Comparison of methods to measure fibril angle in wood fibres

Fibril angle is a key determinant of fibre mechanical properties. Two of th e most useful techniques for measuring fibril angle are X-ray diffractometr y (XRD), for solid wood, and confocal microscopy, for individual fibres or small groups of fibres. This paper compares fibril angles determined using XRD and confocal microscopy for one spruce and two radiata pine samples. Go od agreement was obtained between the fibril angles given by the two method s.