PKSC 4040: Mechanical properties of packages and principals of protective packaging

In PKSC 4040, also known as Mechanical Properties of Packages and Principles of Protective Packaging, this course covers the mechanical properties of products and packages and standard methods of determining these properties. While it also focuses on the functional properties of packages related to shock, vibration isolation, and compression. I took this course in the fall of 2020, so unfortunately due to COVID-19 the in-person class option was not always available so I had to attend the class virtually. At first this was bit of an obstacle because trying to learn about the physics of packaging systems can be challenging when you are not in the same room as your professor as he is trying to demonstrate these properties. While Dr. Batt did try his best through his webcam, it was still not the same as being in a classroom. While it may have been unfortunate we could not have done in-person classes, I still had to ensure I tried my hardest in this course. As an avid mathematics and physics fan, the course material was extremely enjoyable as I was able to see how physics calculations are taken into account when designing a protective packaged system. Like PKSC 2200 and 3200, this class further dove in packaging design and showed me the extent of attention, detail, and calculations that go into creating a protective packaging system, and not just a general package.

It was also in this class where we learned about the full scope of the protective package design process and everything involved within it. Regarding the protective packaging design process, the first step is to understand and see the environment and conditions that your packaged good is going to go through all the way from production to arriving at the consumer's location. There are several conditions that must be considered when designing a protective package such as; what is the product's critical acceleration, how will this product travel from point A to point B, does this product require any special storage arrangements. These are just a few questions regarding transit, when it comes to palletizing your package, there are new questions that come up such as; what is the relative humidity it is stored at, are there pallet gaps, is there any overhang, how long is it in storage/transit and the number of packages layer. Not to mention there is also having to know what a box's compressive strength is versus its stacking strength. Through laboratory testing, like at Clemson's on-campus packaging laboratory, we are able to get an idea of how these protective packages will perform through simulated testing. Overall, there are numerous variables and parameters that must be first defined before you are able to successfully design a protective package system.