Influence of Shrinkage and Stretch During Drying on Paper Properties

A drying paper strives to shrink due to the shrinkage of the individual paper fibres. Laboratory results show that a reduction of the shrinkage or an imposed stretch leads to a large increase in tensile stiffness and a large decrease in strain at break. In c cylinder drying section the water in the web is repeatedly heated on the drying cylinder and evaporated in the free draw. To evaluate the drying process regarding influence on paper properties these sub-processes, or drying phases, have to be studied separately. The effect of the conditions on the drying cylinder and on the VacRoll is investigated in pilot trails. Both the fabric tension on the drying cylinder and on the VacRoll reduces the shrinkage of the paper. The laboratory results are used as input to a numerical simulation of the conditions in the free draw. If the web width is increased or the length of the free draw is reduced the mean shrinkage of the paper web is reduced . However, the difference in shrinkage between the middle and the edge of the web is increased.