Macro- and microscopic deformability of fiber networks made from softwood fibres

Holmen is a major Swedish producer of paper and board products. Most of these products are based on softwood fibres. During converting of the products, they are plastically deformed in folding, creasing or embossing operations. This deformation occurs both in a macro and microscale. It is therefore important to understand the influence of the raw material, product structure and process conditions on the convertibility of the products. This knowledge will help to optimize the existing products, but also lay the basis for new products.Based on the competence and available laboratory resources, a PostDoc project at KTH solid mechanics is proposed. As a first step, the detailed scope of project will be defined in a workshop between Holmen and KTH solid mechanics. Based on the workshop results, a literature search will be performed. After that, dependent on the outcome of the literature search, the converting process will either be modelled using Artem Kulachenko’s advanced fibre network models, or experimental converting studies will be performed. Here, the influence of fiber morphology, product structure and process conditions on the convertibility both in macro- and microscale will be clarified.