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To study the wetting of fibre surfaces developments in drop application and imaging formation / evaluation technology have combined to enable the study of single drops on single fibres and similarly impressive forward steps in balance technology have facilitated the mass based (tensiometric) study of the effect of single fibres drawn through the surface of a liquid.

The physical behaviour can also be understood looking in the SEM at fibre surface roughness as this affects microscopic wetting and localised contact angles. Chemical interactions can be understood by surface chemical analysis of bundles of fibres. An example is the quantitative measurement of size pick up by XPS in composite materials in carbon fibre reinforced plastics: Size treatments are important for load transfer between fibre reinforcement and matrix polymers.