Free fall standard in small transport packages

Importance of free fall test for small transport packages

In general, drop is the most direct and cruel factor of all transport risk factors, and also a key factor leading to product damage and failure. Therefore, small transport packages are evaluated for their strength properties by a free fall test.

Product failures that are prone to occur after a free fall test include. For the product, the loss or change in performance is unacceptable, but depending on the purpose of use, in some cases, in order to reduce costs, deformation or breakage of the appearance is allowed. This requires determining whether the phenomena occurring in the free fall test are within an acceptable range based on actual demand.

Requirements for different standards for free fall test of small transport packages

At present, the test standards for corrugated carton transport packages commonly used in the industry are:

1.GB/T 4857.18-1992 standard

The GB/T 4857.5-1992 standard specifies the free fall test method. The GB/T 4857.18-1992 standard divides the drop height according to the weight of the package, but the standard does not specify the specific drop position and drop number.

2. ASTM D 4169-2008 standard

The ASTM D 4169-2008 standard also divides the drop height according to the weight of the package and is divided into three levels according to the quality of the circulation environment. The test intensity is one level lower than the standard of GB/T 4857.18-1992, and the drop position and the number of drops are specified in detail, which is very convenient for the tester to perform the test.

3.ISTA standard

The ISTA standard also divides the drop height based on the weight of the package. If the drop tester is inconvenient to operate, the ISTA standard allows the use of a side impact test instead of the simulated free fall test.

Scientifically and rationally designing and conducting free fall tests is a good way to test whether a small transport package is effective. Enterprises should recognize the importance of free fall testing for their product protection, and select or develop test strengths suitable for the logistics environment of the enterprise to achieve the purpose of optimizing packaging design , saving packaging costs and ensuring the safety of transportation packages.

(From " Printing Technology Packaging, Decoration Printing" May 2012)