Packaging Physical and Mechanical Properties Testing

the Physical and Mechanical Properties, like Tensile Strength, Hot Tack , COF, can improve the package quality, efficiency and reliability. Labthink packaging labs provide a wide range of testing, processing and consultancy services to measure and improve the mechanical and physical properties of packaging materials. Experts evaluate packaging material during processing, storage and usage testing. Labthink testing services apply to a wide range of packaging and packaging materials.

Mechanical and physical packaging tests:

• Hot Tack Testing
• Tensile testing
• Coefficient of Friction
• Gelbo-Flex
• Seal and Peel Tests
• Abrasion Resistance
• Tear, Flexural and Impact Properties
• Seal Strength and Puncture Resistance
• Peel Testing

Labthink also provides testing equipment for Packaging Mechanical and Physical Properties analysis. 

Heat Seal Parameters of Flexible Polymer Film and Finished Package Seal Integrity

For many products, the impact of packaging on shelf life and product safety is critical to success. Packaging technical teams will carefully specify packaging material characteristics in terms of functional and barrier properties, for example Oxygen Transmission Rate for an oxygen sensitive product. Despite this, the highest risk to pack integrity and shelf life can be failures in the pack heat seals or closures.

Heat Seal parameters are easily measured; Heat Sealability = Temperature + Pressure + Time. Yet maintaining optimum heat sealing conditions in production and recognising the true cause of poor sealing remains a challenge. Measurement of heat sealing parameters is done by creating “controlled seals” on a calibrated Laboratory Heat Sealer according to ASTM F2029, then peeling the seal apart with a Seal Strength Tester at a controlled rate to measure either Ultimate Seal Strength (after cooling, method ASTM F-88) or Hot Tack Strength (peel tested within 150ms of the seal being formed, method ASTM F1921). By varying the sealing temperature and dwell time, the optimum sealing conditions can be found. In studies the third variable, sealing pressure, was found to have little impact after reaching a certain level.

For finished packs, common practice is to perform off-line package integrity quality checks every 15 to 30 minutes. The most common method being a manual squeeze test to feel & see if the pack deflates under the pressure of the operators hand. Other more objective methods include bubble leak testing (submerging packs in a water chamber/vacuum to visually watch for bubbles coming from the inflated pack), inflation testing (packs placed in vacuum chamber to visually check if the inflated pack deflates over a defined time), and blue dye penetration testing (passing a blue dye solution over the seals inside empty packs to observe capillary ingress into seal faults). These methods have the advantage of low capital cost, but are limited to somewhat subjective qualitative pass/fail data.

Another objective and quantitative method for seal strength testing is according to ASTM F2054 (increasing the internal pressure of a pack until seal failure)

Packaging Testing - Gas Permeability Tester---Film Test

Scope

i-Gastra 7100 GasPermeability Tester is designed to determine the gas transmission rate, solubility coefficient, diffusion coefficient, and permeability coefficient of plastic material in the forms of films, composite films, high barrier materials, sheets, and aluminum foils

Test Procedures

A: Prepare test specimens according to specific standards. 

B: Apply vacuum grease to the outer surface evenly 2 mm around the groove in the lower test chamber.

C: Place a piece of filter paper (diameter is 65mm) in the hollow groove and then place the prepared specimen on the lower test chamber. Make sure the test specimen contacts the lower test chamber tightly.

D: Close the upper test chamber and tighten it.

E: Set up the temperature controller so that the temperature required for the test could be reached. It is necessary to check the leak tightness of the water path. 

F: Connect the vacuum pump with ripple tube and its components. Do not change the default settings of the vacuum pump which has been setup before shipment.

G: Set up test parameters, start the test and turn on the vacuum pump. 

H: View the test results and reports. If necessary, repeat the above procedures to perform another round of tests. Turn off the vacuum pump when the vacuumizing process is finished.