A Simplified Treatise of the Scott Bond Testing Method

Abstract

The Scott bond test method has been used extensively in the paper industry over the years as a means to assess the bond strength of paper. The method has been a subject of some controversy lately since it does not always correlate to the sensitivity of the material to fracture by delamination. To gain some further insight into which parameters govern the fracture process in a Scott bond test a simplified approach has been chosen in order to formulate an analytical mathematical/mechanical model of the test. The model is dynamic in the sense that inertia effects are included. The material model utilised is a simple cohesive theory that assumes a linear behaviour between stress and crack opening when the material has started to degrade. This choice of material model makes the mathematical model very nonlinear. In fact, a system of three coupled nonlinear second order partial differential equations have to be solved and adjusted to the correct initial conditions. The material parameters needed for the model are the elastic modulus in the thickness direction, the transverse shear (elastic) modulus, the tensile strength (in the thickness direction) and the fracture work (per unit area) for a delamination crack. To investigate the ability of the model, a Scott bond testing apparatus have been equipped with a piezoelectric load sensor. The load cell was mounted on the apparatus’ pendulum so that the load acting on the sample holder could be recorded during the whole impact stage. This was done for a number of different initial velocities of the pendulum and it is found that the model gives a fair prediction of the contact load.