Physical – Mechanical Properties

Changes in physical and mechanical properties may affect packaging performance. QACSFOOD Labs provide Physical and Mechanical testing services to ensure that packaging properties remain intact. Testing can be provided in addition to other packaging testing services or individually.

To increase packaging safety of Food Contact Materials we perform:

• Barrier test: Oxygen & Water vapor permeability testing of packaging materials to ensure the safety and quality of foods.
• Mechanical properties: Determination of packaging strength and mechanical properties of plastic, paper, and composite materials
  • Tensile strength test: Determination of the tensile strength, elongation, tensile modulus, and other aspects of the tensile stress/strain testing.
  • Seal strength: The measurement of the force required to separate a flexible material apart from other surfaces containing the seal.
  • Delamination force: It is a measure of the adhesion strength between flexible films such as cellulose, paper, plastic film, and aluminum foil (evaluating the production processes).
  • Puncture resistance: The measurement of the energy required to rupture a film using the protrusion of a piston.
  • Tear resistance: The measurement of the force required to propagate the tear when the force is applied parallel.
  • Compression test: It is a measure of the weight that the package can withstand. The method determines the mechanical properties of thermoplastic containers under compression conditions at a constant compression rate.
• Sensory Analysis
• Leak Test: This method is suitable to determine package leak for flexible, rigid, and semi-rigid packages. It ensures seal strength and package integrity for process optimization on the packaging line.

Testing can be provided in addition to other packaging testing services or individually. Additional services include:

• Identification of materials, coatings and raw materials by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)
• Determination of glass transition, melting and crystallization temperatures of polymers
• Oxygen and moisture permeability
• Microwave Suitability-Microwave Safe Test Cooking test

Food Packaging can undergo mechanical testing both before and after Stability Studies in order to verify possible changes in mechanical properties throughout all stages of the food manufacture.