Strength distribution in paper

Abstract Tensile strength distributions are studied in four paper samples that exhibit a variety of brittle-to-ductile properties. 1005 tensile specimens were measured in each case. The standard Gumbel and Weibull distributions, and a recently proposed double exponential modification of the former are compared with the observations visually and using chi-squared and Kolmogorov–Smirnov tests. The Gumbel distribution fails to fit the data while the Weibull distribution gives satisfactory agreement. However, the double exponential distribution fits the data best, regardless of the ductility of the material.