TexTile Technology A comparison of Methods for Measuring the Short Fiber content of cotton

Twenty-nine bales of cotton with short fiber content ranging from approximately 5% to 25% were selected for the purpose of comparing the effectiveness and relationships among the current testing methods for fiber length. The instruments and/or methods used to measure short fiber include HVI, AFIS, and Suter-Webb array. Comparisons between the three methods indicate that they correlate well with each other. The Suter-Webb array technique gives higher estimates of short fiber content than those of HVI and AFIS, and shows greater discrimination among the samples. Highly significant regression models were developed to predict short fiber content from long fiber data (length and strength) and micronaire.