Speaker Notes

Written by: Dr. Brad Crook, The University of New England.

Increased variation in crimped fibre length may increase the potential for some fibres in the staple to be held by one clamp only. These fibres that do not traverse the whole distance between the clamps will contribute to the linear density of the staple, but will not bear the load. So linear density overestimates the amount of load-bearing material in the staple and thus measurements of staple strength decline

Fibre length variation exists within all staples, with some staples having higher than average variation. Another source of fibre length variation is shed fibres, resulting from shut-down of part of the follicle population while other follicles continue to produce a fibre. Shed fibres may or may not be held by a clamp during staple strength measurement.