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This study focused on web forming at a 5–10% consistency range, termed Ultra High Consistency (UHC). The study continued work done by Gullichsen with his research groups (1981–2007) and combined it with the HC forming research done by Valmet (HC, 1999–2004). The hypothesis was that by utilizing a rotor to fluidize suspension and a wedge to eliminate the free jet and thus prevent reflocculation, web forming at UHC is feasible at commercial speeds. The research method was experimental. The bulk of the research was conducted at pilot scale. A new UHC headbox was designed and mounted on a pilot former. The key elements of the headbox are the rotor and the wedge. As fluidization forms the base for UHC forming, this was evaluated at the pilot former using image analysis. In addition, fluidization was studied using a laboratory-scale device. Besides basic paper analysis, X-ray microtomography and sheet splitting methods were utilized to analyze the sheet structure. The results show that forming is possible within the focus area, 5–10% consistency and machine speeds of 150–600 m/min, although the operation potential of the UHC former is even wider. The results demonstrate that the wedge is needed for successful UHC forming, but the rotor is not required, providing the flow rate is sufficiently high. This indicates that various forces induced by the flow itself can be adequate to fluidize suspension for forming. The critical Reynolds number of full fluidization was found to be 200–250. The Reynolds numbers were estimated utilizing the linear dependencies found between the apparent viscosity and consistency, using the maximum mean flow velocities inside the headbox, and neglecting the possible rotation of the rotor. The corresponding critical flow velocities at 10% consistency are 12 and 19 m/s for a eucalyptus and pine pulp. The velocities are on average 70 and 60% lower than those given in the literature (40–50 m/s). The results reveal that the fiber orientation of UHC sheets is planar, the floc size of the web increases with consistency, the internal bond increases linearly with the floc size, and the tensile strength appears to decrease with increasing floc size. In consequence, it is postulated that the increase in the out-of-plane strength at the expense of in-plane strength with the consistency increase results from a more flocculated structure. Tiivistelmä Tutkimus keskittyi rainanmuodostukseen 5–10 % sakeudessa. Sakeusalue nimitettiin ultra korkeaksi (lyhenne UHC). Tämä työ jatkoi Gullichsenin ja hänen tutkimusryhmiensä tutkimustyötä (1981–2007) ja samalla yhdisti sen Valmetin tekemään suursakeusrainaustutkimukseen (HC, 1994–2004). Työn hypoteesina oli, että käyttämällä roottoria massan fluidisoimiseen sekä ns. wedgeä eliminoimaan vapaa suihku ja estämään jälleenflokkaantuminen, rainanmuodostus UHC-sakeudessa on mahdollista kaupallisissa nopeuksissa. Tutkimusmetodi oli kokeellinen. Pääosa tutkimuksesta suoritettiin koekonemittakaavassa. Uusi UHC-perälaatikko suunniteltiin ja asennettiin koeformeille. Perälaatikon pääelementit ovat pyörivä roottori ja wedge. Koska fluidisointi muodostaa UHC-rainauksen perustan, fluidisointia evaluoitiin koekoneella käyttäen kuva-analyysiä sekä tutkittiin lisäksi käyttäen röntgenmikrotomografia ja arkin halkaisu -metodeja. Tulokset osoittavat, että rainaaminen on mahdollista määritellyllä fokusalueella, 5–10 %sakeudessa ja konenopeudella150–600 m/min, joskin UHC-formerin toimintapotentiaali on vieläkin laajempi. Tulokset osoittavat, että wedge tarvitaan onnistuneeseen UHC-muodostamiseen, mutta roottoria ei tarvita, mikäli virtausnopeus on riittävän suuri. Tämä tarkoittaa, että virtauksen aikaansaamat voimat voivat itsessään olla riittäviä massan fluidisoimiseksi rainaamista varten. Täyden fluidisaation kriittisen Reynoldsin luvun havaittiin olevan välillä 200–250. Reynoldsin luvut arvioitiin käyttäen löydettyjä viskositeetin ja sakeuden välisiä lineaarisia riippuvuuksia, päävirtauksen maksiminopeuksia perälaatikossa ja jättäen huomioon ottamatta mahdollinen roottorin pyöriminen. Reynoldsin lukuja vastaavat kriittiset virtausnopeudet 10 % sakeudessa ovat eukalyptus- ja mäntymassalla 12 ja 19 m/s. Nopeudet ovat keskimäärin 70 ja 60 % pienempiä kuin kirjallisuudessa annetut (40–50 m/s). Tulokset osoittavat, että UHC-arkeissa kuituorientaatio on tasomainen, rainan flokkikoko kasvaa sakeuden kasvaessa, palstautumislujuus kasvaa lineaarisesti flokkikoon kanssa ja vetolujuus näyttäisi laskevan flokkikoon kasvaessa. Näin ollen esitetään, että sakeuden kasvaessa tapahtuva palstautumislujuuden kasvu tasolujuuksien kustannuksella johtuu flokkaantuneemmasta rakenteesta.

