J. Inst. Eng. India Ser.
E
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40034-021-00217-1
ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION
Adaptive Neuro-fuzzy Inference System-based Modelling
of Cotton Yarn Properties
Partha Protim Das1 • Shankar Chakraborty2
Received: 22 November 2020 / Accepted: 29 May 2021
Ó The Institution of Engineers (India) 2021
Abstract In this paper, an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference
system (ANFIS) is developed for effective prediction of
yarn tenacity and unevenness based on a set of six input
cotton fibre properties, i.e. fibre strength, fibre elongation,
upper half mean length, uniformity index, fineness and
short fibre content. The ANFIS model integrates the
advantageous features of both the systems of fuzzy control
and neural network. A neural network is applied with
learning and computational capability in fuzzy control. On
the other hand, fuzzy control provides high level of
knowledge and fuzzy rules for use in the neural network.
Using a past experimental dataset, the developed ANFIS
model is trained and subsequently tested to envisage yarn
tenacity and unevenness values. Its prediction performance
is validated with respect to five statistical metrics, i.e.
correlation coefficient, mean absolute percentage error,
root-mean-square error, coefficient of efficiency and vari-
ance performance index, and is also contrasted against
other prediction tools, like multivariate regression analysis,
artificial neural network, fuzzy logic and support vector
machine. Based on their acceptable values, it can be con-
cluded that the ANFIS models can be effectively employed
& Shankar Chakraborty
s_chakraborty00@yahoo.co.in
1 human experts to establish the exact input–output rela-
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sikkim Manipal
Institute of Technology, Sikkim Manipal University, Majitar,
Sikkim, India
2
Department of Production Engineering, Jadavpur University,
Kolkata, India
for prediction of diverse yarn quality characteristics while
treating fibre properties as the input variables.
Keywords Prediction  ANFIS  Cotton fibre  Yarn 
Surface plot
Introduction
The textile process, involving yarn manufacturing, fabric
manufacturing or wet processing, usually consists of a
large number of variables related to its various operations,
input materials and processing conditions which are sup-
posed to interact with each other and influence the corre-
sponding end products. In a textile industry, there is always
an endeavour to manufacture products with the most
desired levels of quality characteristics. These target
quality levels can only be achieved if the effects of various
input variables on the outputs can be studied and estab-
lished beforehand. But, this type of complex relationship
between the processing/input variables and dependant
(output) variables is quite difficult to develop due to high
variability in the input parameters, difficulty in accurately
measuring some of the outputs, varying processing stages,
and lack of control and monitoring of the production pro-
cesses. In this direction, knowledge of human experts can
be sought, but again, they have to recollect all the process-
related information under strained environment. When a
process involves large numbers of input parameters and
product characteristics, it becomes quite impractical for the
tionship between the considered variables. It has also been
observed that in textile industry, the existent relationships
between fibre, process and yarn parameters are highly
nonlinear, complex and interactive [1].
123

