The Effect of the Stiffness of Unit Load Components on Pallet Deflection and Box Compression Strength
| dc.contributor.author | Phanthanousy, Samantha | en |
| dc.contributor.committeechair | Horvath, Laszlo | en |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Bouldin, John Conrad | en |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | White, Marshall S. | en |
| dc.contributor.department | Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation | en |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2018-12-01T07:01:11Z | en |
| dc.date.available | 2018-12-01T07:01:11Z | en |
| dc.date.issued | 2017-06-08 | en |
| dc.description.abstract | Currently, pallets are designed assuming that the load is distributed evenly on the top of the pallet. When pallets are loaded with packages such as corrugated boxes or returnable plastic containers, due to their physical shape, packages, are not capable of deforming freely with the pallet and a bridging phenomenon occurs. During this load bridging phenomenon, a portion of the vertical forces are redistributed as horizontal forces which causes the redistribution of the vertical compression stresses on the pallet towards the support. As a result, the deflection of the pallet can decrease and the load capacity of the pallet can increase significantly. The second chapter of this paper investigates the effect of package content on pallet deflection. The study concluded that package content did not have a significant effect on pallet deflection within the boundary conditions of the experiment. The third part of this paper considers how a specific pallet characteristic could affect the way a corrugated box performs. Standard box design procedures include adjustments of estimated compression strength for relative humidity, overhang on pallets, vibration, and alignment of boxes. However, there is no adjustment factor for pallet stiffness. The objective of the study described in this thesis is to find an answer for how the compression strength of a box is affected by pallet stiffness and top deckboard twist. The study concluded that the pallet stiffness and top deckboard twist do not have an effect on the compression strength of the box until less than 12% of the area box is supported. | en |
| dc.description.abstractgeneral | Within the United States alone, there are more than 2 billion pallets in service daily. These pallets transport and store a wide variety of products. There are many factors that could effect the performance of a pallet, and it is still unknown which design factors and possible package interactions will or will not effect pallet performance. The first objective of this thesis is to investigate the effect of package content on pallet deflection. The study concludes that the package content does not have an effect on pallet deflection. With about 1300 manufacturing plants that produce corrugated in the Unites States and Canada, the industry alone provides $26 billion to economies. Corrugated paperboard boxes are used daily for distribution and packaging, allowing products to easily and safely travel the globe. A majority of the time, these boxes are transported and stored on wooden pallets. Currently, there is no safety factor for box design that takes pallet stiffness into consideration. The second objective of this thesis is to investigate the effect of top deckboard twist on box compression strength. The results from the study concluded that the pallet stiffness and top deckboard twist do not have an effect on the compression strength of the box until less than 12% of the area box is supported. | en |
| dc.description.degree | Master of Science | en |
| dc.format.medium | ETD | en |
| dc.identifier.other | vt_gsexam:11844 | en |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10919/86203 | en |
| dc.publisher | Virginia Tech | en |
| dc.rights | In Copyright | en |
| dc.rights.uri | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ | en |
| dc.subject | Packaging | en |
| dc.subject | Pallet | en |
| dc.subject | Corrugated Box | en |
| dc.subject | Load bridging | en |
| dc.title | The Effect of the Stiffness of Unit Load Components on Pallet Deflection and Box Compression Strength | en |
| dc.type | Thesis | en |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Forest Products | en |
| thesis.degree.grantor | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | en |
| thesis.degree.level | masters | en |
| thesis.degree.name | Master of Science | en |