Stress-strain curve of paper revisited

Abstract We have investigated a relation between micromechanical processes and the stress-strain curve of a dry fiber network during tensile loading. By using a detailed particle-level simulation tool we investigate, among other things, the impact of “non-traditional” bonding parameters, such as compliance of bonding regions, work of separation and the actual number of effective bonds. This is probably the first three-dimensional model which is capable of simulating the fracture process of paper accounting for nonlinearities at the fiber level and bond failures. The failure behavior of the network considered in the study could be changed significantly by relatively small changes in bond strength, as compared to the scatter in bonding data found in the literature. We have identified that compliance of the bonding regions has a significant impact on network strength. By comparing networks with weak and strong bonds, we concluded that large local strains are the precursors of bond failures and not the other way around.