With continuous development of computing facilities in
recent days, artificial neural networks (ANNs) are being
successfully deployed to analyse the complex datasets and
explore the unknown relationships between the input pro-
cess parameters and output variables. They are also quite
efficient in predicting the tentative values of different
product characteristics based on a given input dataset [2]. It
can enable the textile industry personnel to set the optimal
operating levels of various input variables to attain the
desired grade of product qualities [3]. As ANN is a black
box approach, it simply interlinks the considered inputs and
outputs without a clear understanding of the process
involved. It has a complex architecture, higher computa-
tional burden and proneness to data overfitting, and it does
not provide any idea about how a particular output is
predicted based on a given set of inputs. To overcome these
disadvantages of ANNs, neuro-fuzzy systems are devel-
oped while combining the fuzzification technique of fuzzy
logic with the learning capability of ANN. Fuzzy logic
itself is a robust and flexible approach, can deal with less
precise inputs, mimic the human reasoning approach, and
has uncomplicated structure. Based on appropriate mem-
bership functions and linguistic rules, it can efficiently map
an input value to an output fuzzy set, thereby increasing the
separability of classes within the feature space. It can also
help the neuro-fuzzy model to fit the training data more
accurately. On the other hand, ANN techniques help the
fuzzy modelling procedure in computing the membership
function parameters to allow the fuzzy inference system to
correlate the given input–output data. In adaptive neuro-
fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), those membership func-
tion parameters can be efficiently adjusted from the input–
output data using a hybrid learning algorithm (integrating
backpropagation and least squares method).
Keeping in mind the advantages of ANFIS model to
frame the input–output relationship of a complex process,
this paper aims at its application to explore the existent
connection between various cotton fibre properties and
yarn characteristics. Six fibre properties, like fibre strength
(FS), fibre elongation (FE), upper half mean length
(UHML), uniformity index (UI), fineness and short fibre
content (SFC), are treated as the input variables, and two
ANFIS models are developed to predict values of yarn
tenacity and unevenness (U). The corresponding ANFIS
rules connecting the fibre and yarn properties are subse-
quently framed. The effects of different input membership
functions and missing data on the prediction performance
of the ANFIS models are also investigated.
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J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. E
Literature Survey
Majumdar et al. [4] proposed the application of ANN
models to select cotton bales for achieving the predicted
combinations of spinning consistency index and micronaire
values. Majumdar et al. [5] considered fibre bundle
tenacity, fibre elongation, UHML, uniformity index,
micronaire, reflectance degree, yellowness and yarn count
as the input parameters to a hybrid neuro-fuzzy system to
predict strength of ring or rotor spun yarn. Chattopadhyay
[6] reviewed the applications of ANNs in yarn manufac-
turing process and proved their capabilities in predicting
the corresponding process parameters based on suit-
able combinations of cotton fibre properties. Using the
Advanced Fibre Information System (AFIS) data, Üreyen
and Kadoğlu [7] utilized yarn count, twist and roving
properties to predict some of the important ring yarn
quality characteristics using linear multiple regression
models. Majumder and Ghosh [8] developed a fuzzy expert
system to model ring spun cotton yarn strength using fibre
tenacity, mean length, short fibre content and micronaire as
the input parameters. An ANFIS model was proposed by
Majumdar [9] to envisage cotton yarn hairiness while
considering mean length, short fibre content, maturity and
yarn linear density as the inputs to the said model. Using
support vector machine (SVM)-based regression approach,
Ghosh and Chatterjee [10] predicted ring and rotor spun
yarn characteristics based on a set of cotton fibre properties
and compared its performance with that of ANN-based
approach. A feed forward backpropagation ANN model
was employed by Furferi and Gelli [11] to predict yarn
strength based on a set of cotton fibre characteristics.
A SVM-based model for prediction of yarn properties was
presented by Lv et al. [12] for having enhanced spinning
performance and its prediction accuracy was later con-
trasted with that of an ANN model.
Nurwaha and Wang [13] applied several intelligent
techniques, like multilayer perceptron neural network,
SVM, radial basic function network, general neural net-
work, and gene expression programming, to predict ring
spun quality characteristics while treating fibre strength,
micronaire, UHML, fibre elongation, uniformity index,
yellowness, greyness and short fibre content as the inputs.
It was propounded that SVM had the best prediction ability
and fibre strength was the most important contributor. A
genetic fuzzy expert system was developed to model cotton
yarn strength based on fibre strength, UHML, fibre fineness
and short fibre content, and it was proved that the devel-
oped system had better prediction accuracy and consis-
tency as compared to fuzzy expert system [14]. Abakar and
J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. E

