WAX CONTENT OF CORRUGATED PAPERBOARD: D3344
EXPLANATION
Many of the functional properties of wax-treated corrugated paperboard and cartons are dependent on the amount of wax present. In the case of the wax-saturated or wax-impregnated paperboard, the principle concern is with the weight of wax used relative to the weight of the paperboard present, that is, the weight percent content or pickup. In some applications the saturating wax may be deposited in the three elements of the corrugated board in such a way as to individually control the amount in each element, that is, the medium and the two facings.
In the case of the wax-coated corrugated paperboard, the principle concern is the weight of the wax on the board surface per unit area. The functional values of the wax coatings as a barrier or a decorative coating are dependent, in part, on the amount of wax in the continuous surface layer, relative to the area covered. The weight of the coating relative to the weight of substrate is not usually a concern with regard to product quality. This test method is applicable to specimens that have been waxed by either impregnation (saturation) operations, or combinations of such operations.
TEST SUMMARY
The wax from the board is extracted twice with 1,1,1-trichloroethane, and the extract evaporated to dryness to determine the total quantity of wax associated with the corrugated board specimen. Use of a Soxhlet extraction technique may improve precision of the results.
TEST PRECISION
Repeatability: 5 % of the mean
Reproducibility: 12 % of the mean
This procedure has no bias because the total wax content of corrugated paper and paperboard can be defined only in terms of this test method.
