Abstract

We present our results for work on leather softening by shearing and the effect of shearing parameters on leather’s relative elasticity. Leather softening processes have been executed and elasticity parameters have been determined using specially constructed instruments. It has been stated that, when employing this particular leather softening technique, leather’s deformation characteristics are of no worse quality than when employing a conventional (vibration) technique. These reasons suggest that the shearing technique of leather softening may be applicable in the leather industry. An increase of shearing speed and number of cycles had no substantial effect on the leather’s elasticity. We applied graphical methods to the experiments on the effect of shearing parameters on one of leather quality indicators – its elasticity. The calculations of the corresponding relationships are presented in the paper.