Tensile Energy Absorption

Work Integration

Packaging substrates experience sudden impact forces during drop tests, cartoning operations, and high-speed web transport. Tensile energy absorption incorporates both ultimate tensile strength and elongation at break, providing a complete measure of material durability. Papermakers increase energy absorption by adding stretchable long softwood fibers, optimizing wet pressing, and applying micro-creping processes like the Clupak system.

Paperboard with high tensile energy absorption resists web breaks when running through high-speed rotary printing presses and automatic bag filling lines. Multi-wall sack kraft paper requires exceptionally high energy absorption ratings to absorb drop impacts without bursting. Laboratory testing follows ISO 1924 or TAPPI T494 standards using constant rate of elongation tensile testers.

Toughness Limit

Tensile energy metrics quantify mechanical durability under axial tension. Tensile energy absorption evaluation does not apply to non-fibrous metal foils or rigid unyielding solid laminates. Measurement procedures end when sheet failure occurs outside the gauge length of test clamps.

Test values become invalid when test specimen alignment drifts off-axis by more than two degrees.