Investigation of the Impact of Wool Medullation on Its Density

Abstract

Fibre density is often mentioned as a referal value, equally for the structure, properties or various processing characteristics of fibres. As modullated wool fibres considerably differ from unmodullated ones, both in structure and properties, question arises whether the conventionally accepted value for wool density (1.31 gcm-3) is also valid for modullated wool, or in other words, how big is the impact of medulla on wool fibre density, and whether there is such an influence in the first place. Investigations performed indicate that the density of medullated wool is dependent upon the percentage of medullated fibres in the wool, as well as upon the size and contents of the medulla in the fibre tested.