FIBER ORIENTATION DISTRIBUTION OF PAPER SURFACE CALCULATED BY IMAGE ANALYSIS

Pulp fibers take a variety of spatial configuration in paper and its alignment is an important aspect of paper structure. Statistically, fiber alignment is defined as a fiber orientation distribution as a function of angle θwhenthemachinedirectionofaweb or sheet is set to θ=0.Fiberorientationoccurs due to a flow of pulp suspension including the turbulence level and orienting shear, so the flow condition may alter it through web or sheet thickness and across the wire plane. Fiber orientation …

FIBER ORIENTATION DISTRIBUTION OF PAPER SURFACE CALCULATED BY IMAGE ANALYSIS

Anisotropy of paper is an important parameter of paper structure. Image analysis technique was improved for accurate fiber orientation in paper surfaces. Image analysis using Fast Fourier Transform was demonstrated to be an effective means to determine fiber orientation angle and its intensity. Binarization process of micrograph images of paper surface and precise calculation for average Fourier coefficients as an angular distribution by interpolation developed were found to improve the accuracy. This analysis method was applied to digital optical micrographs and scanning electron micrographs of paper. A laboratory handsheet showed a large deviation in the average value of fiber orientation angle, but some kinds of machine-made paper showed about 90 degrees in the orientation angle with very small deviations as expected. Korea and Japanese paper made in the traditional ways showed its own characteristic depending on its hand making processes.