Vertical wicking tester for monitoring water transportation behavior in fibrous assembly

An instrument based on the principle of change of resistance of fibrous assembly on wetting has been developed for precise monitoring of the water transportation behaviour in the fibrous assemblies. The conducting probes sense the change in resistance of a dry fibrous assembly on wetting. This change in resistance generates analog signals which trigger an amplifying circuit. This circuit produces an enlarged copy of the received signals which are further converted to digital signals by a Darlington pair and are encoded to measurable quantity with the help of a microcontroller. The data thus obtained are displayed on a suitable display device. Comparison between conventional strip test and experimental results obtained by the developed instrument shows its reliability. The developed instrument measures the initial rate of water transport with increased precision and hence could be used for detailed study of fluid flow in the fibrous structure.