Assessment of cotton fibre length measurement methods

Abstract

This study was conducted to explore new opportunities to deliver accurate and reliable measurements in terms of fibre length distribution. Ten samples of cotton fibre with a wide range of mean length ranging from 24.28 to 32.38 mm and a short fibre content (SFC%) ranging from 7.3% to 17.4% were selected. In Part 1 of the study, the fibre was tested using the more traditional methods, which include HVI, AFIS and SWA. There were strong positive and significant relationships between the various fibre length measurements provided by the three methods. Although there were moderate relationships between SFC% as measured by HVI and AFIS, the relationship with SWA was low and negative. In Part 2 of the study, cotton sliver, from the above-mentioned fibre was tested on AFIS, Almeter , Fibrotest and OFDA 4000. There were also moderate and strong positive relationships between all the length measurements, including SFC% as measured by AFIS, Almeter, Fibrotest and OFDA 4000.