Designation:D5866−12StandardTestMethodforNepsinCottonFibers1ThisstandardisissuedunderthefixeddesignationD5866;thenumberimmediatelyfollowingthedesignationindicatestheyearoforiginaladoptionor,inthecaseofrevision,theyearoflastrevision.Anumberinparenthesesindicatestheyearoflastreapproval.Asuperscriptepsilon(´)indicatesaneditorialchangesincethelastrevisionorreapproval.1.Scope1.1Thistestmethodcoversthemeasurementofthequantityandsizeofnepsincottonusingvariousinstruments.1.2Thistestmethodisintendedfortestingginnedcottonandcottontakenfromvariousfiberprocessingstages.1.3ThevaluesstatedinSIunitsaretoberegardedasstandard.Nootherunitsofmeasurementareincludedinthisstandard.1.4Thisstandarddoesnotpurporttoaddressallofthesafetyconcerns,ifany,associatedwithitsuse.Itistheresponsibilityoftheuserofthisstandardtoestablishappro-priatesafetyandhealthpracticesanddeterminetheapplica-bilityofregulatorylimitationspriortouse.2.ReferencedDocuments2.1ASTMStandards:2D123TerminologyRelatingtoTextilesD1441PracticeforSamplingCottonFibersforTestingE691PracticeforConductinganInterlaboratoryStudytoDeterminethePrecisionofaTestMethodD7139TerminologyforCottonFibers3.Terminology3.1ForallterminologyrelatedtoD13.11,refertoTermi-nologyD7139.3.1.1Thefollowingtermsarerelevanttothisstandard:ginnedlint,nep,sliver.3.2Forallotherterminologyrelatedtotextiles,refertoTerminologyD123.4.SummaryofTestMethod4.1Apre-weighedmassofcottonfibersispreparedperinstrumentmanufacturerspecifications.Theinstrumentthenquantifiesthenepsandmeasuresthesize(diameter)ofeachnep.4.2Testdatashowsthemeanoraveragenepsizeandthetotalnumberofnepsperunitmass.5.SignificanceandUse5.1Entangledcottonfibersthatformnepshavetwosources:thosethatoccurnaturallyasthecottonfiberdevelopsontheplantintolintthatisreadytobeharvestedandthosethatoccurfrommechanicalactioninharvesting,ginning,cleaning,card-ingorfromacombinationofmechanicalaction.5.2Thistestmethoddoesnotidentifywhetherthenepscountedandmeasuredarearesultofseedvariety,environmen-talinfluences,typeofha...
