Cardboard Flute Design – Different Flutes for Different Purposes

When we think of cardboard, we often don’t give much consideration to the elements of its design. But did you know that a flute isn’t just a musical instrument? It’s also a crucial part of the structural design of the cardboard we come across every day.

Flute is the name given to the wave shaped structure that provides strength to reinforce corrugated cardboard. The purpose of these flutes is to help with cardboard strength to allow for stacking and to provide insulation to protect the package’s contents.

Flutes come in different sizes, ranging in thickness, strength, and resistance to accommodate any cardboard packaging requirement, be it freight or display-related.

There are a range of flute types used for different purposes, some of which include:

B-Flute

B-Flutes are a popular choice for marketing due to their crush and puncture resistance and good printing surface. Another benefit of B-Flute is that it takes up less storage space due to its thinner wall thickness. Offering the second highest arch size, the B-Flute is used to hold small products, such as canned goods.

C-Flute

Being the most common choice for a strong and versatile cardboard, C-Flute is ideal for stacking and is generally used when packaging furniture and glass products. Over 80% of corrugated cardboard is estimated to be made up of C-Flute.

BC-Flute

Also known as Twin Cushion, this combination of B and C flutes is widely used in Australia, as it is ideal for shipping heavy items and industrial applications. The combination of the B-flute and C-flute increases the strength of the cardboard, increasing the thickness to 9mm.

This offers greater protection to the items inside, as well as allowing the cardboard to safely carry heavily weights without breaking.

E-Flute 

An E-Flute is ideal for printing, as it has the flattest surface of all five flutes. Due to its thin design, E-Flute is ideally used to manufacture small boxes that require folding (e.g. Takeaway food containers) and commonly used for cosmetics and skincare packaging.

An increasingly popular option is combining two flutes together to meet highly specified packaging needs. This may mean producing a strong and durable cardboard that requires a polished and printable finish, and may result in an increased number of readily available flutes available in future.

PPI are your leading provider of packaging solutions. Our PPI Create team will work with your business to create logistics or marketing packaging to suit your product and specific needs. Call us now on 1800 25 8000 to book your free initial packaging consultation, where we will help to make sure your packaging requirements are met.