Evaluation of a Bulge Reduction Technology for Corrugated Fiberboard Containers Under Static Compression

This research examines the effect of top-to-bottom static compression load on the bulge of RSC containers. The study compares a control regular slotted container (RSC) constructed with corrugated fiberboard to tape-reinforced designs. The bulge reduction, achieved using various tape placements and conditioning environments, were measured. Currently, no research on the effect of reinforcement tape towards reduction in the out-of-plane displacement (bulging) of the corrugated fiberboard panels has been undertaken. Samples related to four different container designs, varying by presence, quantity and the position of the reinforcement tape on the vertical panels, were tested and analyzed. The study involved the use of a prototype cutting table, environmental conditioning chambers, a compression testing system and a patented container bulge measuring fixture. The statistical analysis of the observations confirms that the reinforcement tape significantly reduces the out-of-plane displacement of the container side panels under ambient environmental conditions (23 ± 1 °C, 50 ± 2% relative humidity). In tropical and refrigerated conditions (40 ± 2 °C, 90 ± 5% relative humidity and 5 ± 2 °C, 85 ± 5% relative humidity) it was observed that the reinforcement tape has potential in reducing bulge. The findings of this study should be valuable to packaging engineers towards the potential reduction of material usage while improving the stacking strength and rigidity of an optimized corrugated fiberboard containers

Investigation of Compression Strength of Bliss Style Corrugated Fiberboard Boxes

The global demand for corrugated fiberboard is projected to experience a significant upsurge in the near future. Based on the end-use, packaging for processed and fresh food categories accounted for approximately 39% of the overall consumption of corrugated fiberboard in 2015. With key advantages such as providing an uninterrupted bottom, laminated corners for higher stacking strength, increased material use efficiency, side cutout options for display at retail and a wide range of styles over other styles of containers, Bliss style boxes find prominence in the agriculture sector. While numerous predictive strength models associating corrugated fiberboard material specifications to the box compression strength (BCT), and ultimately the stacking strength of corrugated containers, have been developed over the past century, there is a considerable lack of studies that include Bliss style containers. The overall aim of this empirical study was to develop a mathematical relationship based on the simplified McKee formula towards predicting BCT of four styles of Bliss boxes. Effects of box styles, length of load-bearing walls and number of internal corners on the overall BCT were explored using data collected from lab-based testing. The proposed mathematical model includes a box design constant (k), edge crush test values, board thickness, and three lengths of load-bearing walls (total, single-wall, and double-wall) of the containers. The k-values for each bliss box design, explored through linear regression analyses, explain up to 98.1% of the differences in BCT between the styles. The proposed mathematical model can assist practitioners with accelerating packaging development cycle times and optimizing packaging designs