THEORY AND PRACTICE OF COTTON FIBER SELECTION .1. FIBER SELECTION TECHNIQUES AND BALE PICKING ALGORITHMS

The cotton mixture as a multi-component blend of inherently variable natural fibers imposes several challenges with regard to the proper method of selecting fibers for a uniform blend and consistent output characteristics. Part I introduces a number of fiber selection techniques and based on these techniques, proposes three different bale picking schemes. The first scheme is random picking, which resembles the traditional massive blending and serves as the basis for more advanced schemes. The second scheme is proportional weight category picking, in which the distribution of a fiber characteristic is divided into a number of classes, and bales are picked from each class in quantities proportional to class relative frequency. The third scheme is optimum category picking, in which bales are selected on the basis of optimizing factors that contribute to blend uniformity. These factors include category variance, picking cost, and category inventory.