Analysis of the creep behaviour of ventilated corrugated paperboard packaging for handling fresh produce — An experimental study

Abstract

During handling, storage and transportation of fresh horticultural produce such as pome fruit, packages are often stacked. The resistance of the package, particularly the bottom package to the weight on it is regarded as a measure of its compression strength. Over time, due to the load, the package losses its strength which results into collapse, consequently leading to damage of the packed produce. This time-dependent phenomenon is known as creep. A package should therefore be able to withstand the load on it over its life span. Hence, this study aimed to evaluate the creep behaviour of three corrugated paperboard packages at two environmental conditions under constant load for a 12h duration. The packages were two vented packages (Standard vent and Multi vent) and an unvented Control package. The environmental conditions used in the study were standard conditions (23°C and 50% RH) and refrigerated conditions (2°C and 85% RH). The Bailey-Norton creep law and Power law models showed a good correlation with the experimental creep strain. Load and environmental conditions affected the creep of the packages. High load resulted in an increased creep rate. Refrigerated conditions increased the creep rate of the packages in comparison with the standard condition. Package configuration also had a significant effect on the creep rate. The unvented Control package had the lowest creep rate compared to the vented packages.