Automated measurements of fiber diameters in melt-blown nonwovens

Abstract

Fiber diameter and its distribution are the fundamental parameters affecting the performance of melt-blown nonwoven materials. This paper proposes a new method to measure diameters of microfiber in nonwoven based on image processing techniques. The one-pixel-wide boundaries of potential fibers were extracted first. The real fiber profiles were then separated from incorrect rectangles by a recognition procedure. Finally, the fiber diameters and diameter distribution were calculated. The experimental results show that the new method is consistent with the manual methods in measuring the main fiber diameter and fiber diameter distribution of melt-blown nonwoven material and has many advantages including efficiency, reproducibility, and objectivity.