Abstract
The importance of fibre flexibility to the consolidation of the paper web and to sheet formation has long been recognised and a number of methods have been developed to measure fibre stiffness.(1 -4) The fundamental resistance of fibres to flexural deformations is given by the flexural rigidity EI, the product of modulus of elasticity and moment of inertia. The methods of Seborg & Simmonds (1) and Forgacs et al.(2) do not yield flexural rigidity values, that of Nethercut (3) requires fibres of 7-8 mm length and is therefore unsuitable for wood fibres; only the method of Samuelsson(4) has been successful in providing a quantitative measure of flexural rigidity. Duncker et al. (in the paper presented at this symposium) have used the Samuelsson method in studying the effect of drying on the flexural rigidity of fibres. It is the purpose of this contribution to describe a new method for measuring the flexural rigidity of fibres and to present some data on the effect of drying on flexural rigidity.
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