This paper presents a comprehensive review of optimization practices in the corrugated board industry, which has recently experienced significant interest in using optimization methodologies driven by sustainable demands and increasing computational capabilities. The authors cover different review perspectives, including historical context, manufacturing applications, design optimization, and numerical optimization algorithms used. The main findings of this study indicate that the corrugated board industry has experienced a shift from trial-and-error and expert-driven approaches to data-centric strategies, particularly since the beginning of the 21st century. Interestingly, the industry has also adopted Multi-Disciplinary Optimization techniques from other fields, which demonstrates the importance of knowledge convergence across sectors. However, due to the complex nature of corrugated boards—including materials, design, and manufacturing processes—there is still much research to be done in this area. This work provides guidance for future research directions and encourages innovation and improvement in corrugated board optimization practices. In particular, the strong developments of material models for paper in recent years will boost the use of optimization tools in this field.

This paper proposes a novel approach to represent the geometry of the corrugated board profile during compression using graphs. Graphs are lighter than images, and the computational time of compression analysis is then significantly reduced compared to using the original image data for the same analysis. The main goal of using such graphs is to gain more knowledge about the mechanical behavior of corrugated boards under compression compared to the current load–deformation curve approach. A node tracking algorithm is applied to characterize the different phases occurring during the compression test in order to predict physical phenomena, including buckling and contact. The main results show that analyzing the nodes provides significant insights into the compression phases, which has not been achieved in the current state of the art. The authors believe that the objective of this research is crucial to better understanding the physics of corrugated boards under compression, and it can also be extended to other engineering structures.

This paper proposes a novel approach to represent the geometry of the corrugated board profile during compression by using graphs. Graphs are lighter than images, and the computational time of compression analysis is then significantly reduced compared to using the original image data for the same analysis. The main goal of using such graphs is to gain more knowledge about the mechanical behavior of corrugated boards under compression compared to the current load-deformation curve approach. A node-tracking algorithm is applied to characterize the different phases happening during the compression test in order to predict physical phenomena, including buckling and contact. The main results show that analyzing the nodes provides significant insights into the compression phases, which was not achieved in the current state-of-the-art. The authors believe the object of this research is crucial to better understand the physics of corrugated boards under compression, and it can also be extended to other engineering structures.

This study presents a simplified FEM modeling approach suitable for large structures made of corrugated boards, such as customized packages, based on a homogenization method, which is combined with correction factors for internal mechanisms. The homogenization process reduces computational time by transforming flute geometries into equivalent elastic models. In large deformations and in the presence of contact for a given geometry, the effective elastic modulus in the thickness direction, as well as the effective thickness of the structure, are corrected by two statistical Weibull distributions representing the contact and buckling mechanisms in a corrugated board. The Weibull parameters are obtained via experimental analysis, and such a process is then validated. The results demonstrate that the statistical parameters ($β_1 = 0.14$, $β_2 = 1.31$) can be used for the simplistic representation of corrugated boards, being computationally efficient. This research contributes to the optimization of corrugated packaging design, specifically by simplifying FEM models for faster yet equally accurate simulations.

