Relationship between Strength Properties and Fiber Morphological Characteristics of E. tereticornis

Abstract

Morphology of pulp significantly affect the paper properties and many researchers have made efforts to evaluate their relationship to control the paper properties. In continuation of the studies by the authors, relationship between the physical strength properties and morphological characteristics of E. tereticornis was evaluated. In order to develop the relationship between morphological characteristics of bleached chemical pulps, the changes in fiber morphology of E. tereticornis after beating to different levels was estimated. The handsheets prepared from the pulps beaten to different levels were tested for changes in strength properties. Multiple linear regression (MLR) & artificial neural networks (ANN) analysis were used to develop relationship of strength propertieswith the morphological characteristics of the pulp fibers. Studies have revealed that all four strength properties studied (tensile index, tear index, burst index and double fold) correlate significantly with the change in the morphological characteristics on beating. The results indicate that the MLR and ANN can be successfully used as tools to reveal the relationships between strength properties with fiber morphological characteristics in E. tereticornis pulp.