COMPRESSION RESISTANCE OF SMALL PAPERBOARD PACKAGING SHAPES

Rectangles are the most common packaging shapes. Their stability under compression can vary according to different types of paperboard as well as panels ratios. Rectangular shapes have advantages in transportation and production but are not the only shapes that paperboard packaging has to offer. This paper investigates seven packaging shapes with different cross-sections while keeping the same height and amount of material used. The tested shapes were made with two types of paperboard (with recycled fibre and virgin pulp) and different grammage. The testing was conducted using a modified Crush Test (Lorentzen & Wettre Crush Tester). The results showed that cylinder shape has the most compression resistance while triangular prism and rectangular prism (1:4 panel ratio) the least. Testing rectangles with different panel ratios together with the results of other shapes led to the conclusion that compression resistance mainly depends on the size of the panel. If a shape has larger (less number of) panels it has less resistance to vertical pressure (stackability).