An Evaluation of the AFIS short fiber content measurement

Abstract

The International Textile Center has increasingly exploited the Uster AFIS (Advanced Fiber Information System) to increase the range and precision of fiber propery measurements. The applications are useful not only in the context of commercial textile manufacturing operations; they are proving to be quite valuable to the process of selecting superior cotton varieties. The ability of the AFIS to operate on very small samples (2.5g for 5 replications) is especially advantageous for testing cotton breeders' fiber samples. Of great current interest is the short fiber content (SFC) of cotton and its impact on spinning performance and on yarn and fabric quality. The only instrument technology that currently offers an adequate combination of measurement speed and accuracy is the electro-optical technology embodied in the Uster AFIS. The purpose of this article is to report the measurements of SFC (by weight) obtained with the AFIS and to evaluate the usefulness of these measurements. Results are taken from a fiber analysis of Upland cotton variety trials in California. These trials have been done for many years with regulatory oversight by the San Joaquin Valley Cotton Board and teh California Department of Food and Agriculture. The base of operations is at the University of California Agricultural Research and Extension Center at Shafter. The 1998-99 crop year provided a good opportunity to examine the AFIS measurement of SFC, because for the first time an expanded group of Upland cotton varieties was included in the variety trials. In prior years only the Acala-type varieties were grown; therefore, a very limited range of fiber property values was exhibited. The inclusion of several non-Acala Upland cotton varieties offered enough genetic variability to get substantial differences in SFC measurements.