The relationship between hygroexpansion, tensile stiffness, and mechano–sorptive creep in bleached hardwood kraft pulps

• Hygroexpansion coefficient and tensile stiffness are important parameters in many paper applications. This study compares several bleached industrial hardwood kraft pulps, comprising five eucalypt pulps from South America, Europe, and Africa as well as an acacia pulp from Asia and a birch pulp from Scandinavia. Refined and unrefined pulps are compared. The results indicate significant differences in hygroexpansion but smaller differences in tensile stiffness index at comparable densities. No single factor offering a reasonable explanation of these differences in hygroexpansion coefficient, such as carbohydrate composition, fibre dimensions, or fibre form, was found. However, correlation between hygroexpansion coefficient and the mechano-sorptive creep stiffness was observed. We suggest that the hygroexpansion coefficient at a given tensile stiffness level can be used to rank pulps in terms of their mechano-sorptive creep properties.

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Materialteknik -- Pappers-, massa- och fiberteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Materials Engineering -- Paper, Pulp and Fiber Technology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Mechano–sorptive creep

hygroexpansion

dimensional stability

eucalypt

birch

acacia

Cellulose and paper engineering

Cellulosa- och pappersteknik

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)