Creep behaviour of day-old chicken corrugated paperboard packaging under different uniaxial compression loads-An experimental study

One of the most important elements for animal transportation is the packaging that ensures the safety and health of the transit. During the transport of live small animals, such as day-old chickens, the animals may only stay in the boxes for a very limited period, in this case, 48 h. Therefore, it is important to be able to model the strength behaviour of these boxes concerning packaging material requirements and sustainability. The aim of this study was to determine the short- and relatively long-term strength of day-old chicken packages to better estimate packaging design and to use these data to establish an analytical creep model with suitable parameters that adequately approximate the measured data. Two types of packages were tested, and two types of creep models were used to model the creep strain-time graphs. The creep behaviour of the two samples was tested at four different uniaxial load cases, with consistent environmental conditions during the tests (23 degrees C and 50% relative humidity [RH]). At the two highest loads, both samples failed before the 48-h cycle, indicating a significant difference in box strength between short-term and long-term load tests. The secondary creep strain rate increases with the magnitude of the compressive load. When comparing the two creep models for both box types, the Power law provided the best accuracy at the 50% of box compression test (BCT) load case, while at the other three load cases, the Andrade law showed better predictions. Live animal transport packaging materials must meet many parameters, to ensure that animals receive adequate air, light and temperature during transport. These can be provided by ventilation holes cut into the boxes, which also affect the strength of the packages. This paper presents the experimental results on the short-term and long-term strength of day-old chicken packages to better estimate packaging design and to use these data to establish an analytical creep model.image