Effect of number of piles [i.e. plies] on the tear resistance of paper

Abstract

Tear tests made on low-finish bond paper and a 42-pound linerboard showed that the tear resistance, the degree of spreading of the plies, and the deviation from a straight line of failure increased with the increase in the number of plies tested. Tests on plies of aluminum foil indicated this degree of variation due to multiplicity of plies lay not in the tester but in the type of material being tested. With foil, no increase in tear resistance per ply accompanied the increase in the number of plies tested. But when the aluminum foil plies were separated by bulking and tested, results indicated that the bulking caused an increase in average tear resistance as the number of plies increased. Many of the failures of this group deviated beyond the limits allowed in TAPPI Standard T 414 m-49. Measurements of the deviation from a straight line of failure for the 50-pound bag paper showed a direct correlation between increase in average tear and the amount of deviation from a straight line of failure.

Citation

Swartout, James T.; Setterholm, Vance C. 1963. Effect of number of piles [i.e. plies] on the tear resistance of paper. Research Note FPL-RN-05. Madison, WI: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory. [10] p.