Stentering Process:
Stentering is a mechanical finishing process of textile. It is done for the stretching of fabric by the stenter machine. In other words we can say stentering is done for gripping the edges of a moving web to support the web during heating and stretching operations. Flow Chart of Stentering Process is as follows:
Flow Chart of Stentering Process:
Fabric loading
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Centering
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Padding
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Weft straightening
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Lower overfeeding
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Expending
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Upper overfeeding
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Uncurling
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Pinning on
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Heat setting
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Air cooling
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Pinning off
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Unload plating
Stentering is one of a series of textile finishing processes, where the selvedges of an open-width fabric are held at a predetermined width with maintaining proper tension. The attachment to the selvedges can be by pins. Traditionally the process was done on simple frames, but now it is done in a stentering machine which usually contains a dryer. The term “stentering” is used for passing fabric through a stenter or enter.
In textile manufacturing, finishing refers to the processes that convert the woven or knitted cloth into a usable material and more specifically to any process performed after dyeing the yarn or fabric to improve the look, performance, or hand feel of the finished textile or clothing. The precise meaning depends on the context. Some finishing techniques such as bleaching and dyeing are applied to yarn before it is woven while others are applied to the grey cloth directly after it is woven or knitted. Some finishing techniques, such as fulling, have been in use with handweaving for centuries; others, such as mercerization, stentering are by-products of the Industrial Revolution.
The objective of Stentering:
- To stretch the fabric so that any unwanted creases can be removed.
- Remove the wrinkles of the fabric.
- To-control the length and width of the fabric.
- Dry the fabric
- Perform heat-setting on the thermoplastic materials.
- To-control the GSM and shrinkage of fabric.
- Perform the curing operation on pigment printed fabric.
- For the fixation of various chemical finishes.
Author of this Article: Rana Sohel Executive Engineer Sunman Textile Mills Ltd. Chittagong Cell: +8801912-420118 Email: rsohel07tex@gmail.com