Properties of an aluminum based multilayered material versus package and processing performance

Due to a manufacturing issue within the company the lack of knowledge of a key material is highlighted. Research into the material is conducted under seal testing and mechanical properties. The material is multilayered, with aluminium foil as its core plus is top coated and has a sealant layer as its bottom coating. Background literary review commences with a chronological assessment of packaging down through the ages and culminates with details on multilayered materials, concentrating on the type of material being researched. A test plan details the research requirements. Seal testing consists of burst and peel testing of the material in its final package configuration and utilises two blister package sizes. A test on the variation of the actual burst tester itself is also undertaken. The mechanical properties include basic measurement analysis, tensile testing and puncture resistance. These tests are conducted where appropriate on two versions of the multilayered material whose only difference is the thickness of the aluminium foil. All results are analysed using a mixture of statistical as well as graphical techniques. Discussion on the results includes the statistics and leads to a number of conclusions on what effects seal strength, which blister produces the easier peel and where cost savings can be made with the current configuration. The conclusions also highlight further work that may lead to future cost savings by changing to different configurations