Yu [15] applied ANN and SVM to predict unevenness, requirements, the set of input variables (fibre properties)
hairiness, tenacity and elongation of ring and compact spun has also been varied. In this direction, two ANFIS models
yarns. It was revealed that the SVM-based models using were developed by Majumdar et al. [5] and Majumdar [9].
radial basis function and universal kernel would outper- In the first model, yarn strength was predicted using fibre
form ANN model with respect to prediction accuracy. A bundle tenacity, fibre elongation, UHML, uniformity index,
hybrid model based on ANN and genetic algorithm (GA) micronaire, reflectance degree, yellowness and yarn count
was developed by Das et al. [16] to envisage yarn tenacity as the input variables. On the other hand, in the second
and unevenness based on six cotton fibre properties. A model, mean length, short fibre content, maturity and yarn
constrained optimization problem was subsequently solved linear density were treated as the input variables to envis-
using GA to single out the best combination of fibre age yarn hairiness. Although different prediction models
properties to achieve the target yarn qualities. Fallahpour have been employed by the past researchers to envisage
and Moghassem [17] compared the prediction performance yarn properties based on varying fibre characteristics, there
of ANFIS and gene expression programming models while is lack of a concrete research work to conduct a compar-
predicting breaking strength of rotor spun yarns. Using ative analysis on the prediction accuracy of the considered
feed forward ANN technique, Özkan et al. [18] attempted models using a single set of experimental data based on
to predict yarn breaking strength and elongation, and various statistical measures.
studied the influences of some identified intermingling Thus, while identifying the research gap based on the
process parameters on those two yarn properties. Dashti literature survey, this paper contributes to the followings:
et al. [19] employed ANN for tenacity modelling of cotton
(a) Development of two ANFIS models for simultaneous
yarn and later applied GA technique to determine the
prediction of yarn tenacity and unevenness using fibre
optimal values of the input parameters for effective yarn
strength, fibre elongation, UHML, uniformity index,
production. Fuzzy logic system was also employed to
fineness and short fibre content as the input cotton
predict ring spun yarn tensile properties using non-corre-
fibre properties,
lated High Volume Instrument (HVI) fibre properties and
(b) Identification of the best membership function among
its accuracy was measured with respect to some selected
triangular, trapezoidal, Gaussian and generalized bell
performance indexes [20]. Malik et al. [21] applied ANN
to suitably represent the input variables in the
and multiple linear regression techniques to predict
developed ANFIS models,
tenacity and unevenness of blended ring spun yarns while
(c) Validation of the prediction performance of the
treating blend ratio, twist multiplier, back roller hardness
ANFIS models with respect to five statistical metrics,
and break draft ratio as the input parameters. The predic-
i.e. correlation coefficient (R), mean absolute per cent
tion performance of ANN-based model was identified to be
error (MAPE), root-mean-square error (RMSE), coef-
superior to that of multiple linear regression technique. The
ficient of efficiency (E) and variance performance
application of a grey fuzzy logic-based approach was
index (VPI),
presented by Chakraborty et al. [22] in identifying the most
(d) Verification of the prediction accuracy of the ANFIS
appropriate cotton fibre from a set of 17 candidate alter-
models with minimum reduced dataset,
natives based on six fibre properties. A grey wolf opti-
(e) Development of the surface plots portraying influ-
mizer-based NN simulator was developed by Hadavandi
ences of the considered fibre properties on yarn
et al. [23] to predict siro-spun yarn tensile strength. The
tenacity and unevenness,
response surface methodology (RSM) was also applied to
(f) Identification of the most statistically significant
identify the appropriate combination of fibre and yarn
cotton fibre properties influencing yarn tenacity and
linear densities for achieving the optimal yarn strength. El-
unevenness based on analysis of variance (ANOVA)
Geiheini et al. [24] proposed the application of image
results, and.
processing and ANNs to model yarn tenacity and elonga-
(g) Comparison of prediction performance of the ANFIS
tion for cotton and blended yarns. It was concluded that the
models with other tools, like multivariate regression
application of image enhancement integrated with ANN
analysis, fuzzy logic, ANN and SVM with respect to
would provide better prediction results.
the identified statistical measures.
The review of the past literature reveals that several
intelligent soft computing tools, mainly in the form of
ANN and SVM, have been deployed for prediction of ring
as well as rotor spun yarn characteristics. Depending on the

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 J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. E

ANFIS Model
An ANFIS is a hybrid predictive model which integrates
the adaptive capability of ANNs and qualitative rule-based
reasoning of fuzzy logic [25, 26]. It harnesses the advan-
tageous features of both ANNs and fuzzy logic while uti-
lizing the mathematical properties of ANNs in tuning the
rule-based fuzzy systems to approximate the human rea-
soning approach. In this model, an ANN is employed with
the learning and computing capabilities in fuzzy logic,
whereas, fuzzy logic provides the advanced expert
knowledge and fuzzy principles for use by the ANN. The
integration of ANNs and fuzzy logic in ANFIS architecture
makes it more systematic and less dependent on human
expertise. It basically provides the mapping relation
between the input and output data while employing a
hybrid learning method to determine the optimal distribu-
tion of membership functions. The ANFIS architecture
consists of five layers, i.e. fuzzy layer, product layer, nor-
malization layer, defuzzification layer and total output
layer, with each layer consisting of several nodes described
by the corresponding node function [27]. The inputs to a
specific layer are derived from the nodes of the previous
layer. In this architecture, a fixed node is represented by a
circle, whereas, an adaptive node (where the parameters are
modified during adaptation or training) is denoted by a
square. In order to demonstrate the working principle of
ANFIS model, it is assumed that there are two inputs (x and
y) and one output (fi). As it employs the first-order Sugeno
fuzzy inference system, the corresponding rules can be
framed as follows [28, 29]:
Rule 1: If x is A1 and y is B1, then z is
f1(x,y) = p1x ? q1y ? r1.
Rule 2: If x is A2 and y is B2, then z is
f2(x,y) = p2x ? q2y ? r2.
where p1, q1, r1, p2, q2 and r2 are the linear parameters
(consequent parameters), A1, B1, A2 and B2 are the
nonlinear parameters, and fi(x,y) is the output of the first-
order Sugeno fuzzy inference system. The architecture of
ANFIS model is exhibited in Fig. 1.
In the fuzzy layer, x and y are the input nodes, and A1,
B1, A2 and B2 are the linguistic labels in the fuzzy theory
(like low or high) for deriving the membership function.
This layer consists of adaptive nodes with the following
node functions:
O1;i ¼ lAi ðxÞ for i ¼ 1; 2 ð1Þ
O1;i ¼ lBi2 ðyÞ for i ¼ 3; 4 ð2Þ
where l(x) and l(y) are the parameterized membership
functions which usually follow bell shape with the
maximum and minimum values as 1 and 0, respectively.
With the changing parameter values, the bell-shaped
function varies accordingly, thereby allowing various
forms of the membership function for fuzzy set.
1
lðxÞ ¼ h ib1 ð3Þ
ðx  ci Þ2
1þ a2i
where ai, bi and ci are the parameter set. These are also
known as premise parameters.
In the product node, every node is a fixed node, with the
node function to be multiplied by the input signals to serve
as output.
O2;i ¼ wi ¼ lAi ðxÞ  lBi ðyÞ for i ¼ 1; 2 ð4Þ
where wi represents the firing strength of a rule.
Every node in the third layer is a fixed node, having the
node function to normalize the firing strength while com-
puting the ratio of the ith node firing strength to the sum of
all rules’ firing strength.
wi
O3;i ¼ wi ¼ P for i ¼ 1; 2 ð5Þ
wi
In the fourth layer, every node is an adaptive node. The

