Abstract
A fibre-drawing device attached with the system for producing multiple-beam Fizeau fringes in transmission is used to optimize the optical properties during the cold drawing of polypropylene (PP) fibres. This system is automated for interference pattern analysis. Two drawing processes for the PP fibres are applied and investigated. The first one is fast drawing in which the necking deformation is predicted and the other is the slow (step) drawing in which the necking can be avoided. The refractive index profiles (n(parallel to) and n(perpendicular to)) of PP fibres are determined at different positions along the fibre axis during the fast and slow drawing processes. The fibre interference patterns are automatically digitized and stored in a computer storage media. The slow drawing technique for PP fibres is recommended to overcome the deformation difficulties along the fibre axis due to necking during the drawing processes. Microinterferograms in case of light vibrating parallel and perpendicular to the fibre axis are given for illustration. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.