Measurement of the Frictional Properties of Wool Fibers

Abstract

The surface of a wool fiber consists of a series of overlapping scales so arranged that when the fiber is rubbed from the tip towards the root it is considerably rougher than when it is rubbed in the reverse direction. Accordingly, when a material containing wool fibers is sub mitted to mechanical action such as occurs in laundering or in fulling processes the fibers tend to migrate in the direction of their roots. This migration tendency is recognized as one of the principal factors in the formation of the entangled mass known as a felt, and in the excessive shrinkage which wool materials exhibit during laundering. An instrument for measuring these surface frictional properties on individual fibers is described. Measurements made on many wool fibers indicate large variations in frictional properties. The relationship between friction and diameter was studied and no significant correlation was found. Measurements made in the dry state resulted in all cases in lower values than measurements made on the same fibers in the wet state. The coefficients of friction of a few varieties of wool and of human hair and mohair are described.

Frictional Properties of Jute and Some Other Long Vegetable Fibers

“…As in the case of other textile materials [8,13,17,20,23], the results show that friction between jute fibers is highly dependent upon relative humidity, friction always increasing with the rise of R.H.; control of humidity is therefore essential in the When the fibers slide at right angles to each other, the curves (Figure 6 (c) and (d)) deviate largely from linearity and the concavity towards the R.H. axis is pronounced. It should be noted that these observations were taken on the pads used in the parallel-slip experiments.…”

“…Further, since in spinning, similar fibers slide against one another parallelwise, in line with previous work on cotton [2,20], jute [26], and wool [8,9,14], the coefficient of friction of similar fibers sliding parallel to one another was taken as standard.…”

“…The &dquo;inclined-plane&dquo; [4,20,28,29], the &dquo;cap-stan&dquo; [8,13,15,16], the &dquo;Lepidometer&dquo; [7,27], and the &dquo;stick-slip&dquo; methods [5,9,18,19] have been used previously on other textile fibers. Methods based on damping of oscillations by fiber friction [12] and on the slippage of one of two twisted fibers [14] have also been tried.…”

A New Method for Descaling Wool Fibres by Nano Abrasive Calcium Carbonate Particles in Ultrasonic Bath

“…When a material containing wool fibres is submitted to mechanical action such as occurs in laundering or in fulling processes the fibres tend to migrate in the direction of their roots. This migration tendency is recognized as one of the principal factors in the formation of the entangled mass known as a felt, and in the excessive shrinkage which wool materials exhibit during laundering 4 .…”

The Felting of Shrink-Resistant Wool as Related to Some Properties of the Single Fiber

“…using a single-fiber autographic extensometer [3]. After retraction, the fibers were relaxed, and their frictional properties were measured in both directions (with and against the scales) and in the same five solutions using the Fiber Friction Meter [5]. The reagents in which the fibers were equilibrated prior to the measurement of the single-fiber mechanical and frictional properties included water, 0.11B11 HCI, 9% HCOOH, 4M KCI, and 4M KCl + 0.01M HCI.…”