Fig. 1 ANFIS architecture

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J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. E
defuzzification relationship between the input and output of
this layer can be expressed as follows:
O4;i ¼ wi fi ¼ wi ðpi x þ qi y þ ri Þ for i ¼ 1; 2 ð6Þ
The last layer of ANFIS model consists of a fixed node,
with node function to compute the overall output as:
X w1 w1
O5;i ¼ wi fi ¼ f1 þ
i
w1 þ w2 w 1 þ w2
ð7Þ
f2 ¼ ðw1 xÞp1 þ ðw1 yÞq1 þ ðw1 Þr1
þ ðw2 xÞp2 þ ðw2 yÞq2 þ ðw2 Þr2
The ANFIS adopts a hybrid learning algorithm
combining the gradient method with the least squares
method to update the parameter values. The consequent
parameters are identified by the least squares estimate in
the forward pass of the learning algorithm. On the other
hand, the premise parameters are updated by the gradient
descent algorithm in the backward pass.
ANFIS-based Modelling of Cotton Yarn Properties
Das et al. [16] employed a dataset of 36 types of cotton
fibres and the corresponding carded yarns of 20’s Ne
nominal count, and developed a hybrid ANN-GA model to
predict the values of yarn tenacity and unevenness based on
six cotton fibre properties, i.e. fibre strength, fibre elonga-
tion, UHML, uniformity index, fineness and short fibre
content. The origin of this dataset is the cotton crop data
published by the International Textile Centre of Texas
Tech University, USA in the year 1997–1998. In this paper,
among 36 observations, 26 sets of data are randomly
chosen and adopted for training of the developed ANFIS
models, whereas, the remaining 10 observations are treated
as the testing dataset to validate the prediction performance
of the models. Thus, the training dataset, as shown in
Table 1, consisting of six cotton fibre properties, and
tenacity and unevenness of the ring spun yarns, is
employed for ANFIS-based modelling and effective pre-
diction of the considered yarn quality characteristics. It is
worthwhile to mention here that in the ANFIS models, the
number of cotton fibre properties (features) used for pre-
dicting the corresponding yarn tenacity and unevenness
values is set as six. Figure 2 depicts the input–output
ANFIS model developed for this yarn property prediction
problem.
The MATLAB Neural Network Toolbox is employed
here for training and testing of the ANFIS models. The
membership functions for the input variables can be
selected from the fuzzy inference system. However, the
choice of the most appropriate membership function
depends on the number of rules developed in the fuzzy
inference system, mechanism of the fuzzy inference system
and defuzzification process. In this paper, generalized bell
is selected as the membership function for the input vari-
ables due to its higher reliability, robustness and capability
to represent the input–output relationships more efficiently.
Besides the generalized bell function, triangular, trape-
zoidal and Gaussian can also be adopted as the membership
functions for the input variables in ANFIS model. Figure 3
represents a typical generalized bell membership function,
and the ANFIS architecture along with the related training
parameters is provided in Table 2. The training of ANFIS
models is terminated after 500 iterations (epochs).
In these ANFIS models, as there are six input variables
and membership function with three levels (low, medium
and high), altogether 36 = 729 rules are framed for each of
the considered yarn characteristics. The rule viewers
developed for yarn tenacity and unevenness are, respec-
tively, exhibited in Figs. 4 and 5. As mentioned earlier,
from the initial dataset with 36 observations, 10 are
employed for testing of the ANFIS models. The predicted
values of yarn tenacity and unevenness are provided in
Table 3. It can be clearly noticed from the first row of the
rule viewer in Fig. 4 that when fibre strength = 30.8 g/tex,
fibre elongation = 6.4%, UHML = 1.01 inch, uniformity
index = 81.7%, fineness = 3.7 lg/inch and shirt fibre
content = 6.8%, the predicted yarn tenacity is 15.6 g/tex,
whereas, its actual value is 16.2 g/tex. For the same com-
bination of input variables, the ANFIS model predicts the
unevenness of the yarn as 11.2% with its actual value as
11.9%. The comparisons between the actual yarn tenacity
and unevenness values, and their predicted values are,
respectively, portrayed in Figs. 6 and 7. These figures re-
veal that there are close agreements between the actual and
predicted values for both the yarn characteristics under
consideration.
Now, the prediction performance of the developed
models is validated based on various statistical metrics.
Correlation coefficient (R) defines the degree of association
between the actual and predicted yarn characteristics. The
mean percentage error of the predicted values as compared
to actual values is estimated using mean absolute per-
centage error (MAPE). The root-mean-square error
(RMSE) is widely utilized to define the goodness-of-fit of
the developed model that best describes the average error
in predicting the considered yarn characteristics. A smaller
value of RSME indicates better performance of the model.
The coefficient of efficiency (E) also evaluates the per-
formance of the models, and its value ranges between -?
and 1. Higher value of E specifies better performance. The
capability of the model to take into account variation in the
data is measured using variance performance index (VPI).
Usually, higher VPI is desired. The mathematical formu-
lations of these statistical metrics are presented as follows:
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Table 1 Training dataset for ANFIS models [16]

