DOCUMENTATION

FREE FALL DROP TEST AND FOAM COMPRESSION TEST

Documented by Place and Date

: Umi Amalia Sholikha : Tettnang, November 30th 2010

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page COVER TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF PICTURES ABSTRACT 1. DEFINITION OF TERMS 2. REVIEW OF FREE FALL TEST DESIGN 2.1 CUSHION 2.2 ACCELEROMETER 2.3 DATA COLLECTING METHOD 2.4 FOAM COMPRESSION TEST 3. DATA AND ANALYSIS 3.1 THEORETICAL CONSIDERATION 3.1.1 Mechanical System Representation 3.1.2 Analysis of Wave Shaped Produced at Impact 3.1.3 Acceleration, Velocity, and Displacement 3.1.4 Coefficient of Restitution (CoR) 3.1.5 Foam Cushion Compression 3.2 EXPERIMENTAL DATA 3.2.1 Wave Shape Analysis 3.2.2 Flexibility of Material 3.2.3 Displacement of Cushion 3.2.4 Foam Cushion Compression 4. CONCLUSIONS 4.1 LOADING OF CUSHION 4.2 FLEXIBILITY OF CUSHION 4.3 MAXIMUM OF DISPLACEMENT 4.4 STATIC STRESS OF CUSHION 4.5 DATA ERROR POSSIBILITIES 4.6 RECOMMENDATIONS BIBLIOGRAPHY
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i ii iii iv 1 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 6 7 7 9 10 11 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 v

TABLE OF PICTURES

Picture 2.1 Picture 2.2 Picture 2.3 Picture 3.1 Picture 3.2 Picture 3.3 Picture 3.4 Picture 3.5 Picture 3.6 Picture 3.7 Picture 3.8 Picture 3.9

Test Setting Illustration Illustration of The Fall Drop Test Illustration of Foam Compression Test Ideal Mechanical System Represent a Fall Drop Package Wave Shape due to Loading of Cushion Foam Compression Test Graph of Acceleration Type A Graph Acceleration Type B Graph of Acceleration type C Graph of Acceleration type D Table of Velocity from Integration of Acceleration CoR Value of Material With Different Settings

Page 2 2 3 4 4 6 7 7 8 8 9 9 10 10 11 11 11 12 12

Picture 3.10 Curve of Average Displacement Value for Each Types of Test Picture 3.11 Table of Maximum Displacement Picture 3.12 The Result of Foam Cushion Compression Test Picture 3.13 Foam Strain Curve Picture 3.14 Static Stress-Strain Curve Picture 4.1 Picture 4.2 Result of Fall Drop Test The Static Stress-Strain Curve

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ABSTRACT

This paper discusses some of the issues involved with the fall drop test on packaging of Wenglor Safety Curtain Sensor. Issues related to impact or shock are specifically addressed. The purpose of this paper is to give result of the following test and assist those who test protective packages. Many elements go into a package system, some of which have a large effect on the ability of the package to do its job. The test procedures used to verify package performance can likewise have a substantial effect on the outcome and the eventual determination of passing or failing a particular package design. Suggestions are offered for data collection techniques and for analyzing the response waveforms to determine the best way to improve package impact performance.

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1. DEFINITION OF TERMS
Cushion is a material, as distinguished from a built-up device, used as to absorb the energy of shock and vibration through a gradual but increasing resistance to the movement of the item. Displacement is a measure of distance typically in millimeters. It is the integral of velocity with respect to time. Velocity is the rate at which displacement changes. It is a vector quantity having both magnitude and direction. It is measured in meters per second. It is the integral of acceleration and the differential of displacement with respect to time. Acceleration is the rate at which velocity changes. It is generally defined as a percentage of the earth's gravitational constant at sea level (g = 9.8 m/sec). Acceleration is the differential of velocity with respect to time. Deceleration is negative acceleration. The two terms are often used interchangeably, although acceleration properly refers to an increasing rate of velocity change and deceleration as a decreasing rate of velocity change. Accelerometer is a device that measures proper acceleration, the acceleration experienced relative to fall drop. Single and multi-axis models are available to detect magnitude and direction of the acceleration as a vector quantity, and can be used to sense orientation, acceleration, vibration shock, and falling. Coefficient of Restitution is a fractional value representing the ratio of velocities after and before an impact. Force is a push or pull that can cause an object with mass to change its velocity to accelerate which can cause a flexible object to deform. It is measured Newton. Stress is a measure of the average force per unit area of a surface within the body on which internal forces act. The unit stress is Pascal (Pa). Strain is the amount of deformation when an external force is applied to a material, compared to the initial thickness.

