Study of Fabric Hairiness using Image Processing Technique

An approach to measurement of fabric hairiness based on image processing is developed and demonstrated in the present study. The total system consists of two components: i) a mechanical setup for image grabbing; and ii) analysis software for measurement of hairiness values based on suitable algorithms using MATLAB software. The software is able to detect the best estimated edge of fabrics and subsequently the fabric hairiness values are calculated precisely. A series of polyester-viscose blended fabrics with varying blend ratios are selected for the study. The fabrics were selected in such a way that all other parameters were the same except blend ratios. The fabrics were subject to different abrasion cycles and their hairiness values were then measured. With an increase in abrasion cycling, the average length of hairs increases and a similar trend is observed for all blended fabrics except the 100% viscose fabric. With an increase in viscose content in polyester-viscose blended fabrics, the hairiness value increases generally.