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Updated: Jul 18, 2026

Disentangling High Strength Copolymer Aramid Fibers to Enable the Determination of Their Mechanical Properties
Published on: September 1, 2018
Model for the breakup of a tuft of fibers
Michael E M Lee1, Gregory Kozyreff, Peter D Howell
1BP Institute for Multiphase Flow, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0EZ, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
A simple model for the forces acting on a single fiber as it is withdrawn from a tangled fiber assembly is proposed. Particular emphasis is placed on understanding the dynamics of the reptating fiber with respect to the entanglement of fibers within the tuft. The resulting two-parameter model captures the qualitative features of experimental simulation. The model is extended to describe the breakup of a tuft. The results show good agreement with experiment and indicate where a tuft is most likely to fracture based on the density of fiber endpoints.
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