2. REVIEW OF FREE FALL TEST DESIGN

The test is design to result the effect of different setting of thicknesses and widths in a cushion to the acceleration, velocity, and displacement, when it is vertically dropped to a floor. There will be an accelerometer that measure the vector displacement value reached. 2.1 CUSHION The cuhion material is a foam. Thus there are thicknesses and widths that are subjected to see the impact on the displacement value. The thickness given are 15 mm and 30 mm and widths are 50 mm and 80 mm. acceleration for each experiment. Later on the acceleration will be calculated with double intergral until the

ne ick th

ss

Width
Picture 2.1 Test Setting Illustration

So there are 4 types that possible to be done, which are: Thickness 15 mm and width 50 mm Thickness 30 mm and width 50 mm Thickness 15 mm and width 80 mm Thickness 30 mm and width 80 mm

The cushions are placed in equally 6 different places along the sensor (length is 195 cm).

Picture 2.2 Illustration of The Fall Drop Test 2

2.2 ACCELEROMETER The position of the accelerometer is located in the top edge of the sensor to determine the amount of shock mostly transmitted to the cushion. It is also important to tie down the accelerometer to restrict as many errors as possible. The accelerometer that iis used n this experiment has output characteristic of 8mV/g and it can measures 300 g. Connect the output of the accelerometer to oscilloscope to see respond of the test. 2.3 DATA COLLECTING METHOD Each test of each thickness and width held three times. The average value of each test typetaken to better diffentiate and conclude. Data is taken quantitatively then processed mathematically by integration of acceleration value to result in displacement. Data also will be analyzed in accordance with the theoretical reference to get conclusions and suggestions. 2.4 FOAM COMPRESSION TEST The foam compression test performed to get information about the static stress-strain characteristic of the foam material. This is done by applying some Force to the foam cushion and see how many the deformation is. In this test force given varies from 0 Newton to 600 Newton. The Material used has area of 50 mm x 155 mm. The illustration below show a tool that can hidraulically gives force to a material. There is also a load capsule that measures (in Newton) how big the force is.

Picture 2.3 Illustration of Foam Compression Test 3

3. DATA AND ANALYSIS

3.1 THEORETICAL CONSIDERATION 3.1.1 Mechanical System Representation It is important to determine the relative displacement of an item within a package. If the displacement is large enough to allow contact between product and the package, the cushion is no longer effective and effective shocks may be transmitted to the product.
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The acceleration versus time pulse received by the item is recorded using accelerometer. Recorded data are analyzed to determine the shock. The figure below show the ideal mechanical system representing the test.

Picture 3.1 Ideal Mechanical System Represent a Fall Drop Package. (1) The fall drop height condition. (2) The condition of package with diplacement in cushion

3.1.2 Analysis of Wave Shaped Produced at Impact During a cushion curve test, the waveforms change drastically as the loading on the cushion increases. In general, the rise time of a shock response pulse (the time from on of until peak acceleration) should be until of total pulse duration. If the rise time is shorter than this, it generally indicates that the cushion is too stiff or the loading too light. If the rise time is greater than of pulse duration, this generally indicates that the material is too flexible or is overloaded.
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Picture 3.2 Wave Shape due to Loading of Cushion 4 1 Departement of Defense Handbook: Package Cushioning Design [4], Page 33 2 Schuenemann [2], Page 18-19

3.1.3 Acceleration, Velocity, and Displacement Acceleration (a), velocity (v), and displacement (s) can be obtained by using a mathematichal solution of differential and integral when one of the varible known 3. As the value known from the test, so we can get the displacement value. Generally based on the Newton II law, can be described that V = at Formula 2.1

Relating velocity to acceleration, acceleration is defined by the derivative a t = dv dt Formula 2.2

we can apply the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus to write this relationship in the formula v t 2 = a t 2 v t 1 with: v(t1) = velocity at time t1 v(t2) = velocity at time t2 The velocity related to displacement is defined by the derivative v t = ds dt Formula 2.4 Formula 2.3

By the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus,

s t 2 = v t 2 st 1
1 s t 2 = at 2vt 2s t 1 2 2 with: s(t1) = displacement at time t1 s(t2) = displacement at time t2 3.1.4 Coefficient of Restitution (CoR)

