Begin by executing program RSC. From the CODE41 Main Menu enter Program RSC and Execute RSC. The Table of Regular Slotted Containers shown below should appear. The results have also been saved in file RSC.PRN. Input data in columns 1-4 make the left hand side of the table. Columns 5-11 on the right hand side are for program output and in this example output is displayed only in columns 5,7, and 11.

This first example shows how corrugated fiberboard having a nominal 275 lbf/in² bursting strength could yield different box strengths, depending on flute construction. Arbitrary character combinations could be assigned as material codes. However a descriptive choice such as the bursting strength combined with the flute size makes the material identification more manageable.

The box dimensions coincide with the nomenclature used to characterize the regular slotted container (RSC) blank shown in figure 7. Length is always the larger of the side panel and end panel dimensions. Depth is in the direction perpendicular to length and width. The dimensions relate to the size of the RSC blank, regardless of the orientation of the finished box.

The top-to-bottom strength and the end-to-end strength are displayed in columns 5 and 7, respectively. Corrugations run in the vertical direction (figure 7). Figure 8 shows six possible loading conditions of flute direction and load orientation that can be applied to the RSC. The cost displayed in column 11 is due to the cumulative fiber cost of a rectangular area needed to circumscribe the RSC blank.

Observe how top-to-bottom strength varies with flute construction. As expected, A-flute construction is shown to be stronger than C-flute. The comparison of single wall with CB-flute and BC-flute seems to be more interesting. A-flute yields the strongest construction, yet at a cost lower than the double wall boards.

The double wall boards demonstrate how asymmetric construction affects box strength. CB-flute is a construction with the C-flute on the outside of the box and the B-flute on the inside. BC-flute is the reverse arrangement. Filled boxes normally bulge outward during compression, thereby increasing the compressive stress on the concave interior surface. CB-flute construction yields a stronger box by virtue of the interior B-flute surface being more resistant to local buckling.

End-to-end strength is given in column 7 and the strength values for A-, CB-, and BC-flute constructions are surrounded by braces, i.e., { }. For this tutorial the calibration for program RSC was derived from a data base having a limited range of RSC panel stiffness. In the calibration a dimensionless buckling stress of each corrugated panel is derived from panel stiffness in terms of its dimensions and effective stress-strain properties. The stiffer flute constructions yield buckling stress values outside the range of the data base and the strength predictions are therefore not supported by data.