Received: 26 May 2020 Revised: 1 February 2022 Accepted: 20 February 2022 DOI: 10.1002/pts.2646
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Influence of different box preparations on creep performance of corrugated fibreboard boxes subject to constant and cycling relative humidity environments
Eli M. Gray-Stuart 1 John E. Bronlund 1
| Kelly Wade 2 | Gabe P. Redding 1 | Kate Parker 2 |
1 Department of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand 2 SCION, Rotorua, New Zealand Correspondence E. M. Gray-Stuart, Department of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering, Massey University, Palmerston North 4474, New Zealand. Email: e.m.gray-stuart@massey.ac.nz
Abstract To understand the effect of load and relative humidity (RH) on box creep in cool stor- age conditions, standard tests are performed. However, these test conditions are oversimplified compared with actual shipping conditions. Our aim is to develop test conditions that more closely mimic those encountered during refrigerated conditions to investigate their influence on creep performance and box lifetime. We compared three box preparations: (i) empty boxes used as a control, (ii) filled boxes, and (iii) boxes with only two side panels exposed to the atmosphere. A controlled envi- ronment test facility was used to subject sets of 24 boxes to 30% of their ultimate failure load under different cyclic and constant relative humidity conditions. Results indicate that filled boxes had substantially reduced performance in terms of second- ary creep rate and lifetime. The fill in the box contributed to out-of-plane displace- ment of the side panels which manifested earlier than in the control, resulting in a higher creep rate. Boxes with only two exposed panels had lower moisture uptake and performed substantially better than the control. These findings demonstrate how creep performance and box lifetime depend on the box conditions including fill and the area of the box that is exposed for moisture transfer. Alternative box prepara- tions which mimic supply chain conditions are worthy of investigation in creep analy- sis as they will help predict more accurately box performance in the cold supply chain.
Funding information Massey University
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INTRODUCTION
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they can also fail due to compressive creep (Figure 1) when a lower magnitude constant load is applied over an extended period. There are three distinct regions of creep deformation, primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary creep occurs when the load is applied and the top and bottom flaps of the box are compressed and the load is trans- ferred to the perimeter of the box 3 and the rate of box displacement is much greater than in secondary creep. During secondary creep, the
Paper and board packaging accounts for 40% of the total packaging market. 1 Corrugated fibreboard boxes are a critical packaging element for local and international trade. Corrugated fibreboard boxes are cost effective and robust with good top-to-bottom compression strength. 2 Boxes fail when an applied load exceeds their compressive strength;
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made. © 2022 The Authors. Packaging Technology and Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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Packag Technol Sci. 2022;35:497 – 504.
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