Modeling of global and local buckling of corrugated board panels loaded in edge-to-edge compression

Detailed structural nonlinear finite element modeling of a sandwich panel with corrugated core is performed in this study. A simply supported panel is loaded in uniaxial compression well into the regimes of global panel buckling and local face sheet buckling. The highly nonlinear load versus in-plane and out-of-plane displacement responses obtained from finite element analysis agree reasonably well with experimental results, but the model slightly overpredicts the maximum load. The difference between experiments and predictions is attributed to damage of the corrugated paper web introduced during manufacture of the core and corrugated board. Computations of the buckling also results in a slight thickness reduction of the panel for a large range of face and web thicknesses identify lower thickness limits when the web loses its ability to contribute to the compressive strength of the panel. The highly nonlinear response associated with local and global buckling also results in thickness reduction of the panel.