The Application of the FibreLux Instrument for Measuring the Diameter of Mohair Fibres

ABSTRACT

The current study investigated the possible application of the FibreLux Micron Meter^TM (FibreLux) instrument for the on-farm measurement of the diameter of greasy mohair staples. Initially, the effects of arrangement of the fibers in the specimen holder and that of solvent cleaning were investigated. It was found that a random arrangement of the fibers in the specimen holder produced more accurate and reproducible results, than when the fibers were aligned parallel (to the length of the specimen holder). The solvent cleaning had a statistically significant effect (p < .05) on the results, with the average of the mean fiber diameter (MFD) for the clean staple samples being 1.21 µm lower (finer) than that for the greasy staples. A good correlation (R = 0.95) was found between the FibreLux greasy staple results and those of the OFDA100 clean staples, the latter being used as the reference. The FibreLux values were, on average, some 0.80 µm lower than those of the OFDA100. It was concluded that the FibreLux holds significant promise for determining the fiber diameter of greasy mohair staples, but this should be validated by further trials, preferably “on farm” field trials, to determine the number of staples that need to be measured for each goat.

摘要

目前的研究调查了FibreLux Micron MeterTM（FibreLux）仪器的可能应用，该仪器最初是为在农场测量羊毛纤维直径而开发的，用于在农场测量油腻的马海毛订书钉的直径. 最初，研究了纤维在试样架中的取向或排列以及溶剂清洗的影响. 研究发现，与纤维平行排列（与样品支架的长度平行）相比，样品支架中纤维的随机排列产生了更准确和可重复的结果. 对油腻的缝钉样品进行溶剂清洁对结果有统计学意义（p < .05），清洁缝钉样品的平均纤维直径（MFD）比油腻缝钉样品低1.21 µm（更细）. 发现FibreLux油腻钉的结果与OFDA100清洁钉的结果之间存在良好的相关性（R = 0.95，n = 26），后者用作参考. FibreLux值平均比OFDA100低约0.80 µm. 得出的结论是，FibreLux在确定油腻马海毛订书钉的纤维直径方面有很大的前景，但这应该通过进一步的试验来验证，最好是“农场”实地试验，以确定每只山羊需要测量的订书钉数量，从而获得足够准确的结果. 此外，还需要定义山羊身上（例如，肋骨中部）应牵引缝钉以及应测量缝钉的位置.

KEYWORDS:

• FibreLux Micron Meter^TM
• mohair greasy staples
• on-farm
• OFDA
• fiber diameter

关键词:

• FibreLux Micron Meter^TM
• 马海毛油腻的主食，
• on-farm
• 在农场
• 纤维直径

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of Mohair South Africa (MSA) and the mohair samples supplied and OFDA tests done by Gubb & Inggs as well as the provision of certain research facilities by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Post-doc scholarship by the Nelson Mandela University (NMU).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Highlights

• The FibreLux Micron Meter^TM was originally developed for the measurement of the mean fiber diameter (MFD) of wool fibers. In the measurement of wool MFD, the fibers are prepared in such a way that the majority/large portion of fibers lies approximately parallel to each other prior mounting/inserting in the specimen FibreLux holder. Wool MFD measurements have been done on the parallel arrangement of fibers (i.e., the fibers lying parallel to the length of the specimen holder). This study investigated the best preparation for mohair staples and found that the random arrangement (fibers arranged in a random manner) rather than when the fibers were parallel to the length of the specimen holder.

• The study also investigated the effect of solvent cleaning on the MFD measurements, with the results showing that the solvent cleaning does not have any positive effect on FibreLux MFD results, with the solvent cleaned fibers measuring 1.21 µm finer (lower) than the greasy staples, hence further measurements were carried out on greasy staples. These results are proof that the FibreLux could be a suitable tool for on-farm application.

• In this research study, the authors found that the FibreLux base-end half MFD and tip-end half MFD measurements of the staples statistically significantly differ, with the tip-end half underestimating or measuring significantly lower than the OFDA100, hence further comparison between the FibreLux MFD values with those of the OFDA100 was done using the measurements taken from the base-end half of the staples.

• The current research study confirms the previous findings that the FibreLux measures lower than the OFDA, the FibreLux MFD results being, on average, 0.8 µm lower than the OFDA MFD values. Despite this difference, the FibreLux MFD correlated (R = 0.95) very well with that of the OFDA100, proving that the FibreLux holds a significant potential for “On-Farm” measurement of MFD of greasy mohair fibers. This, however, requires validation by field trials, preferably “On-Farm” using a larger set of greasy staple samples.