Performance Testing and Design Improvement of Paper Pallet

• Main Author: Wicaksono, Adhi
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/40643
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Pallet made of paper is one of alternative of pallet that have been widely used in goods transportation and storage facilities. The main part of paper pallet is sandwich panel that consists of a honeycomb core and a liner made of solid paper. The advantages of paper pallets over the other kind pallets include light weight, environmentally friendly, and insect-resistant. ISPM No. 15 (2009) states that the wooden pallets used to transport products between countries should be fumigated, but paper pallet is exempted from this requirement. Besides the advantages, paper pallet have a drawback in the aspects of strength. In order to overcome that drawback, a study has ben conducted to determine the performance of paper pallet according to ASTM D1185 standard, and to obtain an optimum pallet design based on the pallet strength. Pallet design optimization is aimed at two targets, namely (1) to optimize the pallet mass, and (2) to design a pallet for 1000 kg load. The first target is achieved by optimizing the honeycomb cell dimensions (e.g. thickness and length) and the liner thickness based on pallet dimension standard (ISO 6780) using the theoretic model from Ashby and Gibson (1997). The second target is achieved by trials using finite element simulation. The pallet simulation model is validated based on the pallet sample testing results using ASTM D1185 test standard. The test results shows that paper pallet have a low deformation recovery. The results of honeycomb dimension optimization based on the value of deflection and mass for 47 mm honeycomb core height is 0.3 mm for the cell thickness, 7 mm for the cell length, and 0.8 mm for the liner thickness. The design optimization for 1000 kg pallet load with a safety factor of 1.5 resulting in a different base geometry compared to common pallet, also with thicker sandwich panel liner, which estimated to increase the pallet mass. Still, this design estimated to be lighter than wooden pallet, with mass differences for about 28%.