Impact of corrugated paperboard structure on puncture resistance

Abstract

Thanks to its excellent protective properties, lightness, a reasonable price, and ecology, corrugated paperboard is one of the most popular materials used in the production of packaging for various products. During transportation or storage, packaging with goods can be exposed to the mass of other commodities, dropping from heights and transportation shock loads, which can lead to their puncture damage. Depending on the purpose and size of the packaging, the thickness, grammage, constituent paper layers, numbers of layers and type of fluting of corrugated paperboard used in its production differ. A standard triangular prism, corrugated paperboard fixation plates and a universal tension-compression machine were used to investigate the impact of corrugated paperboard structure and other parameters on the puncture resistance of the material. The investigation determines the maximum puncture load and estimates energy required to penetrate the corrugated paperboard. It was found that the greatest puncture resistance is demonstrated by paperboard with a larger number of corrugating flutings and the board produced from harder paper with a smaller amount of recycled paper. It was established that the grammage of three-layered paperboard with two different fluting profiles has the greatest impact on the level of static puncture energy.