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ARS Home » Southeast Area » New Orleans, Louisiana » Southern Regional Research Center » Cotton Structure and Quality Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #246068
Title: An Investigation on Different Parameters Used for Characterizing Short Cotton Fibers

Author
item CAI, YIYUN - Louisana State University
item Cui, Xiaoliang
item Rodgers Iii, James
item Thibodeaux, Devron
item MARTIN, VIKKI - Cotton, Inc
item WATSON, MIKE - Cotton, Inc
item PANG, SU-SANG - Louisiana State University

Submitted to: Textile Research Journal
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/17/2010
Publication Date: 1/14/2011
Citation: Cai, Y., Cui, X., Rodgers III, J.E., Thibodeaux, D.P., Martin, V., Watson, M., Pang, S. 2011. An investigation on different parameters used for characterizing short cotton fibers. Textile Research Journal. 81(3)239-246.

Interpretive Summary: The quantity of short cotton fibers in a cotton sample is an important cotton quality parameter. Short cotton fibers have significant impacts on yarn production performance and yarn quality. At present the most commonly used short fiber parameter is the Short Fiber Content (SFC, which is a measure of up to ½”long fibers in a cotton sample ). SFC has some problems in its implementations. Researchers have been looking for SFC alternatives. Several parameters for characterizing the amount of short fibers in a cotton sample have been proposed. This paper reports an investigation that compared a comprehensive collection of short cotton fiber parameters. The comparisons were focused on 1) parameters’ variations; 2) their relationships with the traditional SFC; and 3) their capabilities in predicting yarn properties. Based on the comparisons, we find that Lower Half Mean Length is a better cotton short fiber parameter. Hence, it can work as a proper Short Fiber Content alternative.

Technical Abstract: The quantity of short fibers in a cotton sample is an important cotton quality parameter. Short cotton fibers have significant impacts on yarn production performance and yarn quality. There are different parameters for characterizing the amount of short fibers in a cotton sample. We conducted an investigation that compared a comprehensive collection of short cotton fiber parameters. These parameters included Short Fiber Content defined at 0.5 inch length, Short Fiber Content defined at 16 mm length, Lower Half Mean Length, Floating Fiber Index, Floating Fiber Percentage, and Relative Short Fiber Content. By comparing these parameters from our experimental data, we found that 1) LHML had the lowest variation; 2) LHML’s correlation with SFC was very high, and it can effectively characterize the amount of short fibers in a cotton sample; and 3) LHML’s capabilities in predicting yarn properties were similar to SFC. Therefore, based on these three advantages, LHML is a better cotton short fiber parameter. It can be used as a proper alternative to Short Fiber Content.