The Standardisation of Mean Fibre Curvature Using the Series 14 IH Calibration Tops as a Reference - Calibration Derived for Minicored Scoured-Wool
Abstract
This report is the second in a series of 2 reports to investigate the potential of using the IH Series 14 Calibration Tops as a standard reference for calibrating Laserscan and OFDA100 instruments for the measurement of Mean Fibre Curvature.
An international round trial was conducted across 6 core-test laboratories to investigate the potential of using the IH Series 14 Calibration Tops as a standard reference for calibrating Laserscan and OFDA100 instruments for the measurement of Mean Fibre Curvature.
The Interwoollabs IH Series 14 Calibration Tops were used as the standard reference material in this trial because there is no other form of calibration standard available for MFC. However, previous research has shown that it is the sample preparation procedures that require calibration rather than the
instruments (Fish, 2002). This is because the processes fibres undergo prior to measurement of MFC affect wool MFC. As a result, any calibration of the measurement process for MFC should follow the same procedure, and use the same process that is used for the measurement of greasy wool.
Measurements generated on 10 Laserscan and 8 OFDA100 instruments showed that the application of a Mean Fibre Curvature Calibration to individual instruments showed potential for reducing the betweeninstrument variance for scoured top. An improvement in the between instrument SD of 4.6 deg/mm was also noted when the calibration was applied to raw wool samples, demonstrating that the application of a preparation procedure would provide an opportunity to better harmonise the MFC of instruments across the raw wool testing industry.
Citation
"The Standardisation of Mean Fibre Curvature Using the Series 14 IH Calibration Tops as a Reference - Calibration Derived for Minicored Scoured-Wool", V.E. Fish, Report RWG03, Technology & Standards Committee, Raw Wool Group, IWTO, Evian Meeting, May 2004