Corrugated Box Compression—A Literature Survey

The past 130+ years of research into the production of corrugated packaging has produced a tremendous wealth of information about the structural dynamics of corrugated boxes in use and in failure. Most of the studies in this area were published in the journals of the paper industry. However, much of the current work on corrugated fiberboard packaging now comes from individuals with a focus on corrugated packaging as a whole rather than on the corrugated paper or structures that comprise the packaging material. Because of the difficulty in accessing or identifying some of the previous art, more recent studies may tread ground well covered by others decades earlier. This review focuses on the process of box compression and the utility of box compression testing, bringing previous work back to the fore to provide useful background for current studies. It examines the conditioning and testing process in detail, discusses the state of the art in compression estimation, and explores various parameters that affect box compression strength that are not captured in most current industry models. It also looks at how box compression results are related to field performance of boxes in unit loads. In the process, it identifies many areas for fruitful new research. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.