AUTOMATING THE AREALOMETER - EXAMINATION OF THE KOZENY EQUATION

Samples of eleven cottons with a wide range of fineness and immaturity properties, as measured by the Arealometer, were studied for airflow behavior on an experimental computerized system. Specific surface areas as calculated from the Kozeny relationship were obtained for void fractions ranging between 0.60 to 0.90. The observed variation in fiber fineness with void fraction was unexpected as originally applied to the Arealometer. Nevertheless, both the specific surface areas A and A(H) at low and high specimen compressions, respectively, correlated favorably with results of the Arealometer. These correlations were best when the values obtained on the newly automated system were at fixed void fractions rather than fixed porous plug resistances to airflow as built into the Arealometer.