Determine Puncture Resistance of Food Packaging Material

Packaging materials and containers are subjected to puncture hazards at the time of handling and transit such as dropping from heights, transportation shock loads that lead to puncture damage. Therefore, it is important to determine the puncture resistance of packaging material. Puncture Resistance Tester is testing equipment that provides an accurate resistance to puncture of a packaging material ranging from thick boards to thin papers.

When you purchase food or juice pouches, you might notice that few pouches are bloated. The warning is written on pouches that if that packet is bloated, do not purchase. Bloating indicates that the packet is infected by bacteria. Bacteria feed on the contents of pouches and produce gas. Since this gas cannot escape from the sealed packet, it collects inside and causes the pouch to bloat.

At the time of manufacturing, if the packaging machine is infected by bacteria, a large number of pouches get infected. Packaging gets punctured at the time of handling and transportation. In addition to exposing food to bacteria, puncture exposes the food to air and moisture. Some retailers reseal the pouches as soon as they identify any puncture. But resealing does not help as the bacteria gets inside packaging with a slight puncture in it as the gas does not escape from the pouches.

Packaging possesses a great impact on the quality of its products inside. It also affects consumer purchasing decisions. Food packaging represents a great challenge for product design. Many new developments are taking place in food packaging such as nanotechnology, biodegradable packing etc. A hole in packaging film leads to loss of freshness, oil leakage and contamination.

The resistance of films to high speed punctures especially that occurs at the time of filing operations on vertical form fill seal packing lines is hard to evaluate from laboratory tests.  New test methods are developed to improve packaging performance.

The Puncture Resistance Tester has a pendulum at the extreme having a curved arm making a 90 degrees arc. At the top of this curved arm, a pointed steel head which has a triangular pyramid with round edges.

Operating principle:

The sample is attached between two horizontal plates with a circular opening of standard size that permits a passage to puncture point. The pendulum is lifted and held which upon release allows the pendulum to swing through the arc. It carries the pointed head through the test sample. The amount of energy absorbed by the sample is saved in a digital monitoring system.