Packaging Seal Strength Testing

Package seal strength testing shows the peel separation force required to separate two flexible materials that are bonded together. This test is also called a T-Peel test.

Applications

• Testing the seal on a sterilization pouch (Sterile Barrier System).
• Test the seal on food packaging

Purpose

• Determine the packaging's ability to protect product with the package.
• Ease of opening for the user.
• Adherence to design specifications.
• Confirm the reproducibility of the sealing process. Create a baseline to screen for changes negatively affecting the packaging seal.
• Determining if hot tack is creating a good seal. 

Standards

• ASTM F88/F88M Standard Test Method for Seal Strength of Flexible Barrier Materials
• ASTM D1876 Standard Test Method for Peel Resistance of Adhesives (T-Peel Test)

Equipment needed

Ends of the T-Peel sample are clamped using vice grips and pulled using a motorized test stand until the sample as separated. The force required to separate the samples is recorded. 

Manual test stands are sometimes used for budgetary reasons. Ideally a motorized test stand is used because a constant rate of speed can be used. A manually test stand would not be according to ASTM standards for this type of test.

Pneumatic is the better choice than manual vice grips when running a higher quantity of tests. 

Typically a 1 inch wide sample is used for this test and a sample cutter is used to cut these samples.