Package Design Guide

	Package Design Guide Steps Determine Product Fragility Determine Conditions Calculate Cushion Requirements Recognizing Design Constraints Design Prototypes and Test Consider Vibration Effects Monitor Performance

STEP FIVE: Design Prototypes and Test

Certainly no specific recommendations can be made about how to fabricate and position the foam on or around a particular product. Each packaging design must be developed separately, given the large number of variables involved.

The functional foam determinations made in conjunction with dynamic cushioning curves of ETHAFOAM* products, does not account for any protective contribution made by an outer container. It also does not account for effects such as shear and friction within the container, all of which may enhance the performance of the design to lower shock levels than those indicated by dynamic cushioning curves.

For this reason, it is highly recommended that you build and test a prototype of your cushion design to determine its actual performance. In many cases you will find that its performance exceeds your needs and, based on prototype testing, you can cut back on the amount of ETHAFOAM in the pack even further for an even more economical pack design. Any such modified designs should also then be tested to verify their performance.

Performance testing of prototype packages designed with ETHAFOAM polyethylene foam products is one of the services available from our research center. For more information, contact our technical staff at (800) 441-4369, or your local Dow-authorized fabricator.