Influence of humidity and temperature on mechanical properties of corrugated board - Numerical investigation

Paper is a material whose mechanical properties are highly dependent on humidity and temperature, naturally building the relationship between the stiffness and strength of corrugated board and changing weather conditions. In this paper, attention is focused on the dependence of the physical properties of the cardboard on changes in humidity and temperature, which undergo dynamic fluctuations both during the production of corrugated board and during its storage. Two techniques were used to test this effect, namely numerical homogenization and global sensitivity analysis. Both methods were implemented to determine the theoretical relationships between the change in humidity and/or temperature in each layer of corrugated board and its global bending, compression, and shear stiffness. The procedure was used to analyze different types of 5-ply and 3-ply cardboard. The obtained results allowed the authors to build a complete map of the relationship between the change in humidity of selected layers and the strength characteristics of the full assembly.