Sl. No Fibre property Yarn property
FS (g/tex) FE (%) UHML (inch) UI (%) Fineness (lg/inch) SFC (%) Tenacity (g/tex) U (%)

1 28.7 6.5 1.09 81 4.4 13.8 14.5 13.6

2 28.5 6.6 1.15 80.2 3.5 11.9 13.8 13.5
3 28.7 5.7 1.1 79.2 3.7 18.4 13.1 15.8
4 30.8 6.4 1.13 82.6 4.3 9.8 15.2 12.5
5 26.5 5.8 1.09 81.5 3.8 8.4 14.4 13.8
6 27.5 6.3 1.07 82.8 4.5 8.4 14.8 13.2
7 29.2 5.3 0.98 80 4.5 16.6 13.2 15.6
8 29 6.7 1.05 81.9 4.2 10.9 14 13.3
9 30.3 6.7 1.1 83.2 4.4 8.7 14.7 13.5
10 28.1 6.3 1.01 80.7 3.8 15.5 13.4 15.5
11 30.6 6.6 1.07 83.1 4.7 9 15.3 12.5
12 28.3 6.5 0.97 81.5 3.8 13.1 15.1 13.8
13 27.7 5.5 1.05 81.5 4.7 11.7 14.2 13.3
14 29 6.6 1.06 80.7 3.1 11.3 14.3 15.1
15 29.1 6.1 1.05 81.7 4 11.2 14.9 14.6
16 27.5 6.9 1.01 81.7 4.5 9.7 14.6 12.2
17 28.8 5.5 1.05 82.6 4.1 9.2 17 12.5
18 28.1 6.7 1.03 81.7 4.5 7.2 15.3 11.9
19 29 6 1.04 81.4 5 6.8 15.3 12.1
20 27.4 6.2 0.96 79.9 4.6 9.2 14.4 12.9
21 27.2 5.5 0.98 79.1 4.6 10.3 13.1 13.7
22 31.7 6.3 1.03 80.6 3.7 8.9 16.2 12.3
23 29.3 6 1.03 81.2 4.4 8.1 16 11.9
24 26.8 5.3 1 80.8 4.9 6.8 13.8 12.3
25 34 6.6 1.2 82.8 3.8 6.8 18 11.6
26 26.7 6.9 1.04 82.6 4.8 7.5 15.3 11.8

Fig. 3 Input membership function

Fig. 2 Input–output ANFIS model

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J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. E

Table 2 ANFIS architecture and training parameters P

m
ðEi  Pi Þ2
Number of layers 5 E ¼1 i¼1
ð11Þ
P
m
Size of the input 26 9 2 ðEi  EÞ2
dataset i¼1

Number of outputs 2 varðEi  Pi Þ

VPI ¼ 1  ð12Þ
Membership function Generalized bell varðEi Þ
Learning rules Least square estimation gradient descent
algorithm where Ei and Pi are the actual and predicted values, E and
Inference system Sugeno inference system P are the mean of the all the actual and predicted values,
Number of rules 729 and m is the total number of observations (testing data).
generated Table 4 provides the values of the considered statistical
Momentum constant 0.9 measures for both the ANFIS models. It is worthwhile to
Number of epochs 500 mention here that higher dimensions of R, E and VPI, and
lower dimensions of MAPE and RMSE indicate better
efficiency of the models in predicting yarn tenacity and
unevenness values. This table also shows values of those
P
m considered statistical measures for different membership
ðEi  EÞðPi  PÞ functions of the input variables. It can be clearly noticed
i¼1
R ¼ sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ð8Þ that the ANFIS models with the generalized bell function
Pm Pm
ðEi  EÞ2 ðPi  PÞ2 perform best as the prediction tools.
i¼1 i¼1 The robustness of the developed ANFIS models is tested
m   in Table 5. Here, one particular dataset containing the
1X  Ei  Pi 
MAPE ¼  100% ð9Þ cotton fibre properties is excluded during training, and the
m i¼1  Ei 
values of yarn tenacity and unevenness are envisaged for
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi the same dataset while treating it for testing purpose. For
1X m
RMSE ¼ ðEi  Pi Þ2 ð10Þ example, among the 26 randomly selected sets of training
m i¼1
data, the ninth dataset is not considered during training (i.e.
the ANFIS models are now trained with 25 datasets), and
the corresponding yarn characteristics are predicted for the

