A variety of applications use flexible film for shipping solid granular materials. The film/packages must have sufficient toughness and/or strength to endure impact during shipping and handling. Package performance is commonly evaluated using a drop test typically from a certain height specified by ASTM and/or ISTA standards. One limitation of the drop test is that it can only qualitatively determine whether a package will survive. In order to better understand impact type loading which can lead to package failure, more quantitative information such as stresses/strains developed during the drop tests is required. We have developed a model to simulate drop tests of a flexible package containing solid particles. The model utilized some of the capabilities available in Abaqus software package1 , such as Abaqus/Explicit, Finite Element Method (FEM), and Discrete Element Method (DEM) to capture the interaction between the flexible package and a large amount of solid particles inside. Preliminary results compare well with drop tests carried out in our laboratory.
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