Numerical and experimental investigation of the strength of corrugated board packages

The buckling behaviour of corrugated paper packages was studied by means of an experimental and theoretical analysis. Mechanical behaviour of paperboard was first evaluated experimentally, then a local geometry FEM model, able to reproduce with a very good accuracy buckling loads obtained experimentally in the standard edge compression test, was developed. In order to investigate the buckling of a complete package, a finite element ‘corrugated board’ was introduced by means of a dedicated homogenization procedure. The FEM model of the package, assembled with this new element, can accurately predict the experimental data of incipient buckling observed during the standard box compression test, despite the few degrees of freedom and the minimal computational effort.