HONEYCOMB PAPER PLATE

The inspiration for the honeycomb structure in industry is nature. Commonly known is bee honeycomb, but this structure also occurs naturally in bones, rocks, plant stems or tree trunks.

In industry, a honeycomb structure is made of a wide range of materials, including plastics, aluminum, steel or paper. Not only the structure itself affects the strength of the panel, the material is also important, but the cell size (i.e. the size of a circle inscribed in a given hexagon) in the case of honeycomb core is crucial. Thanks to nature, man was able to copy a structure that allows minimizing the consumption of building material, reducing weight, while maintaining very high strength of the finished product. It is used on a large scale not only in packaging, but also in e.g. in building, aircraft and spacecraft structures.

The history of honeycomb structures used by man goes back 2000 years, when the Chinese used them as ornaments. However, the amazing properties of this structure were implemented on a large scale thanks to Mr. Hans Heilbrun in 1901 in Halle (Germany), who was the first to start producing a paper core with a honeycomb structure.

The first use of honeycomb in industry was in 1915. It was used by Hugo Junkers, who owned a German aerospace company.

APPLICATION OF PAPER BOARDS WITH HONEYCOMB STRUCTURE

Thanks to legislative changes and consumer needs, based on concern for the future of our planet, the demand for paper products is constantly growing. To a large extent, this is influenced by changes in product packaging, reducing their weight and changes aimed at excluding plastics from packaging (replacing polystyrene EPS, plastic, foil). Implementation of changes in many industries has been taking place for a long time, but the ever-increasing pressure from governments from year to year indirectly causes a significant increase in demand for honeycomb products in many industries.

Honeycomb board has many names, it is a relatively new product and the terminology has not yet become standardized in common use. It is called e.g. honeycomb board, honeycomb paper board, paper honeycomb plates or honeycomb fillers. Paper honeycomb boards have many advantages that make them the obvious choice among packaging designers. They are characterized by, among others:

• high strength and stiffness in relation to the weight,
• high compressive strength at low weight,
• easy to process and manipulate,
• 100% recyclable.

The honeycomb fillers, compared to corrugated or solid cardboard materials, is characterized by high material savings (in our case paper and glue), thanks to the unique structure of hexagons, which results in the displacement of aluminum and plastic materials (e.g. polystyrene).

PAPER HONEYCOMB BOARD

Paper honeycomb board (otherwise known as honeycomb plate or honeycomb fillers) consists of:

1. Honeycomb paper filling (core)
2. Two-sided or one-sided covering paper (used for lamination)
3. Glue

Fig. 1. 1. Construction of a paper board with a honeycomb structure

The strength of the honeycomb board is strictly connected with the quality of the paper and the size of the cell in the core. The main parameter, however, is the cell size D, which is given by manufacturers in millimeters. It is the diameter of the circle inscribed in the cell (otherwise known as the cell) of the product. An obvious parameter is also the height of the cell in the drawing, marked with the letter H. For the customer, the width of the filling after stretching is important due to the dimensions of the final product. The width of the filling after stretching is about 80-70% of the original width. The ratio of the original width and the final width depends significantly on the core cell and the expanding force.

Fig. 2 Structure of the honeycomb core

Paper boards with a honeycomb core are most often used in packaging and to protect goods during transport. It effectively replaces expanded polystyrene (EPS) and plastic foams. The ease of processing the paper honeycomb board allows it to be adapted to the shape of the packaged product. It can, for example, protect small, delicate glass as well as whole glass panes during transport. The number of industries using the board in packaging is huge, it is the food industry, producers of electronics and household appliances, furniture industry, etc. Self-adhesive plate (with an adhesive layer) works great as a protection for large and smaller pallet shipments, among others courier and forwarding companies. The die-cut plate (with cut-out holes) works well as a protection for bottles in the pharmaceutical industry. On the other hand, for the final recipient, it is important that the board (and derived products) is 100% recyclable.

Pallets are also produced from the honeycomb board, a substitute for wooden pallets, which, thanks to their lower weight, reduces transport costs and emissions during transport. The most commonly used euro pallets have a weight of about 23-25 kg, while paper pallets only 4-7 kg with a load capacity of 500 to 750 kg. The weight of transport pallets is particularly important in air transport. where every extra kilogram generates an increase in costs.

PAPER HONEYCOMB CORE

While the boards are most often used as packaging and transport protection, the core is used for the production of furniture and doors. Thanks to low production costs, low specific weight and pressure resistance, it is ideal for filling empty space in a furniture board.

Paper

The same papers used in the corrugated products are used for the production of the honeycomb core board, i.e. testliners, kraftliners, flutings, greyboard.

The most commonly used weights and types of paper for the production of the board include: testliners with grammages of 100-300 g/m² and flutings of 120-200 g/m². The weight and type of paper affect the quality of the core and the quality of the honeycomb board.

For core lamination, e.g. kraftliners, testliners, fluttings with a weight of 120-400 g/m² as well as greyboard 120-600 g/m².

In short: Testliners are papers made of high-quality recycled pulp. However, Kraftliners are characterized by the best strength properties among the available liners on the market. Fluting is made of recycled paper only. Greyboard is a gray cardboard made of segregated waste paper, characterized by good stiffness, smoothness and bending strength.

We are happy to advise you in choosing the best solution for your products. If you have any questions, contact us!