The Influence of Package Size and Flute Type of Corrugated Boxes on Load Bridging in Unit Loads

Shipping pallets often are designed with the assumption that the payload carried is flexible and uniformly distributed on the pallet surface. However, packages on the pallet can act as a series of discrete loads, and the physical interactions among the packages can add stiffness to the pallet/load combination. The term ‘load bridging’ has been used to describe this phenomenon. The study reported in this paper investigated the relationships of package size, corrugated flute type and pallet stiffness to load bridging and the resulting unit‐load deflection. The experimental results indicated that an increase in box size changed the unit‐load deflection by as much as 75%. Flute type was found to impact load bridging and the resulting unit‐load deflection. Changing the corrugated box flute type from B‐flute or BC‐flute to E‐flute reduces the unit‐load deflection by as much as 40%. Also, experimental data indicates that the effect of package size and corrugated board flute type on pallet deflection is the greatest for low stiffness pallets. The results provide information that can be used to design unit loads that use material more efficiently. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.