Both, stiffness and tensile strength are important physical properties of a material. While many of us believe that they are similar, they are actually different from each other.
What is tensile strength?
Tensile strength, measured using a tensile strength tester, refers to the ability of the materials to resist the force applied to it before getting permanently deformed. This is the maximum force a material can withstand before finally fracturing or breaking. Materials with high tensile strength tend to be more stiff. Hence, when it comes to choosing strong materials that do not deform, manufacturers must be very careful.
What is stiffness?
Stiffness, measured using a paper stiffness tester, refers to the resistance of the material to the bending force applied to it and its return to its original shape or form. It determines the elasticity of the material and is measured by Young’s modulus.
Young’s modulus is the ratio between stress and strain the material goes through when the force is applied to it. The strain can be normal and shear. A normal strain is the one that is caused by normal stress. It is the deformation that occurs perpendicular to the material’s cross-section. On the other hand, shear strain is caused by shear stress and refers to the deformation occurring parallel to the material’s cross-section.
How do Stiffness and Strength connect?
It is important to know that a material with high tensile strength means that it is a strong one. Similarly, a material with high stiffness lacks strength and can break easily. A strong paper with less stiffness can break easily and does not change its form if the applied force is more than the tensile strength. Also, if the material is stiff but has less tensile strength, it will deflect and hence, will return to its original shape once the force is removed.
Equipment Used To Measure Tensile Strength & Stiffness
Tensile strength tester
The tensile strength tester is an intelligently designed equipment, used to effectively measure the strength, stretch, stretch percentage and breaking length of the material. It is capable of testing paper, paperboard, and tissue paper in both wet and dry state.
Paper stiffness tester
The paper stiffness tester is another strategically designed machine that accurately measures the stiffness and resilience of materials. It is capable of evaluating paper, cardboard, metal sheets, plastic, and other flexible materials.
Wrapping Up
Being a manufacturer, the more you know about the above-given physical properties of a material, the better. It is also crucial to know about the machines used to evaluate these parameters in depth. To do this, get in touch with the experts at UEC, a leading manufacturer and supplier of paper physical property testing machines in India. Visit the website for details.