Fig. 4 Rule viewer for yarn

tenacity

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 J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. E

Fig. 5 Rule viewer for

unevenness

Table 3 Actual and predicted values of yarn tenacity and unevenness

Sl. No FS (g/tex) FE (%) UHML (inch) UI (%) Fineness (lg/inch) SFC (%) Tenacity (g/tex) U (%)
Actual Predicted Actual Predicted

1 30.8 6.4 1.01 81.7 3.7 6.8 16.2 15.6 11.9 11.2
2 28.4 6.3 1.02 80.3 4.3 10.2 14.1 14.2 13.1 13.2
3 28.7 6.2 1.02 80.7 3.8 8.7 16 15.6 12.1 12.7
4 28.9 6 1.07 81.1 4.6 7.7 15.2 15.4 11.9 12
5 28.7 6.7 1.05 81 4.4 11.8 17.9 17.5 14.1 13.9
6 29.5 6.4 1.02 81.9 4.8 7.2 15.4 14.7 12.1 11.2
7 30.2 6.7 1.06 82.8 4.3 5.6 16.7 16.3 11.1 11.6
8 30.3 6.1 1.1 81.6 4.6 8.4 15.7 15.8 12.4 12.1
9 29.1 6.9 1.05 83.2 4.6 8.6 15.8 15.9 10.9 11.2
10 28.6 6.1 1.04 82.4 4.2 10.8 14.3 13.8 13.6 13.7

Fig. 6 Comparison between the

actual and predicted yarn
tenacity values

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J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. E

Fig. 7 Comparison between the

actual and predicted unevenness
values

Table 4 Performance indices of ANFIS models for different membership functions

Statistical measure Membership function
Generalized bell Gaussian Trapezoidal Triangular
Tenacity U Tenacity U Tenacity U Tenacity U

R2 0.9072 0.7885 0.8034 0.7327 0.7291 0.6352 0.5547 0.5532

MAPE 2.2170 3.1712 2.5000 3.4307 3.6878 3.8568 4.9828 4.7372
RMSE 0.4062 0.4648 0.5000 0.5079 0.6935 0.7099 0.9116 0.8191
E 0.8506 0.7696 0.7736 0.7248 0.5643 0.4625 0.2474 0.2843
VPI 0.9072 0.7713 0.7968 0.7248 0.7166 0.5584 0.4148 0.2870

Table 5 Prediction results after removing one training dataset

Sl. No FS (g/tex) FE (%) UHML (inch) UI (%) Fineness (lg/inch) SFC (%) Tenacity (g/tex) U (%)
Actual Predicted Actual Predicted

9 30.3 6.7 1.1 83.2 4.4 8.7 14.7 13.5 13.5 12.3
16 27.5 6.9 1.01 81.7 4.5 9.7 14.6 13.5 14.6 13.7
18 28.1 6.7 1.03 81.7 4.5 7.2 15.3 13.8 12.5 12.7

same taking it as the testing data. The results of Table 5
again assure the satisfactory prediction performance of the
ANFIS models.
The ANFIS model-based surface plots presenting the
relationships between the cotton fibre properties and yarn
qualities are presented in Figs. 8 and 9. It can be noticed
from Fig. 8 that fibre elongation plays an important role for
having higher yarn tenacity. On the other hand, higher
short fibre content leads to decreased yarn tenacity. For
having better yarn tenacity, moderate UHML, uniformity
index and fineness values are always recommended. As
expected, higher fibre strength is responsible for increased
yarn tenacity. Similarly, from Fig. 9, it can be propounded
that higher fibre elongation causes more unevenness in the
manufactured yarn. Similarly, higher fibre strength and
UHML produce more uniform yarn. In the same direction,
higher fineness and uniformity index are responsible for
having better yarn quality. These observations are in close
congruence with those of Majumdar et al. [5] and
Majumdar [9].
Comparison of the Prediction Performance
In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed
ANFIS models over the other prediction tools, like
regression analysis, fuzzy logic, ANN and SVM, two
RSM-based regression equations highlighting the rela-
tionships between yarn tenacity and unevenness, and six
cotton fibre properties are first developed based on the
entire dataset. These two regression equations are later
utilized for predicting the yarn properties for the testing

