Strength of Paper

Dr Siti Norasmah Hj Surip

Bio-Composites Technology, UiTM

What does paper strength depend upon?

1. Paper strength is a function of the strength of fibers. 2. Paper strength is a function of the bonding between the fibers. 3. Paper strength is also a function of the length of the fibers.

Fiber Network

Fibers in Paper
What holds the paper sheet together?

~0.5 mm

Answer

~0.5 mm

Hydrogen Bonding
Length: Energy: ~ 0.2 nm 5 Kcal/mole

R-O-H O-H
Length: Energy: 0.096 nm 102 Kcal/mole

Inter-fiber H-bond Formation

A. Initial Cellulose surface O weak bonds H O O O H HO H HO H H O via several OH H OH H OH H water H H H H H O HO O molecule H H H H H H O O O layers
Cellulose surface

Smooks Handbook, 1982, adapted

Inter-fiber H-bond Formation

B. Stronger Cellulose surface O bonds via H O O O H HO H HO H H O monolayer H H H H H H of water O O O
Cellulose surface

Smooks Handbook, 1982, adapted

Inter-fiber H-bond Formation

C. Direct hydrogen bonding between fibers
Cellulose surface O H O O O H H H H H H O O O Cellulose surface

Smooks Handbook, 1982, adapted

Question:
What happens if you put the paper back into water after it is dried?

Answer
Water molecule
OH H Cellulose surface O H O O O H HO H HO H H O OH H OH H OH H H H H H H O HO O H H H H H H O O O Cellulose surface

This is why paper is easily recycled!

Which of these sheets is stronger?

Unrefined Refined

Ref.: Properties of Paper, Scott, Abbot, & Trosset, TAPPI Press, 1995, p. 141

Refining:
Delamination of fibers Collapse into ribbon shapes Fibrillation of surfaces

Native shape
M. Hubbe

Refining

Refining
PULP

Refining is mechanical treatment of fibers to make them more flexible and ribbon like Flexible fibers can conform to other fibers during papermaking, increasing the fiber-fiber contact area and thus H-bonding In refining, fiber is past through rotating metal disks with abrading teeth

What do the people who buy paper really want?

Strongest possible paper ?
Least expensive paper ?

Answer:
The paper that meets their needs at an agreed price. And to judge whether it will meet their needs, both buyer and seller agree on SPECIFICATIONS.

Tensile Strength of Paper

One of the most important characteristics of paper is its tensile strength In this section, we will discuss a common method to characterize the strength of materials, called the breaking length

Definition
Breaking length (Lb): In theory, how long a hanging strip of material (paper) must be in order to break under its own weight.

Is this how paper is actually tested? Why or why not?

Typical stress vs. strain behavior for a material like paper:

Force / Width
Sample Breaks Tensile Strength

Strain = L / Lo

Why We Use Breaking Length

To compare thick paper to thin paper
To compare dense paper to bulky paper To answer the question, how strong is this material?, regardless of its dimensions

A simple method to measure breaking

length.*
Hang a strip of paper vertically. Attach increasing weights to the end of the strip until the paper breaks.

Paper

Mass

Thus, to find the breaking length of a sample of paper (Lb), we must measure the mass it takes to break a strip of paper with known width and basis weight.

mb Lb BW *W
Where: Lb = breaking length, in meters mb = mass to break the paper, in grams W = width of the paper, in meters BW = basis weight, in grams/meter2

See You Next Week..