Cartons are usually used to pack the pharmaceuticals, which may suffer squeezing, impacting or stacking in transportation. If the carton has insufficient compression resistance, it may be deformed or even crushed. Therefore, it is necessary to test the compression resistance of those cartons before using them for pharmaceuticals so that they can protect the pharmaceuticals properly during transportation and storage.

This article provides a simplified test method of compression resistance of the carton used for pharmaceuticals for your reference. Corrugated carton is taken as an example to elaborate on the testing procedures. The testing instrument used for the tests is Labthink’s XYD-15K Box Compression Tester.

In the tests, the carton shall be set between two platens. Then apply certain compressive load on the carton and maintain such load for a certain period until the carton is deformed or crushed. The operations mentioned above imitate the situation where the carton suffers external forces.

Figure 1. Packaging Cartons

The tests shall be performed according to the following procedures.

(1) Seal the carton properly. Place the carton on the lower platen of the box compression tester. Adjust the position of upper platen and make it sit on the surface of the carton.

Figure 2. Mount Specimen

(2) Set test speed, preload, specimen height and other test parameters. Then click Test to start the test.

(3) The upper platen will move downward. When the preload is reached, the system will record the change of displacement and plot curves.

(4) When the test is finished, the compression resistance and deformation rate of the specimen will be displayed automatically.

According to the test results, the manufacturer or user of packaging cartons for pharmaceuticals can determine whether those cartons meet the requirements for actual use and may improve the compressive resistance of the cartons by adjusting the manufacturing craft or stacking number.

For more details about XYD-15K Box Compression Tester, please visit www.labthink.com

About Labthink Instruments Co., Ltd:

Labthink Instruments Co., Ltd is one leading supplier of packaging testing instruments, which is headquartered in Jinan, China and operated in Boston, U.S.A.