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Fig. 8 Surface plots for yarn tenacity

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Fig. 9 Surface plots for unevenness

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Table 6 ANOVA results for yarn tenacity

Source DF Adj SS Adj MS F-value p-value

FS 1 6.0262 6.0262 7.65 0.010

FE 1 0.2223 0.2223 0.28 0.599
UHML 1 0.1799 0.1799 0.23 0.636
UI 1 0.7978 0.7978 1.01 0.323
Fineness 1 0.3056 0.3056 0.39 0.538
SFC 1 5.4066 5.4066 6.86 0.014
Error 29 22.8408 0.7876
Total 35 35.7792

Table 7 ANOVA results for unevenness

Source DF Adj SS Adj MS F-value p-value

FS 1 0.8623 0.8623 2.36 0.136

FE 1 0.8927 0.8927 2.44 0.129
UHML 1 0.0104 0.0104 0.03 0.867
UI 1 0.0295 0.0295 0.08 0.778
Fineness 1 1.6904 1.6904 4.62 0.040
SFC 1 19.6843 19.6843 53.80 0.000
Error 29 10.6097 0.3659
Total 35 33.7793

Fig. 10 Six-input-two-output
fuzzy logic system

data. Tables 6 and 7, respectively, provide the ANOVA significant property (with p-value \ 0.05), and fineness
results for yarn tenacity and unevenness. It can be clearly and short fibre content (with p-values \ 0.05) maximally
noticed that for yarn tenacity, fibre strength is the most influence yarn unevenness.

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Fig. 11 Fuzzy rule viewer

Fig. 12 ANN architecture

Table 8 Predicted values of yarn tenacity and unevenness

Sl. FS FE UHML UI Fineness SFC Regression Fuzzy ANN SVM
No (g/tex) (%) (inch) (%) (lg/inch) (%)
Tenacity U (%) Tenacity U Tenacity U (%) Tenacity U (%)
(g/tex) (g/tex) (%) (g/tex) (g/tex)

1 30.8 6.4 1.01 81.7 3.7 6.8 14.5418 12.4975 15.4 12.5 16.7229 13.2059 16.9321 13.112
2 28.4 6.3 1.02 80.3 4.3 10.2 14.3419 14.0186 14.6 13.9 14.208 13.004 14.8081 13.7582
3 28.7 6.2 1.02 80.7 3.8 8.7 14.2826 13.0145 14.5 12.4 15.3883 12.9781 15.5383 13.1181
4 28.9 6 1.07 81.1 4.6 7.7 13.3665 13.1819 15.3 12.8 14.9258 11.8495 15.7183 11.6548
5 28.7 6.7 1.05 81 4.4 11.8 15.4144 14.3192 16.8 13.6 16.5093 12.7816 16.8245 13.8715
6 29.5 6.4 1.02 81.9 4.8 7.2 13.5232 12.5487 15.1 12.8 15.041 12.3345 15.0113 12.5147
7 30.2 6.7 1.06 82.8 4.3 5.6 13.5438 12.5029 15 12.9 15.3305 12.4963 16.3122 12.3587
8 30.3 6.1 1.1 81.6 4.6 8.4 14.3913 12.8628 15.2 13 15.3016 13.8626 15.1201 11.7596
9 29.1 6.9 1.05 83.2 4.6 8.6 13.4228 12.674 14.8 11.8 15.1412 10.2883 14.9861 10.7684
10 28.6 6.1 1.04 82.4 4.2 10.8 14.0097 14.0708 14.7 14 15.2391 13.5623 15.1458 12.8254

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Table 9 Statistical measures for the considered prediction models

Statistical measure ANFIS Regression Fuzzy ANN SVM
Tenacity U Tenacity U Tenacity U Tenacity U Tenacity U

R 0.9072 0.7885 0.1934 0.7979 0.5436 0.7087 0.5610 0.3400 0.5855 0.5060
MAPE 2.2170 3.1712 10.5131 7.1734 4.9101 6.2775 4.1196 6.0940 4.1451 5.4139
RSME 0.4062 0.4648 1.9034 0.9737 0.9354 0.8491 0.7841 0.9352 0.6849 0.7638
E 0.8506 0.7696 2.2814 0.0112 0.2075 0.2310 0.4432 0.0672 0.5751 0.3777
VPI 0.9072 0.7713 0.1731 0.7578 0.5228 0.6816 0.5537 0.1739 0.5825 0.4466

