In the transportation and distribution of goods, cardboard boxes are often subjected to mechanical impacts such as shocks and random vibrations, which can cause damage to the goods. In this study, static and dynamic tests on cardboard boxes were designed and conducted to determine the compression strength, natural frequencies, and modal characteristics of the boxes. A finite element model of cardboard boxes considering the in-plane orthotropic elastic–plastic behavior of the cardboard was implemented in the Abaqus software through a VUMAT subroutine to perform numerical simulations under compression and random vibrations. The parameters of the model were determined through an inverse identification process. As a first result, the predicted force–displacement curves show good agreement with the measured curves. Furthermore, the power spectral density (PSD) response of the mass/box system under random vibrations obtained through numerical simulations is consistent with the responses obtained from experimental measurements.

In the context of global sustainable development, using natural fibers as reinforcement for composites have become increasingly attractive due to their lightweight, abundant availability, renewability, and comparable specific properties to conventional fibers. This paper investigates the tensile properties of a sycamore bark fiber-reinforced composite. The tensile tests using digital image correlation showed that, by adding 18% by volume of sycamore bark for the polyester matrix, the tensile modulus achieves 4788.4 ± 940.1 MPa. Moreover, the tensile strength of the polyester resin increased by approximately 90% when reinforced with sycamore bark fiber, achieving a tensile strength of 64.5 ± 13.4 MPa. These mechanical properties are determined by the way loads are transferred between the polyester matrix and fibers and by the strength of the bond between the fiber-matrix interfaces. Since it is difficult and time consuming to characterize the mechanical properties of natural fibers, an alternative approach was proposed in this study. The method consists of the identification of the fiber elastic modulus using a finite element analysis approach, based on tensile tests conducted on the sycamore bark fiber-reinforced composites. The model correctly describes the overall composite behavior, a good agreement is found between the experimental, and the finite element predicted stress–strain curves. The identified sycamore bark fiber elastic modulus is 17,763 ± 6051 MPa. These results show that sycamore bark fibers can be used as reinforcements to produce composite materials.

In the transportation and distribution of goods, cardboard boxes are often subjected to mechanical impacts such as shocks and random vibrations, which can cause damage to the goods. Many studies have focused on the durability of corrugated cardboard boxes. However, there is very limited research on compact cardboard boxes, especially in the case of exposure to random vibrations. In this study, static and dynamic tests on cardboard boxes were designed and conducted to determine compression strength, natural frequencies, and modal characteristics of the boxes. Subsequently, a finite element model of cardboard boxes taking into account the effects of the box manufacturing process on the mechanical properties of the cardboard, was developed to perform numerical simulations under compression and random vibrations. In this context, the in-plane orthotropic elastic-plastic behavior model of rigid cardboard was implemented in the Abaqus software through a VUMAT subroutine. Additionally, the parameters of the model were determined through an inverse identification process. Finally, numerical simulations of compression and random vibration tests were carried out to validate the experimental results. The comparison results show that the power spectral density (PSD) response of the mass/box system under random vibrations obtained through numerical simulations is consistent with the responses obtained from experimental measurements. Furthermore, the predicted force-displacement curves demonstrate good agreement with the measured curves.