Powdered drink container - compressive strength & lid peel tests

Customised engineering example

An international supplier of a powdered hot-chocolate drink wanted to test several aspects of their packaging. The powder is packed in a plastic-capped, foil-sealed cardboard tube container.

The cardboard container is tested for its top-load strength (column crush) to make sure it can withstand the lid being applied in production.  The pull-off force to separate the lid from the metal rim of the container is also measured. Finally, the peel strength to remove the induction-sealed foil closure is tested at an angle of 90 degrees, both in pre-production specimens and after being applied to the container.

To enable reliable and secure gripping of the packaging elements for the tension tests, Mecmesin designed a custom jig based around an assisted peel table. This ensured that forces were applied at the correct angle and samples were simple to insert & remove.

The client was then able to use their Mecmesin universal tester for all four tests, with quick and easy exchange of fixtures, allowing rapid throughput of samples for testing.