Finite element analysis of rib cushion positioning for expanded polystyrene packaging

The home appliance industry often chooses to use expanded polystyrene as a product packaging medium because of its rigidity as well as its undeniable effectiveness in protecting various products. However, the effectiveness of this type of packaging needs to be demonstrated through destructive testing such as side-clamping evaluation. Forklift clamping is a machine test applied to evaluate the packaging of flat screen televisions to ascertain if the model has potential risk. In addition, destructive testing evaluation will be repeatedly conducted until a solution is found. Indirectly, this method increases the working hours and development costs of television packaging. Thus, a cushion with a density of 20 kg/m3 and different rib cushion positions was analyzed to see the existing stress distribution and cushion deformation. The analysis was run using the ANSYS software. The results showed that the rib cushion combination design was the best according to the maximum stress values of 6.222 MPa and 4.056 MPa. All results are presented and discussed. In conclusion, the cushion performance was significantly influenced by the rib cushion positioning