Development of a test methodology for measuring the bonding performance of corrugated cardboard boxes

This study presents a novel testing device developed to quantitatively determine the adhesion performance of the lateral inner and outer surfaces of corrugated cardboard boxes joined with adhesive. A key objective of this study is to accurately measure the adhesion performance of corrugated cardboard boxes. Currently, adhesion strength is qualitatively assessed by manually separating the box edges and visually inspecting the fibers remaining on the surface. Within the industry, there is no specialized device that directly applies force to the lateral areas for measurement; instead, compression testing machines are commonly used. However, this method can damage the box's integrity and fails to perform tests suitable for its load-bearing characteristics. The developed device is designed to quantitatively measure the adhesion durability of boxes, also considering the characteristics of the adhesive used and the paper's impact on adhesion performance. The acquisition of numerical data enables both the optimization of adhesion parameters and a more reliable and efficient determination of adhesive performance. Furthermore, this device will facilitate the identification of how the surface properties of papers used during box production affect adhesion performance, particularly through the adhesive's penetration mechanism into the paper.