SDL Rolls Out Fiber I.D. System
Charlotte, N.C.–based SDL Atlas LLC has introduced a new fiber-analyzing system aimed at cutting down the time and cost of identifying blended fibers.
The Microsoft Windows–based software system measures longitudinal and crosssectional features of natural and synthetic fibers using a monocular zoom microscope and a motorized sample-preparation device. The system offers an alternative to the traditional manual process, which uses chemicals to determine the quality and composition of blended fibers.
The system’s image-processing software includes algorithms for contrast stretching, background leveling, filtering, and watershed and skeleton-based segmentation. Its extraction software can measure fiber convolution for cotton fibers as well as wall thickness, maturity and medullation for cotton and certain animal fibers. Cross-sectional measurements also extend to circular-, elliptical-, triangular- and tri-lobal–shaped synthetic fibers. —R.M.
