Abstract

On the basis of full macroscopic experiments this paper, further combined with microscopic testing methods was used to analyse the tear strength,of different parts, of top grain leather and genuine leather both of natural cow leather origin, and we also studied the real reasons for the differences in their tear strength. The unilateral tear test was used to obtain values for the tear strength of different layers of cowhide, the cross-sectional microscope images of the different layers of cowhide were obtained by SEM microscopy. After the study, it was found that the strength of top grain leather was greater than that of genuine leather, except for the back, which showed higher tear strength in the direction perpendicular to the spine. The tear strength of cowhide is affected by the superposition of the proportions of corium, fibre density and fibre weave direction, resulting in differences in tear strength between different parts and directions. The tear strength of the corium layer is inversely correlated with the fibre density The order of cowhide tear strength for different layers is: grain layer + corium layer> corium layer> grain layer. Note: The descriptions “Top Grain Leather” and “Genuine Leather” only refer to the two different leather types – Top Grain Leather is the whole substance of the hide grain layer + corium whilst Genuine Leather is corium only i.e. with the grain layer split off.