Fibre Orientation Control Related to Papermaking

The wall effect on the orientation of fibres suspended in a shear flow has been studied experimentally. A fibre suspension, driven by gravity down an inclined glass plate, constitutes the shear flow field. A CCD-camera was mounted underneath the flow in order to visualize the flow. The orientation of fibres in the plane perpendicular to the plate was determined, by using the concept of steerable filters. In a region close to the smooth plate surface the fibres oriented themselves perpendicular to the flow direction. This did not occur when the surface structure was modified with ridges.