Cushioning properties of corrugated fibre board by finite element modelling

This paper investigates various dynamic effects on the cushioning properties of corrugated fibre board (CFB) and the use of finite element modelling (FEM) as an alternative to conventional experimental tests to evaluate the impact behavior of CFB. It was found that the transient response under impact of CFB depends greatly on the compression speed, its mode of behavior can change from predominantly inelastic behavior to instability of the flute. The extent and shape of contact area between the impactor and the cushioning fibre board also affects the characteristics of the response. All these factors should be taken into account in the testing program for cushioning properties of fibre board. Finite element modeling of the corrugated fiber board structure using explicit dynamic software ABAQUS to simulate cushion tests yielded results which are in good agreement with the experimental results. The simulation technique based on FEM would serve as an alternative to obtain the cushion curves in practical packages, and would aid the design of packaging container and of packaging material made of CFB.