Residual stresses in paperboard and the influence of drying conditions

Sammanfattning: The drying sequence in the manufacturing process for paperboard involves evaporation of water, primarily from within the fibres. The vapour is then transported out of the web by pressure or concentration gradients. As the moisture transport from the paper web to the ambient is quicker than the moisture transport within the fibre network to the surfaces of the web, moisture gradients develop through the thickness of the web. This work concerns effects on the mechanics of paper drying from the variation in moisture through the relatively thin structures of paper and paperboard.Distributions of inplane residual stresses through paper materials in the unloaded state after drying are believed to be caused by the varying moisture through the thickness during drying. The distributions in general exhibit compressive stress near the board surfaces and tensile stress in the interior of the board. This may be modified after drying and is also affected by structural variation in the material between different plies of multi-ply paperboards.The stress development during drying is important because it influences the resulting material properties of the paper and because it can lead to curl, which is a quality problem. The residual stresses themselves are an error source in simulation or evaluation of the mechanical behaviour of paper.In this work, residual stress distributions in paperboard were determined experimentally, to clarify the mechanisms of residual stress build-up. An experimental method for such tests was also developed. Based on the experimental findings, the mechanics of paper drying was modelled and the stress build-up simulated. Simulation offers a way of studying how the properties of paper develop during drying of wet paper webs.