ESPOCH Congresses (Aug 2021)
Characterization of the Physical - Mechanical Properties of Alpaca Fiber (Vicugna pacos) at the Tunshi Experimental Station
Abstract
Abstract The alpaca is one of the four South American camelids that mainly inhabit the inter-Andean zone of Ecuador. Alpaca fiber is characterized by being a natural, soft and resistant fiber, of which, the fleece is the most valued part. The objective of this research was to evaluate the quality parameters of alpaca fiber in terms of physical-mechanical properties. The research was carried out in the Tunishi Experimental Station, ESPOCH. A descriptive statistic of mean, minimum and maximum range, and separation of means per student was applied. The alpaca with characteristics of Huacaya breed was selected and the shearing was carried out manually to obtain the fleece. Later, the performance of the fleece was evaluated, which was 85.71%. Two categories of fiber were selected: fine and thick. Sixty samples were taken for analysis by stretched and unstretched fiber length. The measurements of unstretched fiber length in cm for the thin and thick fiber were 12.50 cm and 13.52 cm respectively, presenting significant differences (p ≤ 0.05). The measurements of the stretched fiber length in cm were 17.29 cm for fine fiber and 17.27 cm for thick fiber, presenting no significant differences (p ≥ 0.05). The resistance of thread and fabric for fine fiber was 590 N/cm 2 , and for thick fiber was 2835.5 N/cm 2 , presenting highly significant differences (p ≤ 0.01). Regarding the percentage of yarn elongation, the values obtained were 19% for fine fiber and 12% for thick fiber, observing highly significant differences (p ≤ 0.01). The thick fiber fabric had a better resistance (2.3 BAR) than the fine fiber fabric (1.7 BAR), with a time of 2.34 s and 1.88 s respectively. The classification of the fiber by its softness did not present significant differences. Finally, regarding the sensory classification, it was established as a soft fiber with 91%.
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