Formula 2.5 Formula 2.6

Each cushion has a Coefficient of Restitution (CoR) can be calculated with valur of displacement before and after impact. CoR itselfs has value between 0 and 1. CoR = with: Vr Vi Formula 2.7

Vr is scalar of Velocity rebound (m/s) Vi is scalar of Velocity impact (m/s)

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3 Departement of Mathematics University of British Colombia [1], Page 1

When the CoR is high means that the cushion able to store energy and return it or simply called elastic. In opposite when CoR is low means the cushion is deformed and disspated or in other word is inelastic. The high CoR will result in better durability of the cushion means also that it will protect well. 3.1.5 Foam Cushion Compression The case study deals with elastic structures in compression. First, we revise some simple mechanics concepts. Consider first a compressive test on a block of foam.

Picture 3.3 Foam Compression Test

We will treat the foam block as a structure that resists loads. The compressive stiffness kC of a foam structure is defined as the ratio of the compressive force to the deformation at the point of loading (assuming that another part of the structure does not move).4 kC = with: F x F = Force (Newton) x = deformation (m) Since the stress and strain are uniform in the foam, we can scale the Force vs deformation graph, so that it can be used more widely, using Stress = Strain = with: F A x H Formula 2.9 Formula 2.10 Formula 2.8

A = Area (m) H = foam thickness before compression (m)

This will mean changing the scales so that Force F (N) becomes Stress (Pa) and Deformation x (m) becomes strain

6 4 Departement of Metallurgy and Materials of University of Birmingham [6], Page 2

3.2 EXPERIMENTAL DATA 3.2.1 Wave Shape Analysis By three times experiments these data can be recorded. The scale for each graph is shown in similar scale as comparison. The x axis is time in millisecond (ms) and the y axis is acceleration or decceleration in gravity (g). Notice that the maximum gravity that can be measured by the sensor is 300 g so there is a cut-off mesurement in + 300 g. This following graph shows the acceleration of test type a with 15 mm cushion thickness and 50 mm width. A1, A2, A3 shows how many experiments done.

Acceleration of Type A
400 300 200

gravity

100 0 -100 -200 -300 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

A1 A2 A3

millisecond

Picture 3.4 Graph of Acceleration Type A

All of the test of type A show that the rise time pulse is equally or of total duration pulse this means that the cushion is properly loaded. Type B is test with thickness 30 mm and width 50 mm and the result can be seen in graph below,

Acceleration of Type B
400 300 200

gravity

100 0 -100 -200 -300 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

B1 B2 B3

millisecond

Picture 3.5 Graph Acceleration Type B

In this graph we can analyze that the rise time pulse is more than of the total duration pulse this can be mean that the cushion is quite properly loaded.
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For graph type C the cushion thickness is 15 mm and with 80 mm and the next graph is type D with thickness 30 mm and width 80 mm.

Acceleration of Type C
400 300 200

gravity

100 0 -100 -200 -300 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

C1 C2 C3

millisecond

Picture 3.6 Graph of Acceleration Type C

Acceleration of type D
400 300 200

gravity

100 0 -100 -200 -300 -400 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

D1 D2 D3

millisecond

Picture 3.7 Graph of Acceleration Type D

Both Graph of Fall Drop Test type C and D shows that the rise time pulse is equally or of total duration pulse. So this cushion type is proper with the loading.

