On the design of corrugated boards: A new FEM modeling and experimental validation, TAPPI Journal August 2025

Application: This study provides an efficient, experimentally validated modeling approach for predicting failure behavior in corrugated boards, enabling mills to optimize design through faster and more accurate simulations that can reduce material usage and improve product performance.

Author: Ricardo Fitas, Heinz Joachim Schaffrath, and Samuel Schabel

ABSTRACT: This study presents a simplified finite element modeling (FEM) approach suitable for large structures made of corrugated boards, such as customized packages, based on a homogenization method, which is combined with correction factors for internal mechanisms. The homogenization process reduces computational time by transforming flute geometries into equivalent elastic models. In large deformations and in the presence of contact for a given geometry, the effective elastic modulus in the thickness direction, as well as the effective thickness of the structure, are corrected by two statistical Weibull distributions representing the contact and buckling mechanisms in a corrugated board. The Weibull parameters are obtained via experimental analysis, and such a process is then validated. The results demonstrate that the statistical parameters (â1 = 0.14, â2 = 1.31) can be used for the simplistic representation of corrugated boards, being computationally efficient. This research contributes to the optimization of corrugated packaging design, specifically by simplifying FEM models for faster, yet equally accurate, simulations.