Materials Testing
Before a product ever reaches the customer, product owners manage both the quality of their products and the packaging materials used to hold and protect them. If, for example, the packaged product’s materials allow harmful chemical leaks or endure transportation challenges during transit, product owners may be vulnerable to product recalls and even legal action. To mitigate risk and deter the dangers resulting from ill-designed or contaminated packaging materials, testing data is collected and analyzed to ensure containers are safe for transit before they make their way to the marketplace.
What Is Materials Testing?
Materials testing and analysis is critical to showing or confirming material properties when evaluating package integrity. The information dispelled from testing can then be used for quality assurance to guarantee the proper packaging system is in place prior to product shipment. There are many factors that can jeopardize the integrity of packaged products, whether in route or in the hands of the customer. Packaging materials must successfully endure conditions such as extreme temperatures, temperature variations, compression, vibration, impact, shock, drop, reduced pressure, and changes in altitude. Materials testing assesses the material components’ ability to not only endure these events, but to do so while keeping the integrity and performance of the product it houses.
How We Test The Materials Of Your Packaged Product
Adhesives Materials Testing
Packaging adhesives face a multitude of stressors over their lifespan and as such, are subjected to a wide range of forces. Adhesive substances used in packaged products for adherence or binding may commonly include pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) tapes, epoxies, sealants, and thermosetting structural adhesives. Adhesive performance testing can be used to decide peel strength loads and calculate the adhesive strength per unit width of adhesive, which helps evaluate the long-term reliability and durability of adhesive products used.
- ASTM D903 - Test Method for Peel or Stripping Strength of Adhesive Bonds
- ASTM D1876 - Test Method for Peel Resistance of Adhesives (T-Peel Test)
- ASTM D3330/D3330M - Test Method for Peel Adhesion of Pressure-Sensitive Tape
- ASTM D1894 - Test Method for Static and Kinetic Coefficients of Friction of Plastic Film and Sheeting
Corrugated Materials Testing
- TAPPI T403 - Bursting Strength of Paper
- TAPPI T441 - Water Absorptiveness of Sized (Non-Bibulous) Paper, Paperboard, and Corrugated Fiberboard (Cobb Test)
- TAPPI T810 - Bursting Strength of Corrugated and Solid Fiberboard
- TAPPI T821 - Pin Adhesion of Corrugated Board by Selective Separation
- TAPPI T839 - Edgewise Compressive Strength of Corrugated Fiberboard Using the Clamp Method (Short Column Test)
Cushioning Materials Testing
Regardless of a package’s shape or size, the product contained within will always receive help from having the proper packaging that has been evaluated for familiar challenges, including shock and vibration during transport. While a product’s weight, density, general size, and other attributes will help decide the right kind of cushioning to use, how much and which type(s) of cushioning to use requires expert understanding of the benefits of various kinds of cushioning. Cushion testing should include evaluations for packaging characteristics like density, flexibility, dimensional stability, and anti-static treatment, and more.
- ASTM D1596 - Test Method for Dynamic Shock Cushioning Characteristics of Packaging Material
- ASTM D2221 - Test Method for Creep Properties of Package Cushioning Materials
- ASTM D3332 - Test Methods for Mechanical-Shock Fragility of Products, Using Shock Machines
- ASTM D3576 - Test Method for Cell Size of Rigid Cellular Plastics
Tensile Materials Testing
Tensile testing is one of the most important packaging material evaluations for almost any product packaging. By deciding the force needed to stretch a certain material to its breaking point, specific material properties, like yield strength, can be determined to better inform packaging design and make predictions about material and product behaviors in different environments or conditions. Tensile testing may be used for packaging material types such as metals, alloys, composites, polymers, ceramics, plastics, wood, and more.
- ASTM D412 - Test Methods for Vulcanized Rubber and Thermoplastic Elastomers – Tension
- ASTM D638 - Test Method for Tensile Properties of Plastics
- ASTM D1708 - Test Method for Tensile Properties of Plastics by Use of Microtensile Specimens
- ASTM D3759/D3759M - Test Method for Breaking Strength and Elongation of Pressure-Sensitive Tape
- TAPPI T494 - Tensile Properties of Paper and Paperboard (Using Constant Rate of Elongation Apparatus)
Why Purple Diamond?
At Purple Diamond, our expert engineers perform rigorous materials testing to better understand and improve on the properties that protect your packaged product. In our dedicated Materials Laboratory, Purple Diamond can evaluate the strength and fragility of products, including plastics or films, corrugated materials, labels or adhesives, and paper materials. We evaluate packaging materials to thoroughly evaluate what materials you are using, where they come from, and what they can withstand to support your product.
Purple Diamond follows the testing standards and protocols set forth by organizations such as ASTM and TAPPI when testing packaging materials. Our team is committed to delivering high-quality results as we develop a comprehensive solution to your specific materials testing needs. Thank you for reading this page!
Related Testing Standards
- ASTM D642
- ASTM D685
- ASTM D880
- ASTM D951
- ASTM D999
- ASTM D3078
- ASTM D3103
- ASTM D3285
- ASTM D4169
- ASTM D4332
- ASTM D4728
- ASTM D5265
- ASTM D5276
- ASTM D5277
- ASTM D5487
- ASTM D6055
- ASTM D6179
- ASTM D6344
- ASTM D6653
- ASTM D7386
- ASTM F88
- ASTM F1140
- ASTM F1886
- ASTM F1929
- ASTM F1980
- ASTM F2096
- ASTM F2250
- ASTM F3039
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 The APASS program was designed by Amazon to help support vendors, sellers, and manufacturers in obtaining certification of their products as Frustration Free Packaging (FFP), Ships in Own Container (SIOC), or Prep-Free Packaging (PFP).