3.2.2 Flexibility of Material Flexibility of the material can be seen from the ratio of Coefficient of Restutition (CoR). CoR means the ratio between ratio of rebound velocity to the impact velocity. Thus from the integration of the acceleration we can determine the velocity of the fall drop test. The table below show the velocity value of the test. The velocity values should differs strongly due to the cut-off of the acceleration sensor. In principal the velocity should be same for every set up. From the table, the CoR ratio can be simply calculated by dividing the velocity impact to velocity rebound.
Velocity (m/s) time (s) 0 0,0005 0,0010 0,0015 0,0020 0,0025 0,0030 0,0035 0,0040 0,0045 0,0050 0,0055 0,0060 0,0065 0,0070 0,0075 0,0080 0,0085 A1 0 0,06 0,37 1,04 3,06 4,92 -3,38 Type A A2 0 0,31 1,1 3,68 5,21 -1,35 -1,41 -1,65 -1,23 A3 0 0,74 3,34 4,86 -2,12 -1,51 B1 0 0,18 0,67 1,35 2,33 3,92 5,92 7,5 9,08 -5,66 -4,99 -4,86 Type B B2 0 0 0,25 0,49 0,8 1,29 2,14 3,74 5,79 7,37 8,95 -5,05 -5,6 -4,99 B3 0 0,24 0,55 0,92 1,47 2,51 4,23 6,16 7,74 9,32 -6,52 -6,15 -6,15 -6,09 C1 0 0,12 0,43 2,08 4,32 5,9 -3,1 -2,85 -2,67 Type C C2 0 0,25 0,49 0,92 2,45 4,69 6,27 -2,85 -2,3 -2,12 C3 0 0,12 0,31 0,8 3,31 4,96 -1,59 -1,53 -1,1 D1 0 0,12 0,31 0,55 0,98 1,53 2,08 2,82 4,41 6,47 8,05 9,63 -5,23 -6,03 -6,15 -6,15 -5,97 Type D D2 0 0,12 0,31 0,55 0,98 1,53 2,08 3,06 4,78 6,71 8,29 9,87 -5,48 -5,9 -5,97 -6,09 -6,15 -6,21 D3 0 0,12 0,31 0,55 0,86 1,1 1,72 2,51 3,98 6,1 7,68 9,26 -4,74 -5,11 -5,05 -4,74 -4,68 -4,68

V Impact

V Rebound

Picture 3.8 Table of Velocity from Integration of Acceleration

the average CoR result for each type by three times experiments are:
Test Type Thickness (mm) Width (mm) A B C D 15 30 15 30 50 50 80 80
Velocity Rebound (m/s) Velocity Impact (m/s)

CoR (ratio) 0,46 0,63 0,44 0,54

2,28 5,74 2,51 5,15

4,96 9,11 5,71 9,58

Picture 3.9 CoR Value of Material With Different Settings

The higher CoR ratio is type B with the ratio 0,62. Type A and C which has same thickness of 15 mm have nearly same CoR of 0,45. Type D which has thickness of 30 mm and width of 80 mm has ratio of 0,53.
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3.2.3 Displacement of Cushion Intergral calculation is done to get the value of the displacement in the foam when the fall drop test done. Displacement value is calculated based on Formula 2.5 and Formula 2.6. This graph shown the average value of how the different type of tests impacted in the displacement (millimeter) per time (millisecond) on the cushion.

Average Displacement of Free Fall Drop Test

0,00 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

-5,00

milimeter

-10,00

Test A Test B Test C

-15,00

Test D

-20,00

-25,00

milisecond

Picture 3.10 Curve of Average Displacement Value for Each Types of Test

The curve shows that Type A has maximum displacement of 4,5 mm and for Type B the maximum displacement is 15 m. Type C has maximum diplacement value of 6,3 mm and the highest is the type D with maximum displacement of 20 mm. The table below shows in detail set for each type and the maximum displacement.
Test Type Thickness (mm) Width (mm) s max. (mm) A B C D 15 30 15 30 50 50 80 80 4,5 15 6,3 20

Picture 3.11 Table of Maximum Displacement

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3.2.4 Foam Cushion Compression Complying with relevant standards, the Foam Compression tester is used to evaluate a degree of firmness common either in the laboratory or on the production line. The response of foam depends on the geometry of the foam and the objects in contact with it. In this test as explain before we use a foam with width of 50 mm, length of 155 mm and thickness 15 mm. So the area is 7750 mm or 0,00775 m.
Force (N) 0 119,4 219,4 319,4 419,4 519,4 619,4 Area (m) 0,00775 0,00775 0,00775 0,00775 0,00775 0,00775 0,00775 Deformation (mm) 0 3 4 5 6 7 8 Stress (K Pa) 0 15,41 28,31 41,21 54,12 67,02 79,92 Strain 0 0,2 0,27 0,33 0,4 0,47 0,53

Picture 3.12 The Result of Foam Cushion Compression Test

Measurement of Foam Strain

700 600 500

Force (N)

400 300 200 100 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Deformation (mm)

Picture 3.13 Foam Strain Curve

If there is uniform compression of a rectangular foam block, its response can be calculated from the compressive stress-strain curve of the foam. Formula 2.9 and Formula 2.10 allow the force F and deformation x to be computed from the stress-strain data.

