A Modified Analysis of the Microstructural Characteristics of General Fiber Assemblies

Abstract

A critical problem in the study by Komori and Makishima about the microstructural characterization of general fiber assemblies is analyzed, and a modified approach is presented in this paper. The modified theory is able to predict satisfactorily such , parameters as the mean values of the number of fiber contacts and fiber segments between contacts in an unbonded fiber system. For a bonded fibrous structure like a nonwoven material, the relative proportions, the distributions of the bond lengths, and the free fiber lengths are also provided based on the modified theory. The theory has been applied to three typical fibrous systems to calculate the microstructural pa rameters that are believed useful for further studies of these systems.