The medical device industry primarily uses pre-packaged disposable devices and surgical instruments to minimize risk associated with the sterilization of re-usable products. The tensile strength of the adhesives used for the packaging is typically assessed by following a standard such as ASTM F88, the Standard Test Method for Seal Strength of Flexible Barrier Materials. However, this standard specifically refers to materials testing, rather than testing of a part that has already been packaged.
A typical set up includes a 5542 universal testing system configured with pneumatic side-action grips, which together provide your testing system the precise control and accurate alignment required. Our Bluehill® 2 Peel/ Tear/ Friction (PTF) software module contains pre-configured methods for conducting three different peel tests: T-peel, 90-degree peel and 180-degree peel. We suggest using a high data acquisition rate to ensure the peel profile is accurately characterized in order to evaluate the strength of the adhesive bond using the basic calculation of maximum force on an absolute peak, or using more advanced calculations such as the average of a specific number of peaks, troughs or combination of both. You will experience greater flexibility in specifying where measurement begins and ends, enabling the software to calculate a broad range of results.