The Edge crush Test

 If you’re someone who packages items, you’ve probably heard of the edge crush test. Corrugated material has changed the world, with how simple, but durable the material that’s used and the markets that are around the world.

With corrugated shipping and cartons being used all the time, more improvements have to be made in order to ensure the products are strong enough to safely and with stability move all of them around. This is something that the edge crush test offers.  This can help you do the following: 

• Security 

• Strength 

• The overall effectiveness 

It lets you create a scalable, and very easily put together again option in the future. It’s something that a lot of manufacturers have started to use, as it will help with improving the weight it can handle, and the rating that this gets too. 

How it Came About 

Before 1991, the only way to measure box strength was the Mullen, or Bursting Test, which basically determines the way that corrugated packaging withstands the handling of movements, and it’s usually something that’s based on pounds.

A carton for instance, that holds up to 125 pounds of movement and force before it breaks will have a 125# rating on it. 

Edge crush test is basically another type of test. Rather than just kicking the box and beating it to see how much it can handle, the pressure gets exerted onto this until you have a carton that breaks. For instance, corrugated materials get put on the edges of the box. The plates then push together, and the material between this crushes them.  They usually have a process that handles the amount of material at most that this can handle, and it’s usually put in pounds per inch, and that’s the rating of this.

For instance, that same one that had the 125# The burst test usually has an ECT of 23. 

Why both Tests? 

This is something that people do wonder. That’s because your bursting test offers a rating that’s specific, and then based on the weight and amounts of the various materials used in this. ECT is basically a rating that's equivalent and depending on the type of nature of the box and the weight, along with the materials and the product that’s corrugated, it all comes together to make this.

There are various methods for this, and sometimes, the formula does change the amount that a box can hold. If you do think the carton is going to be tossed a bit by people who handle this, you’ll want to make sure that you go for something that’s got a higher burst test, than the ECT rate that it might have. 

If you do believe that the box won’t be dropped a round or won’t have a ton of force put on it, then you’ll want to make sure that you get one that shows the material strength, the lessened amount of the weight, and the energy that’s saved.

The most common variants of this are 32, 44, and 48 ECT, respectively. 

These are based on the strength of the starting.

32 ECT usually can handle up to 65 pounds.  The 44 ECT usually is considered heavy duty and holds up to 95 pounds. Then there is the heavy duty that a double wall, which is your normal 48 ECT, and that’s of course, 100 pounds or so. this can definitely be hard to figure out, but if you’re still stumped on the correct box for you to use, you can talk to an expert to get the help that you need to decide.