An Analysis of Numerical Homogenisation Methods Applied on Corrugated Paperboard

Corrugated paperboard is a sandwich structure composed of wavy paper (fluting) bonded between two flat paper sheets (liners). The analysis of an entire package using three-dimensional numerical finite element models is computationally expensive due to the waved geometry of the board that requires the use of a relatively large number of elements in a simulation. Because of this, homogenisation approaches are used to evaluate equivalent homogenous models with similar material properties. These techniques have been successfully implemented by various researchers to evaluate the strength of corrugated paperboard. However, studies analysing the various homogenisation techniques and their ranges of applicability are limited. This study analyses the application of three homogenisation techniques: classical laminate plate theory, first-order shear deformation theory and deformation energy equivalence method in the evaluation of effective elastic material properties. In addition, inverse analysis has been applied to determine the effective properties of the board. Finite element models have been used to evaluate the accuracy of the three homogenisation techniques in comparison to the inverse method in modelling four-point bending tests and the results reported.