Elastic properties, paper quality, and process control

Abstract

The elastic properties of paper are fundamental parameters that describe the small strain mechani-cal response in three dimensions. It is now possible to routinely measure seven of the nine elastic stiffnesses associated with paper, all on a single specimen. The elastic stiffnesses are sen-sitive to paper manufacturing conditions, allowing one to study the affects of a change in any machine operating variable on the three dimensional elastic behavior of the paper. The elastic stiffnesses can be related to a number of (destructive) end-use tests, making them useful indicators of product quality. Some of the elastic stiffnesses can be measured on the paper machine, providing both con-tinuous monitoring of product quality and, even-tually, control of the paper machine itself.