Study on the breaking strength of jute fibres using modified Weibull distribution

The two-parameter Weibull distribution does not always adequately describe the experimental bast fibre strength at different gauge lengths. For this reason, it was modified by incorporating the diameter variation of jute fibres in this paper. The fibre diameter was measured with an optical microscope. The three-parameter Weibull model was also used to compare with the modified model. It was found that as the fibre diameter variation increased the tensile strength of the jute fibre decreased. The strength predicted by mollified Weibull distribution was more accurate than that of the two conventional models. In addition, the breaking strength of jute fibre was less sensitive to gauge length than that of cotton fibre because the breaking of jute filament involves ultimate cells breaking repeatedly and matrix cracking. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.