To model advanced 3-D forming strategies for paper materials, the effects of environmental conditions on the mechanical behavior must be quantitatively and qualitatively understood. A tensile test method has been created, verified, and implemented to test paper at various moisture content and temperature levels. Testing results for one type of paper for moisture contents from 6.9 to 13.8 percent and temperatures from 23 to 168 degrees Celsius are presented and discussed. Coupled moisture and temperature effects have been discovered for maximum stress. Uncoupled effects have been discovered for elastic modulus, tangent modulus, hardening modulus, strain at break, tensile energy absorption (TEA), and approximate plastic strain. A hyperbolic tangent function is also utilized which captures the entire one-dimensional stress-strain response of paper. The effects of moisture and temperature on the three coefficients in the hyperbolic tangent function may be assumed to be uncoupled, which may simplify the development of moisture- and temperature-dependent constitutive models. All parameters were affected by both moisture and temperature with the exception of TEA, which was found to only be significantly dependent on temperature. QC 20141020

A numerical tool has been developed for particle-level simulations of fibre suspension flows, particularly forming of the fibre network structure of paper sheets in the paper machine. The model considers inert fibres of various equilibrium shapes, and finite stiffness, interacting with each other through normal, frictional, and lubrication forces, and with the surrounding fluid medium through hydrodynamic forces. Fibre–fluid interactions in the non-creeping flow regime are taken into account, and the two-way coupling between the solids and the fluid phases is included by enforcing momentum conservation between phases. The incompressible three-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations are employed tomodel themotion of the fluid medium. The validity of the model has been tested by comparing simulation results with experimental data from the literature. It was demonstrated that the model predicts well the motion of isolated fibres in shear flow over a wide range of fibre flexibilities. It was also shown that the model predicts details of the orientation distribution of multiple, straight, rigid fibres in a sheared suspension. Furthermore, model predictions of the shear viscosity and first normal stress difference were in fair agreement with experimental data found in the literature. Since the model is based solely on first principles physics, quantitative predictions could be made without any parameter fitting. Based on these validations, a series of simulations have been performed to investigate the basic mechanisms responsible for the development of the stress tensor components for monodispersed, non-Brownian fibres suspended in a Newtonian fluid in shear flow. The effects of fibre aspect ratio, concentration, and inter-particle friction, as well as the tendency of fibre agglomeration, were examined in the nonconcentrated regimes. For the case of well dispersed suspensions, semi-empirical relationships were found between the aforementioned fibre suspension properties, and the steady state apparent shear viscosity, and the first/second normal stress differences. Finally, simulations have been conducted for the development of paper structures in the forming section of the paper machine. The conditions used for the simulations were retrieved from pilot-scale forming trial data in the literature, and from real pulp fibre analyses. Dewatering was simulated by moving two forming fabrics toward each other through a fibre suspension. Effects of the jet-to-wire speed difference on the fibre orientation anisotropy, the mass density distribution, and three-dimensionality of the fibre network, were investigated. Simulation results showed that the model captures well the essential features of the forming effects on these paper structure parameters, and also posed newquestions on the conventional wisdom of the forming mechanics.

