FIBRE FINENESS:
Fibre fineness is another important quality characteristic which plays a prominent part in determining the spinning value of cottons. If the same count of yarn is spun from two varieties of cotton, the yarn spun from the variety having finer fibres will have a larger number of fibres in its cross-section and hence it will be more even and strong than that spun from the sample with coarser fibres.Fineness denotes the size of the cross-section dimensions of the fibre. AS the cross-sectional features of cotton fibres are irregular, direct determination of the area of croo-section is difficult and laborious. The Index of fineness which is more commonly used is the linear density or weight per unit length of the fibre. The unit in which this quantity is expressed varies in different parts of the world. The common unit used by many countries for cotton is microgrammes per inch and the various air-flow instruments developed for measuring fibre fineness are calibrated in this unit.
Following are some methods of determining fibre fineness.
• gravimetric or dimensional measurements
• air-flow method
• vibrating string method
Some of the above methods are applicable to single fibres while the majority of them deal with a mass of fibres. As there is considerable variation in the linear density from fibre to fibre, even amongst fibres of the same seed, single fibre methods are time-consuming and laborious as a large number of fibres have to be tested to get a fairly reliable average value.
It should be pointed out here that most of the fineness determinations are likely to be affected by fibre maturity, which is an another important characteristic of cotton fibres.
AIR-FLOW METHOD(MICRONAIRE INSTRUMENT):
The resistance offered to the flow of air through a plug of fibres is dpendent upon the specific surface area of the fibres. Fineness tester have been evolved on this principle for determininG fineness of cotton. The specific surface area which determines the flow of air through a cotton plug, is dependent not only upon the linear density of the fibres in the sample but also upon their maturity. Hence the micronaire readings have to be treated with caution particularly when testing samples varying widely in maturity.
In the micronaire instrument, a weighed quantity of 3.24 gms of well opened cotton sample is compressed into a cylindrical container of fixed dimensions. Compressed air is forced through the sample, at a definite pressure and the volume-rate of flow of air is measured by a rotometer type flowmeter. The sample for Micronaire test should be well opened cleaned and thoroughly mixed( by hand fluffing and opening method). Out of the various air-flow instruments, the Micronaire is robust in construction, easy to operate and presents little difficulty as regards its maintenance
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