Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/1511664
PalletCentral • November-December 2023 33 Over 400 pails in an array of grades and sizes were tested. is generated a mass of data that will be valuable to researchers and the pail industry in addition to being essential to sufficiently validate our analysis models for PDS. "One of the most difficult parts of the pail research project has been the fact that pails behave differently in just about every support condition," Paz Alvarez related. "We had to test everything anyone could imagine, the location on the pallet, the different pail designs, different pallet deck boards, different pallet designs, and even different pail gauges. All of these components have an impact on pail performance so we had to integrate that into our project to answer all of our questions." Mary has greatly enjoyed working with industry professionals. "I've been most surprised with the quantity of industry support that we have received. We have been able to attend the plastic container institute meetings to connect with industry members and share our work with them. Industry has been incredibly excited to see pails be picked up for research so it's been great getting to connect the information with folks that will probably use it down the line." PDS 6.8 is expected to be released in December. If you are designing pallets for unit loads of plastic pails, it is worth checking out. Pail performance can be evaluated against the pallet design. Like boxes and sheet goods, pails are more resistant to stacking loads and collapse with stiffer pallets in general. Seemingly inconsequential things like deckboard and stringer layout can have a big impact on the performance of the overall unit load. In some cases, a minor change that can be made for little or no increase in pallet cost can significantly reduce the risk of collapsed or leaking pails. Learn more about the Pallet Design System, get a free trial, or enroll in The Packaging School at www.palletdesignsystem.com. Kristen DeLack, PE, is PDS principal engineer and strategic business advisor. She is a 20-year veteran structural engineer who joined NWPCA in 2016. Kristen is widely recognized as an expert in finite element analysis, which serves as the backbone for calculations performed by PDS. She may be reached at kdelack@ palletcentral.com.