Interlaboratory Test Performance of a Portable Fiber Tester

Abstract

The objective of this research was to construct and to evaluate a portable fiber tester (PFT) for in field fleece and fiber test use. The standard wool top (SWT) samples were used for comparative measurement of fiber diameter using PFT in three laboratories without restricted ambient temperature or relative humidity control. Linear model with three factors was used to derive the least square means and variance components were determined. The PFT is constructed to be a compact and lightweight device of high-speed fiber testing. It works using digital image technology that measure and evaluate the fiber diameter variability of each wool sample within 45 seconds. The results show that the average fiber diameters measured by PFT at three labs are within IWTO defined tolerance values. There were no significant lab effect whereas, variance of labs remained as low. It can be concluded that PFT is a new instrument with high precision and accuracy to measure the fiber diameter of wool fleeces, which may be operated in differing field conditions.

Calibration and validation of the mini-fiber EC image analysis instrument mean fiber diameter through direct or primary measurements

“…New device also include FibreLux (developed by FibreLux, Inc., Johannesburg, South Africa) and the portable fibre tester, 7 commercially designated as MiniFiber EC (MFEC), and uses digital image analysis. 8 These instruments quantify the quality traits of fibres objectively 6 within seconds, providing measurements of average fibre diameter, variation in fibre diameter and a prediction of comfort factor in some cases.…”

Forensic identification of the keratin fibers of South American camelids by ambient ionization mass spectrometry: Vicuña, alpaca and guanaco

“…A fast and reliable method is necessary to discriminate fiber samples and clothing made from South American camelids. Traditional fiber characterization techniques, although accessible and fast, 17 cannot be used reliably to differentiate the taxonomic source of these species based on fiber diameter alone (González, personal observation) 13 . Genetic analysis from fresh samples of tissue, blood, or feces can easily differentiate the four species of camelids 18 and even identify population provenance 19,20,21,22 ; these techniques have been used in forensic cases 23,24 .…”