Tearing behaviour of two types of leather: A comparative study carried out at the local scale using the full kinematic and thermal field measurement techniques

Abstract Leather materials undergo various strain and stress states during their elaboration process and their application in numerous different functions. Among the key properties required for such materials, tearing resistance appears as one of the most important. In this paper, the tearing behaviour of two types of leather, a grain pigskin leather and a grain calf leather, was investigated at the local scale using the full‐field techniques. During the tests, thermal fields were measured at the surface of the two leathers by means of an infrared camera. Measurements of the displacement and deformation fields were also performed at the surface of the pigskin sample using the digital image correlation technique, which was not possible for the calf sample due to surface wrinkling. The results obtained enable us to discuss and compare the tearing resistance of both leathers in terms of the thermal activity in the zone of influence of the crack. The best tearing resistance was obtained for the grain calf leather that has undergone a retanning operation and whose matrix contained a plasticiser.