Automated inspection of nonwoven web materials: a case study

Abstract

This paper concentrates on the problem of automating inspection of nonwoven materials produced in a form of continuous rolls. This paper analyzes the problem of designing and validating appropriate digital image processing techniques for texture characterization that correlate to grading by inspectors. The design involves two sub-systems: texture characterization and measurements fusion. A case study of 15 nonwoven samples graded by inspectors is used to illustrate the roles of the subsystems. The class of materials considered is characterized by complex texture patterns formed by randomly distributed fibers. The paper concentrates on the first subsystem and considers texture characterization using measurements derived in the spatial and transform domains. The specific algorithms are outlined and the results of the case study are detailed.