48.30 20.04 14.44 47.59 19.34 13.33 0.36:0.38:0.26 0.65
21 0.3:0.6:0.1 49.87 29.25 23.15 48.87 28.07 21.87 0.42:0.45:0.13 0.63
22 0.4:0.1:0.5 42.37 17.87 8.13 43.32 14.90 8.67 0.40:0.13:0.47 1.60
23 0.4:0.2:0.4 43.84 16.01 2.28 44.59 13.93 3.12 0.36:0.20:0.44 0.97
24 0.4:0.3:0.3 45.44 15.60 3.21 45.72 14.11 2.23 0.34:0.26:0.40 0.34
25 0.4:0.4:0.2 46.53 17.17 7.38 46.33 15.97 6.37 0.35:0.31:0.34 1.05
26 0.4:0.5:0.1 49.10 30.45 22.71 48.54 29.22 21.31 0.44:0.44:0.12 0.73
27 0.5:0.1:0.4 42.05 18.25 8.22 43.18 15.46 8.77 0.41:0.13:0.46 1.30
28 0.5:0.2:0.3 44.05 17.55 1.42 44.37 15.77 2.21 0.39:0.20:0.41 0.50
29 0.5:0.3:0.2 46.72 20.54 11.05 46.57 19.79 9.97 0.38:0.34:0.28 0.84
30 0.5:0.4:0.1 48.41 29.65 20.47 47.97 28.57 19.26 0.44:0.41:0.15 0.60
31 0.6:0.1:0.3 43.05 18.84 5.47 43.37 16.75 6.11 0.42:0.15:0.43 0.66
32 0.6:0.2:0.2 44.70 22.79 4.33 44.57 21.38 3.43 0.45:0.25:0.30 0.43
33 0.6:0.3:0.1 47.59 29.35 18.07 47.30 28.30 16.98 0.46:0.39:0.15 0.75
34 0.7:0.1:0.2 42.86 27.49 0.27 42.79 25.18 1.14 0.53:0.17:0.30 0.41
35 0.7:0.2:0.1 45.83 32.64 12.94 45.45 30.86 11.96 0.54:0.32:0.14 0.68
36 0.8:0.1:0.1 42.29 38.62 4.93 42.59 35.23 3.74 0.67:0.18:0.15 0.88
An intelligent weavable dyeing method for the environmentally-friendly 4647

Table 4 Color difference calculated with the optimized blending ratios using the Stearns-Noechel model.
Model The average value of the color difference Distribution of color difference/%

DE DE  1 DE  1:5 DE  2 DE  2:5

Stearns-Noechel 0.75 77.78% 86.11% 97.22% 100%

Fig. 5 (a) Multicolored fabrics made of color blended composite yarns that are fabricated using the CNC ring spinning machine; (b)
standard HSB color space constructed from three primary colors: blue, yellow and red. (For interpretation of the references to color in this
figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

4. Results and discussion
Since most colors can be obtained by mixing the three primary
colors (R, Y, and B), the three-colored fabrics were used to
validate the Stearns-Noechel model.
Fig. 4(a) shows that the b values are highly dispersed; Fig. 4
(b) shows the majority of optimized b values are within the
range of 0 to 0.3, which is consistent with the recommended
range (0 ~ 1) for cotton and wool fibers in the literature [20];
Fig. 4(c) shows that there exists an approximately linear rela-
tionship between the median values of b and the wavelength
k, so it is valid to use the median value of b to fit a linear model
with respect to wavelength, as shown in Eq. (12). Table 2
shows that the average value of color differences is approxi-
mately 1, of which 78% are smaller than 1.5, which further
indicates the validity of the linear model.
Table 3 lists the predicted chromaticity values, blending
ratios and color differences using the Stearns-Noechel models.
The predicted chromaticity values well match the experimental
data. Table 4 shows the distributions of the predicted color dif-
ferences based on the optimized blending ratios. Approxi-
mately 78% of the color difference values are  1, which is
greater than 37% of the color difference values based on the
actual blending ratios, as shown in Table 2; thus, the optimized
blending ratios greatly reduce the color differences between the
reference sample and the actual sample. Fig. 5(a) shows pho-
tographs of the manufactured multicolored fabrics made of
color blended composite yarns, fabricated using the CNC ring
spinning machine based on the predicted blending ratios.
Fig. 5(b) shows the standard HSB color space. The colors of
the color-blended fabrics closely match with the standard
HSB color space.
Many factors contribute to differences in color, such as the
sample preparation, the fiber’s physical form (fineness, length
and surface state), the fiber configurations in the yarn, and
the spinning process [12,20]. For example, the fiber arrange-
ment at the yarn surfaces for rotor spinning and ring spinning
differ substantially from each other. In the case of ring-spun
yarn, the twist of the fibers is built from the outside to the
inside, and the fibers are helically arranged at the surface
[38]. In the case of rotor-spun yarn, the yarn is a three-part
structure: an inner zone of core fibers that are aligned with
the axis of the yarn, an outer zone of fibers, which occurs irreg-
ularly along the core length, and fibers that are wrapped
around the outside of the yarn [38]. Therefore, the reflectivity
of the composite yarn made by rotor spinning depends on the
wrapper fibers and fiber configuration in the outer zone, so
that the analytical prediction of color differences is very differ-
ent from that of ring spinning, as demonstrated in Yang et al,
where the predicted b value of the Stearns-Noechel model is
much greater than 1 for rotor-spun yarn [12].
5. Conclusion
With the present study, we have conducted pioneering work in
the intelligent manufacturing of color-blended composite yarn.
The CNC ring spinning machine is used in conjunction with an
online management platform to bring about the intelligent con-
4648
trol of composite structures of yarn with tunable linear density,
blending ratios and local thicknesses. Thus, different
monochromatic fibers can be arranged in various ways by tun-
ing the structure of the composite yarn. This introduces addi-
tional color textures for the textile products, increases the
attractiveness of the fabric’s appearance and increases the addi-
tive values of textile products. Furthermore, we have used the
Stearns-Noechel model to analyze the color blending effect of
monochromatic fibers. Parameter b in the Stearns-Noechel
model is determined through a best-fit algorithm, which is suit-
able for modeling the multicolored composite yarn. Using the
least square method with the minimization algorithm, the
blending ratios are optimized to minimize the color difference
between actual and reference samples. Using the optimized
blending ratios, we fabricated a series of multicolored fabrics,
which closely matched the designated colors.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing
financial interests or personal relationships that could have
appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Appendix A. Supplementary material
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2021.03.060.
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