Fig. 13 Performance measures

for different prediction models
for yarn tenacity

Fig. 14 Performance measures

for different prediction models
for unevenness

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Tenacity ¼ 9612:9  FS þ 52:1  FE þ 431  UHML
þ 16:6  UI 56:1  Fineness þ 15:4
 SFC þ 0:097  FS  FE
þ 5:11  FS  UHML  0:038  FS
 UI  0:030  FS  Fineness
þ 0:055  FS  SFC þ 9:1  FE  UHML
 0:939  FE  UI
þ 2:01  FE  Fineness þ 0:355  FE
 SFC 8:42  UHML  UI
þ 13:0  UHML  Fineness 1:27
 UHML  SFC þ 0:327  UI  Fineness
 0:241  UI  SFC þ 0:448  Fineness  SFC
ð13Þ
U ¼3763:4  FS þ 40:7  FE 521  UHML
8:25  UI þ 72:7  Fineness þ 1:68  SFC
þ 0:257  FS  FE 6:69  FS  UHML
þ 0:116  FS  UI  0:305  FS  Fineness
þ 0:0625  FS  SFC
7:1  FE  UHML  0:449  FE  UI  0:57
 FE  Fineness
 0:139  FE  SFC þ 9:85  UHML  UI 5:0
 UHML  Fineness
1:53  UHML  SFC  0:637  UI  Fineness
þ 0:012  UI  SFC
 0:386  Fineness  SFC
ð14Þ
Figure 10 depicts the architecture of the fuzzy logic
model having six inputs, two outputs and Mamdani
inference system employed for prediction of the yarn
characteristics. The fuzzy rule viewer of Fig. 11 develops
26 rules based on the training dataset, and envisages values
of yarn tenacity and unevenness for different combinations
of fibre properties. The first rule from this fuzzy rule viewer
is presented as below:
If fibre strength = 30.8 g/tex, fibre elongation = 6.4%,
UHML = 1.01 inch, uniformity index = 81.7%, fine-
ness = 3.7 lg/inch and shirt fibre content = 6.8%, then
yarn tenacity = 15.4 g/tex and unevenness = 12.5%. It is
interesting to note that the fuzzy logic model develops only
26 rules using the training dataset, whereas, 729 rules are
generated in the ANFIS model. Hence, it is quite expected
that the ANFIS would outperform fuzzy logic model with
respect to prediction performance.
In the similar direction, the developed architecture for
the ANN model with six nodes in the input layer, ten nodes
in the hidden layer and two nodes in the output layer is
exhibited in Fig. 12. For training of this ANN model,
Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm is employed, whereas,
tan-sigmoid and purelin transfer functions are, respec-
tively, utilized in the hidden layer and output layer. It has
already been observed that the prediction performance of
SVM model depends on selection of the appropriate values
of generalization constant (C), insensitive parameter (e)
and standard deviation for Gaussian radial basis function
(GRBF) (r). Among different kernel functions in SVM,
GRBF is considered here due to its global acceptability and
better potentiality to reduce complexity of the prediction
model as compared to other polynomial kernel functions.
Based on grid search with 10 k-fold validation with the
training dataset, the optimal values of C, e and r are,
respectively, estimated as 32, 0.1250 and 0.1500.
Table 8 provides values of yarn tenacity and unevenness
for the testing dataset when other considered tools, i.e.
regression analysis, fuzzy logic, ANN and SVM are
employed for prediction of the considered yarn properties.
In Table 9, the performance of all the prediction models is
contrasted with respect to five statistical measures. These
comparison results for yarn tenacity and unevenness are
also pictorially exhibited in Figs. 13 and 14, respectively. It
can clearly be noticed that ANFIS models excel over the
others with respect to all the statistical measures for both
the yarn properties.
Conclusions
In this paper, two ANFIS models are developed for pre-
dicting yarn tenacity and unevenness while treating six
cotton fibre properties as the input variables, and the pre-
dicted values are compared with the actual dataset. Their
prediction performance is well validated with respect to the
calculated values of R, MAPE, RMSE, E and VPI. It is also
observed that the generalized bell membership function for
the input variables provides the best prediction perfor-
mance. The surface plots highlight the effects of the six
cotton fibre properties on the yarn qualities under consid-
eration. The ANFIS model has several advantages, like its
performance is not dependant on the inherent statistical
characteristics of the training dataset, it can clearly depict
the mapping relationships between the input and output
variables through a set of comprehensive rules, it has fast
convergence rate, capability for the optimal parametric
design for a given process, ability to deal with both
numerical and linguistic knowledge, etc. A comparative
study of the developed ANFIS models against other pop-
ular prediction tools proves its efficacy in accurately
envisaging the yarn property values based on a set of input
fibre characteristics. Hence, it can be effectively deployed
in spinning industries to prefigure values of different yarn
characteristics for given sets of fibre properties. The future
123

scope of this paper may include application of principal
component analysis to identify the significant fibre prop-
erties affecting the yarn characteristics and study the pre-
diction performance of the ANFIS models with the
maximum reduced dataset.
Funding There was no outside funding or grants received that
assisted in this study.
Declarations
Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of
interest.
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