Finite element analysis of e-commerce cushioning in corrugated board

Abstract: Corrugated board and other paper products are widely used in product packaging due to good mechanical properties, recyclability, price etc. Due to the growing e–commerce industry the dynamical behaviour of corrugated board is of particular interest. Paper exhibits an orthotropic behaviour and is a non–linear material. In this work, corrugated board is analyzed from mechanical point of view,when subjected to a short timespan impactload. Edgecrushtest (ECT),flatcrusttest(FCT),bending stiffness and static deflectiontests which are part of standards used in the industry are performed. Both experimental and numerical approaches are used in the analysis and the results are compared and discussed. The elastic part of a corrugated board material model predicts the physical behaviour well and provides reliable results. Bending stiffness model results have approximately 1% difference from physical experiments and the static deflection test together with FCT has a 6% difference. Dynamicaldroptest gives13%,11% and 27% relative error for different drop heights. Elastic–plastic behaviour requires further investigations, especially in ECT test which has around 45% discrepancy from physical experiment. The possible difference in the dynamical model might arise from the boundary conditions which were not fully controlled during the physical experiment and the difference in the ECT can be possibly explained by layer thickness approximations together with glue line width assumptions between fluting and the liners in the numerical models. Results suggest that the finite element approach is a reliable way to model corrugated board but it poses challenges especially in complex loading conditions. The elastic behaviour of the corrugated board is well predicted by assuming an orthotropical material model. The dynamic behaviour when subjected to an impulse force was well predicted for low drop heights. but requires more investigation for high impulse impacts.