Time Delay Systems Applications in Textile Industry – Modelling of Sliver Drafting Process

Abstract: The paper deals with an important textile engineering process: the textile sliver drafting process. It is shown that this process can be modelled as a non-linear time delay system with distributed delays. To convert it into a form more suitable for control purposes, this model is linearized and distributed delays are converted into equivalent lumped delay system. An easy to apply method of distributed delay to lumped delay reduction is outlined as a by-product of this procedure. The main result of the paper is a model of important process with time delays that has never been described in control engineering literature and that can be used as a starting point for controller design. Thus, the paper opens a way of time delay systems theory applications to the field of textile engineering.