Packaging Drop-Test CAE Analysis and Topology-Optimized Design ｜Radioss

 Software used : Radioss / OptiStruct

【 Background 】

      The purpose of packaging materials is to protect the product and prevent it from being affected by impacts, compression, vibration, and other external forces, so as to ensure that the product remains intact during transportation, storage, and sales. Therefore, packaging drop simulations must be performed, using CAE analysis to check whether the packaging design can adequately protect the product.
      In recent years, with rising awareness of environmental protection and plastic reduction, eco-friendly materials have gradually replaced traditional packaging designs, which makes CAE simulations even more important for predicting results and feeding back into design. In this project, the client hoped to use CAE simulation to predict the cushioning and protection capability of the packaging design, and further apply optimization to find better design solutions.

【 Results 】

• Using Radioss to simulate packaging dropped from different heights and orientations, allowing early prediction of cushioning performance and ensuring that the product remains undamaged under impact loads.

• Using the ELSM equivalent static load method, and through coupled simulations with Radioss and OptiStruct to perform topology optimization analysis for packaging drop tests, providing the client with improved design proposals.

• By conducting optimization under the condition that impact requirements are satisfied, the final design can reduce packaging volume by approximately 5–10% compared to the original design.

  
   

Packaging drop CAE analysis and topology optimization design

【 Technical Features 】 

•     Radioss provides dozens of material constitutive models, including low-density foam, honeycomb materials, and hyperelastic materials. With appropriate material models, it can simulate packaging materials such as PU, EPP, EPS, corrugated paper, and rubber.

•     Using Radioss exclusive RADOPT optimization capability, the dynamic drop process is converted via the ELSM equivalent static load method and transferred to OptiStruct for topology optimization. This type of optimization analysis under dynamic loading is an automated workflow, where equivalent forces from dynamic calculations are converted into static loading and topology optimization, and the entire iterative optimization cycle is automatically executed by Radioss and OptiStruct .

  
   

  

  Optimization analysis for impact problems – ELSM equivalent static load method

  
   

  Further reading: Drop/impact analysis of electronic products｜Radioss