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Air Permeability and Porosity: Glossary and Fact Sheet Air permeability (porosity): The rate at which air passes through a sheet of paper or board, reflecting the openness of its internal fiber structure. Gurley seconds: The unit of result from the Gurley porosity method: the time, in seconds, for a fixed volume of air to pass…

Paper and board manufacturers need to know how porous their sheet is at two different points: while it is being made, and after it is made. This piece explains both approaches, why they matter together, and how the results relate to each other. Overview Porosity describes how open or closed the internal fiber structure of…

Understanding Air Permeability (Porosity) in Paper and Board Air permeability, also called porosity, is the measure of how readily air passes through a sheet of paper or board. It is used across paper and board production to monitor and control the internal structure of the sheet as it is made. Porosity affects printability, coating holdout,…

Key terms Term  Definition  Gloss  The degree to which a surface reflects light in the specular (mirror) direction. Higher gloss means a shinier surface.  Specular reflection  Light reflected at the equal and opposite angle to the incident light, as from a mirror.  75 degree geometry  The measurement angle used for paper and board gloss, taken…

Gloss is the visual perception of shininess, and it comes from the way a surface reflects light. When light hits a very smooth surface, most of it reflects in a single direction, the specular direction, and the surface looks glossy. When the surface is rough or open, light scatters in many directions and the surface…

Gloss is a measure of how much light a paper or board surface reflects in the specular, or mirror, direction. A high-gloss sheet reflects light sharply and looks shiny. A matte sheet scatters light and looks dull. In the paper and board industry, gloss is a controlled optical property because it shapes how printed packaging,…

Thickness, also called caliper, is the perpendicular distance between the two principal surfaces of a sheet of paper or board, measured under a defined static load between hard metal platens. It's one of the most fundamental physical properties in paper and board manufacturing, and it directly influences strength, stiffness, bulk, and how a material runs…

Thickness, or caliper, is one of the first properties many mills measure, and one of the most revealing. It tells you how much material is in a sheet, and it points to how that sheet will behave under stress, through a press, and inside a finished package. Getting it right is a balancing act between…

Key terms Caliper: Another word for thickness; the perpendicular distance between the two principal surfaces of a sheet, measured under load.  Single sheet thickness: The thickness of one sheet of paper or board, measured under a defined static load.  Bulking thickness: The thickness of a single sheet, calculated from a pack of superimposed sheets measured…