Abstract
Dark fibers appearing as faults in white and pastel shaded fabrics are a major problem for manufacturers. These fabrics are subjectively assessed for suitability for their end uses. A number of different factors influence the detection of dark fibers in fabric, including viewing distance from the fabric, darkness grade, and the effects of fiber diameter and length. This experiment was designed to determine the relative impor tance of factors influencing the detection of dark fibers in fabric. Of the four operators chosen, one was a commercial fabric inspector, whose observations acted as a bench mark for the experiment. The results showed that the operators had little trouble in detecting the darker fibers, but their efficiency decreased when examining fabric seeded with lighter fibers (noticeably grades 4, 5, and 6). From these results, we concluded that fiber darkness plays a major role in the detection efficiency of operators. Fiber diameter, viewing distance from the fabric, and length of the test fiber were secondary factors influencing detection efficiency for fibers with diameters less than 38 μm.
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