Static Stress-Strain Curve

90 80 70

Stress (KPa)

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 0 0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5 0,6

Strain

Picture 3.14 Static Stress-Strain Curve 11

4. CONCLUSIONS
The result of free fall drop tests and calculations can be conclude in the table below with details of test types thickness, width, average maximum displacement (s max), and average coefficient of restitution's ratio.
Test Type Thickness (mm) Width (mm) s max. (mm) A B C D 15 30 15 30 50 50 80 80 4,5 15 6,3 20 CoR ratio 0,46 0,63 0,44 0,54

Picture 4.1 Result of Fall Drop Test

The foam compression test shows that the stress-strain curve is non-linear curve this mean that at certain pressure the foam will not completely back at the previous shape. The stress-strain curve can be seen below

Static Stress-Strain Curve

90 80 70

Stress (KPa)

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 0 0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5 0,6

Strain

Picture 4.2 The Static Stress-Strain Curve

4.1 LOADING OF CUSHION From the qualitative analysis from the acceleration data can be known whether the material is too hard or too soft by the rise time, decay time, and the shape of the pulse. All of types of cushion show that the rise type pulses are or total duration pulse so it can be concluded that the foam is loaded with the sensor optimally. 4.2 FLEXIBILITY OF CUSHION The flexibility value is best shown by cushion type B with 0,62. Cushion type B has best ability to store and return energy from a shock or impact than other cushion types.
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Type A and C with same thickness of 15 mm has almost similar ratio of 0,44. Type D cushion the CoR ratio is 0,5. This value is higher than Type A and C while Type D has more volume than the other type, beside CoR of cushion Type B is better than type D. But cost is also another consideration because cushion cost based on volume. 4.3 MAXIMUM OF DISPLACEMENT Displacement graph show the value of the diplacement before and after impact are Type A = 4,5 mm Type B = 15 mm Type C = 6,3 mm Type D = 20 mm

4.4 STATIC STRESS OF CUSHION Non-linear relationships between stress and strain are usually convex upwards in compression (compressive stresses and strains are taken to be positive). The non-linearity occurs due to changes in the foam geometry at high strains. When the air in the foam has been compressed to zero volume, the foam becomes a solid, so the stress becomes very high. 4.5 DATA ERROR POSSIBILITIES 1. The sensor didn't bounce straight up because of uneven or cracked ground, which would have stopped the sensor from reaching its peak height. 2. When releasing the product, it rotates slightly and causing it to lose some of its translational energy which causes the product to not bounce as high as in theory. 3. Negative overshoot of the acceleration recording may occurs. As the overshoot increases, the error between the apparent peak acceleration and the actual peak acceleration increases. 4. Its better to pay attention to the total force in the compression test, including the mass of the force gauge. 4.5 RECOMMENDATIONS Its better to choose the cushion that has a higher ratio of flexibility so it will be safer for the product when shock happens to the product itself. The flexibility value is best shown by cushion type B with 0,62 and its smaller volume compared to type D. The staticstrain curve shows that the material is not a linear material, but as long as the cushion is not overloaded this material stress-strain characteristic is good enough to be used .
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BIBLIOGRAPHY

[1] Departement of Mathematics University of British Colombia. Acceleration, Velocity, and Position Retrived on November 22th, 2010 from the website: http://www.ugrad.math.ubc.ca/coursedoc/math101/notes/applications/velocity.html [2] Schueneman, Herbert. Elobelo, Mark. Package Drop Testing: The Do's and Dont's of Package Impact Performance Test Retrived on November 12 th, 2010 from the website: http://www.westpak.com/techpapers/04_package_drop_testing_dos_donts_of_pack age_impact.pdf [3] Schueneman, Herbert. Cushion Engineering, Design and Testing Retrived on Novmeber 22th, 2010 from the website: http://www.westpak.com/techpapers/09_cushion_engineering_design_testing.pdf [4] Departement of Defense United States of America. Departement of Defense Handbook: Package Cushioning Design Retrived on November 23 th, 2010 from the website: http://www.woodencrates.org/standards/MIL-HDBK-304.pdf [5] Wikipedia Coefficient of Restitution Retrived on November 24 th, 2010 from the website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coefficient_of_restitution [6] Departement of Metallurgy and Materials of Birmingham University. Polymer Foam Case Studies Retrived on November 24th, 2010 from the website: http://www.foamstudies.bham.ac.uk/index.htm