Measuring Fiber Fineness with the Sheffield Apparatus

Abstract

The Sheffield apparatus measures the fineness of cotton fibers in a sample. It gives a direct readout of the micronaire reading, that is to say, the average number of micrograms per inch of the fibers. The principle is based on a permeability-to-air method. The drawback with this apparatus is that the measurement is made on a sample with a mass defined to the nearest milligram (3.240 ± 0.001 g), which requires a relatively long measuring time. This paper attempts to show that it is possible to overcome this constraint by using a sample with a mass of between 2.5 and 3.5 g, thus reducing the measuring time by approximately 50%.