What is Fiber Morphology ?

 

Fiber morphology: 

The morphology of fibers includes

• Macrostructure, 
• Microstructure, 
• Sub-microscopic structure
•  Fine structure of fibers.

 

Macrostructure : 

includes

a)Fiber size: has a very important influence on fiber stiffness, which
affects the stiffness of the fabric, and hence the fabric drape and how
soft it feels.

b) Fiber length: fiber length is the most important property of a fiber. Fiber length is
critical in processing of fibers and yarns and in the translation of fiber strength to yarn
strength. In general, a longer fiber length is preferred. Textile fibers are either staple or
filament. Short staple fibers range from 2 to 46 cm; filament fibers are of infinite length.
All natural fibers except silk are of staple length. Silk and manufactured fibers may be
staple or filament fibers.

c) Fiber crimp: Crimp refers to waves, bends, twists or curls along the fiber length. It is
Expressed as Crimps per unit length. Some natural fibers are linear, others form two-
Dimensional or three- dimensional crimps as shown in the Figure. Crimped fibers tend to
have higher elongation than linear fibers.

Microstructure of fibers: 

includes their surface contour and cross-sectional shape. It may be round, triangular, dog-bone, kidney-bean, flat, and so on. The shape of a fiber’s cross-section is important in many applications.
It has influence on bending stiffness and torsional stiffness of the fiber. Cotton
has the least resistance to bending.

Submicroscopic structure: 

Submicroscopic structure details of fibers on the surface, as well as in the inner side, are observable. The figure shows the schematic microscopic structure of wool fiber.

Fine structure: 

All fibers are assemblies of macromolecules, called polymers, in the form of hundreds or even thousands of individual chemical units, covalently bonded together one after the other as illustrated in the figure.
Fine structure describes the length, width, shape, and chemical composition of these polymers. It largely determines the ability of a fiber to withstand mechanical forces. There are three types of polymers comprising textile fibers: homo-polymers, copolymers, and block polymers. In homo-polymers, the most common type, one monomer (one chemical compound) repeats itself along the polymer chain. In copolymers, two or more monomers comprise the polymer chain. In block polymers, blocks comprised of homo-polymers are repeated along the polymer chain. Polymer length is specified as the number of times the monomer is repeated along the chain, called the degree of polymerization. Polymer length plays a role in fiber tensile properties.