Numerical analysis for load-bearing capacity and cushioning performance of structural unit of molded pulp product

The overall load-bearing capacity and cushioning function of a molded pulp packaging result from those of structural units. For each structural unit, its geometrical shape and dimensions can be identified to determine the performance of molded pulp product. The commercial code ANSYS was employed in the present study due to its high performance in non-linear analysis. The non-linear buckling behavior of the structural unit can be studied by numerical simulation, resulting in the bucking critical load under compression, to be used to evaluate the load-bearing capacity of the structural unit. In addition to the analyzing on load-bearing capacity, numerical simulations of the structural units are carried out to evaluate the influence of the wall thickness under static compressive loading. The research shows that the wall thickness significantly influences the buckling bearing capacity of the structural unit subjected to axial compression. With the increase of wall thickness, the bearing capacity of the structural unit increases while cushioning performance decreases. So both load-bearing capacity and cushioning performance must be compromised in the design of molded pulp cushioning packaging, and the wall thickness can be selected according to the required packaging performance.