Finite Element Method for Creep Testing of High Density Polyethylene Lubricant Oil Bottles

Abstract

Stacking is one method for storing many lubricant oil bottles. Bottles on the lower storey may collapse after storage for a long time because of the creep behavior of bottle materials. To avoid bottle collapse, creep testing of the bottle is required to obtain the relation between deformation and the time a bottle is under creep load. This relation can be used to manage the storage time and to improve bottle shape. Unfortunately, the identification of creep resistance for lubricant oil bottles may take more than one month. This is not satisfactory considering the market competition for container products. Therefore, this study used the finite element method (FEM) to simulate the creep behavior of high density polyethylene (HDPE) lubricant oil bottles and compared the experimental results to validate the FEM. Sample 1 L and 6 L bottles with masses of 55 and 310 g, respectively, were tested and simulated. From the results, the overall difference of deformation between the FEM and experimental samples for the 1 L and 6 L bottles was 16.20 and 13.91%, respectively. However, the FEM was able to capture the trend of bottle deformation. The weak points of 1 L and 6 L bottles were the shoulder and the handle of the bottle, respectively. The FEM results can be applied to manage the storage time of lubricant oil with regard to stacking and to developing the design of the lubricant oil bottle as well.