The random-beard image method system for scoured combed wool fiber length measurement

This paper introduces a new developed wool fiber length imaging measurement instrument, named the random-beard image method, an applied fibrogram method of wool fiber length measurement. It includes four parts, namely the fiber beard preparation, image acquisition and fibrograms and fiber length parameter calculation using the dual beard and a new calculation method of Hauteur length (mean fiber length biased by the cross-section of the fibers). To check the accuracy of the built instrument, the international standard fiber length measurement instrument, the Almeter100, was used as the reference method for comparison. Hence, 10 kinds of wool fibers were measured with both methods and the results showed that four fiber length parameters, the Barbe length (weighted mean length), Hauteur length, the coefficient of variation of the Barbe length and the Hauteur length of the two methods, have high consistency. An F-test was also applied to test the repeatability of these two methods measuring another three kinds of wool fibers five times. It was found that, under the significance level of α = 0.05, the repeatability of both methods is on the same level.