Protective Packaging Cushion Curve Simulator

Drop Test Setup

Drop height 60 cm

Cushion thickness 30 mm

Product mass 2.0 kg

Cushion material

Product fragility rating

Impact Readout

Ready to drop

Peak deceleration

— G

Energy absorbed

— J

Max compression

— %

Material used

— cm³

How it works

Right-sizing protective packaging is a real trade-off: too little cushion and the product breaks; too much and you waste material, weight and shipping volume. This model treats the cushion pad as a nonlinear spring-damper compressed by the falling product's kinetic energy.

Impact velocity:  v = √(2·g·h)
Cushion stress:   σ(ε) = E₀·ε + Ef·ε^n     (ε = compression / thickness)
Contact force:    F = σ(ε)·A + c·(dx/dt)
Deceleration:     a = F / m   →   reported as G = a / g

The E₀ term is the cushion's initial soft response; the Ef·ε^n term is the steep "knee" as the material approaches its densification strain and stiffens sharply — the same shape as a real manufacturer's cushion curve. Each material below uses distinct stiffness and densification constants:

EPE foam — soft, high densification strain (~75%), the industry default for electronics.
Molded fiber pulp — stiffer and greener (recycled paper pulp), less travel before bottoming out.
Recycled cardboard honeycomb — very stiff, thin, low material volume, but a hard "knee" — needs enough thickness or it transmits a spike.
Air pillow — very soft and reusable-air-based, but bulky (large volume for the same protection).

The fragility rating is the maximum G a product can survive (a common packaging-engineering spec — fragile electronics are often rated around 40 G, glass and ceramics around 75 G, and rugged hardware 150 G or more). If the simulated peak G exceeds the rating, or the cushion fully "bottoms out" before absorbing the impact, the product is flagged damaged. The goal of eco-friendly packaging design is the thinnest, lowest-volume cushion of the greenest material that still keeps peak G under the product's rating — minimizing material (Reduce) without risking the product.

Product Cushion pad

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