Humankind is known to be curious and inquisitive. Even if the code were lost, future individuals would be eager to find out what kind of message a printed paper offers. This was already the case when hieroglyphs were deciphered. Printed paper does not need additional equipment to be recognized as a data carrier. Therefore, paper as an analogue data store medium provides an interesting redundancy to deliver important information to future generations. The presentation deals with topics of age resistance of paper and inks as well as recommendations of how to empower printed or written paper to be a long-term data store. Different ageing conditions, different inks, different printing processes, and different fibre sources reveal the opportunities and threats. Data obtained during a 2-year-long project together with BASE (Bundesamt für die Sicherheit der nuklearen Entsorgung – Federal Authority for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management) on the long-term stability of paper (Langzeitbeständigkeit von Papier – Labest Papier) emphasize the feasibility (Arbeitsstandberichte AP1–AP3 (literature, typical damage, recommendations), unpublished data). The ageing mechanisms of paper are known, as are countermeasures. This leads to standards and recommendations for the use of paper for documents. ISO 9706 (1994) is the main proponent of the direction that longevity can be ensured solely via the composition of the paper and the initial situation at the beginning of ageing. DIN 6738 (2007), on the other hand, takes as its basis the approach of assessing the physical ageing of the paper based on artificial ageing and the strength losses observed in the process. Other standards vary the approaches somewhat or mix them in part, for which the lecture presents a comparison table. The usability of a document depends on two essential factors. Firstly, the residual strength after an ageing process must be high enough for the document to be usable. Secondly, the information written on it must still be legible or at least recognizable (ISO 11798, 2023). However, although certain fibre resources that are recommended by different standards dealing with the long-term storage of documents as well as some fibre sources are denied, we must consider that all fibre sources undergo an ageing process. Different combinations of fibre and ink will lead to different results after natural or artificial ageing. This does not necessarily mean that only the best combination is able to fulfil the requirements related to transport information to an address in the far future. Albeit less strong or with higher optical changes, even by current standards, a rejected fibre source may nevertheless be able to keep the printed information over a long period of time. Paper has been a proven reliable information carrier for approx. 1000 years as the oldest known paper document archived in Palermo is from 1109 CE. It is reasonable to expect a reliability for many more years because the “Ebers” papyrus (worldwide longest, complete, and best-preserved papyrus scroll) stored at the University of Leipzig is already 3500 years old. Compared to modern information storage media such as digital media or microfilm, paper also has the advantage of a long migration time and that no reading or decoding device is necessary. Taking this into account, paper documents are predestined to play a major role in record, knowledge, and memory (RK&M) strategies, as described by Pescatore and Palm (2023). Finally, it remains to say that there can never be an intactness in the sense of being completely untouched. Paper, however, is a material consisting of natural polymers that prove their longevity in the world's oldest tree, a 9500-year-old spruce in Sweden.

In the project “Labest Papier – Langzeitbeständigkeit von Papier” (Labest Paper – Long-term durability of paper), the suitability of paper to serve as a permanently undamaged information carrier for at least 500 years is to be assessed by the Department of Paper Manufacturing and Mechanical Process Engineering (PMV) for the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Disposal (BASE). The ageing mechanisms of paper are known, as are countermeasures. This leads to standards and recommendations for the use of paper for documents. DIN EN ISO 9706 (2010) is the main proponent of the direction that longevity can be ensured solely via the composition of the paper and the initial situation at the beginning of ageing. DIN 6738 (2007), on the other hand, takes as its basis the approach of assessing the physical ageing of the paper based on artificial ageing and the strength losses observed in the process. Other standards vary the approaches somewhat or mix them in part, for which the lecture presents a comparison table. The usability of a document depends on two essential factors. Firstly, the residual strength after an ageing process must be high enough for the document to be usable. Secondly, the information written on it must still be legible or at least recognisable. The limits of the possibilities for dealing with damage that has already occurred are almost only set by complete destruction. Otherwise, forensic means can restore the information in a document, at least in part, with the appropriate investment of time and money. The lecture provides examples, such as the reprocessing of shredded Stasi files. Even the loss of knowledge of writing and language need not be a final obstacle, as the decipherment of hieroglyphics proves. The costs of measures to deal with damage depend individually on the condition of the documents and on the objectives in dealing with the damage. Prevention is an effective means of avoiding damage and costs in the first place. Paper is an information carrier well known for over 2000 years and has already proven its suitability for storing long-term information. Despite the fact that an intactness in the sense of being completely untouched is never given, paper has the advantage of a long migration time and that no reading or decoding device is necessary compared to modern information storage media, such as digital media or microfilm. Which grade of paper will ultimately meet the demands, however, depends on the overall consideration of the availability of the grade, the expected damage and the possibilities and costs of handling it. There is still a need for research, especially with respect to the assessment of the effect of printing inks and auxiliaries used in paper production on the longevity as well as the classification of recycled paper. An extensive measurement program is investigating this during the current project. After the project is accomplished, BASE will be able to decide in which way the already existing types of papers including marking can be preserved for as long as necessary and how the state-of-the-art optimised system “paper ink” must be prepared to ensure long-term durability. The paper is based on two working stage reports, AP1 (Schaffrath, 2020) and AP2 (Schaffrath, 2021).