How to Use Different Types of Strapping Material

All interested parties are welcome to join in the ongoing revisions to D3953, Specification for Strapping, Flat Steels and Seals. The standard is under the jurisdiction of Subcommittee D10.25 on Palletizing and Unitizing of Loads, part of ASTM International Committee D10 on Packaging.

According to its scope, D3953 covers flat steel strapping and seals intended for use in closing, reinforcing, bundling articles for shipment, unitizing, palletizing and bracing for carloading, truckloading, lifting and lashing. "Most people have dealt with the material covered by D3953 without knowing it," says Anthony Mariano, Independent Metal Strap Co. Inc., and a D10 member.

"As one of the first modern materials used for unitizing and bundling, oiled steel strapping is well-known to packaging users, but since the last full review of D3953, there have been many changes in technology, especially in closure methods," says Peter Catlos, chairman of D10.25. These technological changes will be addressed in ongoing revisions.

Catlos notes that waxed steel strapping is widely used in the lumber, metals and paper industries. The standard is used to specify strapping products for purchase, in package design and in design of load securement techniques for over-the-road, rail and maritime transport of goods. Section 13 of D3953 includes several test methods for steel strapping.

Every person who has ever worked with galvanized steel strapping knows that this can be a potentially dangerous product. When talking to potential customers I hear many stories from people who have been injured by steel banding. Either caused by loose hanging pieces of cut metal strapping or when applying and the steel snapped unexpectedly. 

Companies take many safety precautions to protect their employees. Safety glasses, helmets, shoes are part of most workers Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) and still many companies provide their staff with "razor blades" to secure their products. Of course there are always people that deny the risks of steel banding but fact is that people getting cut is very high on the list of job related accidents.

Cordstrap already recognized this risk over 50 years ago and invented a safe alternative for steel banding. The latest generation of Cordstrap strapping is a composite strap made of high tenacity polyester yarns embedded in a PP coating. The Cordstrap strapping products are an extremely strong alternative for steel banding. Due to the unique buckle joint Cordstrap's overall system strength will be higher compared with steel banding.

Most of all, Cordstrap strapping systems are safe for your products, safe for your employees and safe for your customers. In Australia Cargo Restraint Systems offers a wide range of Cordstrap systems. We always welcome the opportunity to take a closer look at your applications and provide you with a safe solution. Just contact us and it will be our pleasure to assist you.

Pallet strapping, or banding is the process of using a metal or plastic strap to unitize, palletize or bundle products together. Strapping is used in a variety of industries from shipping large industrial equipment and lumber to reinforcing cases in e-commerce fulfilment centres. For this reason, there are many grades and types of materials on the market today.

Strapping is applied either manually with a hand tool or automatically with a strapping machine. In both cases, a strap or band is feed around the product and pulled taught. A fastening method then secures the ends of the strap around the product and the excess material is removed.

Strapping materials are available in many different strengths with specific grades and classifications. It is important to understand these grades and how they can affect your material choice when choosing your packaging. How your product is transported will affect the rating system and materials used. The two associations who grade strapping are the American Association of Railroads and ASTM International. Although ratings can be similar, it is important to understand that the designations are not interchangeable.

With a variety of applications and uses, it is important to understand the different types of strapping materials. The materials used come in multiple strength levels as well as elongation and recovery rates.

Elongation and recovery are important for loads that are susceptible to sudden shifting. The movement will apply tension to the strap as the load shifts. As the shifting occurs, a strap can stretch to reduce the impact of sudden inertia changes. The straps recovery ability of the strap will indicate the straps ability to return to its original state.

To date, repair of damaged columns has become increasingly more significant. The failure of columns structure contributes to the serious consequences in structural stability. Most of the existing repairing techniques are based on lateral passive confining pressure. However, this passive-type of confinement is ineffective in restoring the performance of damaged concrete columns. In this regards, active confinement was selected in this study to repair damaged concrete columns which can actively confine concrete in this study. Tempered Spring Steel Strip tensioning technique (SSTT) allows pre-tensioning low-cost recycled steel straps around the damaged column was chosen herein to represent active confinement. A total of 12 columns were prepared and loaded axially to certain degree of their respective ultimate strength. Hence, a pre-damage level of the columns was developed. Then, the damaged columns repaired by using mortar and confined with SSTT. Finally, the repaired columns were then tested under monotonic uniaxial load. The structural performances of the confined repaired columns were compared with those of the repaired columns without confinement. It is expected that as the concrete compressive strength increases, the effectiveness in restoring the load carrying capacity of the damaged column becomes more significant.

The efficacy of post-tensioned metal straps PTMS, wrapped around steel channels

anchored to normal reinforced concrete (R.C) beams is tested in increasing the flexural

capacity of the beams. For this purpose, nine normal R.C beams with dimensions of 160
mm x 240 mm x 2100 mm are constructed to fail in bending. The location and the number of
the straps are considered as the main variable. It is found that using PTMS can enhance the
load-carrying capacity of the beam by 29% to 63%. The decisive factors affecting the
increase are the location of the straps (at the bottom or sides), shape of the flange and web
edges (squared or rounded) and alignment of the flanges (vertical or inclined). A complete
guide can be found in the paper as it is a novel method of strengthening beams which can
be applied to the beams cast in place with integral slabs

Editor’s note: The following column by Shaun Bryce, director of Melbourne Packaging, is part of Modern’s Other Voices column, a series featuring ideas, opinions and insights from end-users, analysts, systems integrators and OEMs. Click here to learn about submitting a column for consideration.

The strapping and industrial packaging industries can be challenging to get your head around if you haven’t had any exposure to them, or their products, before. Are you feeling overwhelmed about the components that are used with the manual tools as well as the high-tech automatic machines?

Let’s get back to basics and break down everything you need to know about strapping products. With this information, you’ll be able to make the right choice for your business.

The first step is to consider if you need to implement them in your business or not. Small businesses that need strapping for carton, crates, or pallets less than 15 times a month will find a manually operated tool is sufficient for their needs. If you need to perform this task every day, you’ll benefit from investing in a strapping machine. You’ll find it will boost your productivity because it will save your team time.

You should also look at your team’s capacity. Automated machines could free up your staff to focus on other areas that need attention. This could improve productivity, motivation, and quality control. Most important is protecting your product. A simple investment in a strapping tool could drastically reduce the damage your items experience in transit. Damaged boxes or pallets can be an overhead that affects your bottom line and your brand’s reputation. More suppliers may be willing to work with you if they know your packaging arrives safe, secure, and undamaged.

Perform an audit on your loads. If you work with smaller cartons, a table or arch strapper is the right product for your business. Large crates and pallets can be strapped manually unless you’re working with large volumes. In this case, you should investigate horizontal or vertical pallet strappers.

The type of materials you need to secure will also inform your choice in a strapping machine. For example, industries that trade in the print media area will require specialized machines to use on palletized loads.

Another thing you need to explore is the strapping that you will be used to secure your products. They will affect the tools you use and the method you apply them. Polypropylene is inexpensive and can be used for many applications. It is usually secured using a buckle and tensioner system, metal crimping seal or can be friction welded. A tensioner tool can be used to achieve the correct tension. Steel strapping can be secured with metal crimping seals using a device that crimps the strap.