A new model for simulating non-Brownian flexible fibres suspended in a Newtonian fluid has been developed. Special attention has been given to include realistic flow conditions found in the industrial papermaking process in the key features of the model; it is the intention of the author to employ the model in simulations of the forming section of the paper machine in future studies. The model considers inert fibres of various shapes and finite stiffness, interacting with each other through normal, frictional and lubrication forces, and with the surrounding fluid medium through hydrodynamic forces. Fibre-fluid interactions in the non-creeping flow regime are taken into account, and the two-way coupling between the solids and the fluid phase is included by enforcing momentum conservation between phases. The incompressible three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations are employed to model the motion of the fluid medium. The validity of the model has been tested by comparing simulation results with experimental data from the literature. It was demonstrated that the model predicts the motion of isolated fibres in shear flow over a wide range of fibre flexibilities. It was also shown that the model predicts details of the orientation distribution of multiple straight, rigid fibres in a sheared suspension. Model predictions of the viscosity and first normal stress difference were in good agreement with experimental data found in the literature. Since the model is based solely on first-principles physics, quantitative predictions could be made without any parameter fitting. En ny modell för simulering av rörelserna hos icke-Brownska böjliga fibrer dispergerade i en Newtonsk vätska har utvecklats. Eftersom det är författarens avsikt att modellen skall kunna tillämpas vid simulering av arkformning under de förhållanden som råder i en modern pappersmaskin, har särskilt omsorg givits till att inkludera motsvarande flödesvillkor i modellens giltighetsområde. Modellen hanterar fibrer av varierande form, massa och styvhet, som växelverkar sinsemellan via normal-, friktions- och smörjkrafter. Deras växelverkan med den omgivande vätskan sker via hydrodynamiska krafter vid finita Reynolds-tal. Den så kallade tvåvägskopplingen mellan fibrerna och vätskefasen har tagits i beaktande genom att kräva att rörelsemängden bevaras vid interaktionen mellan faserna. Vidare har Navier-Stokes ekvationer för inkompressibla vätskor använts för att beskriva mediets rörelser. Modellens giltighet har undersökts genom att jämföra resultat från simuleringar med experimentella data från litteraturen. Det har påvisats att modellen förutsäger rörelsen hos ensamma fibrer i ett skjuvflöde, för vitt skilda fiberflexibiliteter. Det visades också att modellen förutsäger detaljer hos fiberorienteringsdistributionen i suspensioner utsatta för skjuvflöde. Det kunde också konstateras att modellens förutsägelser av fibersuspensioners viskositet och första normalspänningsdifferens under skjuvning väl överensstämde med experimentella data i litteraturen. Kvantitativa förutsägelser har kunnat göras utan någon parameteranpassning, då modellen bygger uteslutande på väletablerade fysikaliska samband inom klassisk mekanik och strömningslära.

Most of the water fed into a paper machine is removedmechanically in the forming and press sections. One of thefactor which has an important influence on mechanicaldewatering, i.e. in both forming and pressing, is thestress-strain behaviour of the fibre network. The focus of this thesis is on the development of improvedmathematical descriptions of the stress-strain behaviourexhibited by fibre networks in the forming and press sections.The first part of the thesis presents a physically based modelof the forming and densification of fibre mats in twin-wireformers. The model can calculate the ecect of the applicationof a varied load through the forming section. It was developedfrom mass and momentum balances of the fibre and liquid phases,the fibre mat stress-porosity relation and an expression forthe permeability as a function of the porosity. The fibre-matstress-porosity relation used is rate-independent and presentshysteresis. Simulations have been conducted to study theeffects of roll pressure, blade pulses, wire tension andbeating. The effect of sequential blade pressure pulses afterthe forming roll on the dewatering and the concentrationgradients could be characterised. The simulations alsoexhibited rewetting by expansion when the fibre mats left theforming roll. Increasing wire tension resulted in increaseddewatering, but the rate of increase diminished rapidly withincreasing tension. The simulation results also indicated thatbeating has a large influence on dewatering. The second part of the thesis presents two models of therate-dependent stress-strain behaviour of the fibre networkthat is observed in wet pressing. The first model was based onthe approach pioneered by Perzyna (1966) for strain-ratedependent plasticity and was quite satisfactory for calculatingthe stress-strain behaviour of the fibre network in singlepress nips. It was successfully applied for studyingdensification and dewatering in both normal wet pressing andhigh temperature wet pressing. However, the first model onlyincludes rate dependence in the compression phase of thecompressionexpansion cycle; the expansion phase is treated asbeing rate independent The second model of the stress-strain behaviour of the fibrenetwork treats both compression and expansion as being ratedependent, according to experimental observations. It is basedon the idea that the wet fibre web may be conceived as alayered network of restricted swelling gels. A swollen fibre isa restricted gel, the inner swelling pressure in a swollenfibre wall being balanced by the stresses in the fibre wallstructure. The observed rate dependence of wet webs in bothcompression and expansion phases was attributed to the flow ofwater out of and into the fibre walls. The second model gavepredictions that are in good agreement with results fromuniaxial experiments using pressure pulses of arbitrary shapefor both a single pulse and a sequence of pulses. It maytherefore be used as a general model for the rheologicalbehaviour of the wet fibre network in wet pressing, providedthe model parameters are estimated from experimental data withsmall experimental error. KEYWORDS:Paper, modelling, dewatering, forming, wetpressing, fibre network stress, rheology, hysteresis,intra-fibre water, compressibility, structural stress,stress-strain, restricted gels, swelling. QC 20161026