PARAMETERIZING COTTON FIBER LENGTH DISTRIBUTION SHAPES

The issues pertinent to the length distribution of cotton fibers are complex due the combination of factors including a strong genetic component and alterations due to fiber damage in harvesting, ginning and textile processing. As a result, the distributions have complex patterns and exhibit features that often cannot be described adequately using the usual summary statistics. Among the current parameters made available by the existing instruments, the Uniformity Index (or the uniformity ratio) represents the only commonly used shape parameter of the length distribution. Short Fiber Content (SFC) is another parameter used as an indicator of fiber damage, but was found to be inadequate in many contexts. This paper presents an alternative approach to the existing parameters. It defines the distribution�s modality feature as an indicator of fiber damage and of the interaction effects that determine its shape.