Estimation of capping incidence by indentation fracture tests

The purpose of this study was to predict the capping tendencies of pharmaceutical powders by creating indentation fracture on compacts. Three sets of binary mixtures containing different concentrations of each ingredient were used in the study. The binary mixtures were chosen to represent plastic-plastic, plastic-brittle, and brittle-brittle combination of materials. The mixtures were tableted at different pressures and speeds on Prester, a tablet press simulator. These mixtures were also compacted on the Instron Universal Testing Machine 4502. Static indentation tests were done on these compacts at different depths until surface cracking and chipping were observed. The extent of surface cracking and chipping was observed from light microscope and scanning electron microscope images. A rank order correlation was observed between lamination susceptibility and the depth at which indentation failure occurred. It was concluded that indentation fracture tests could provide a useful estimate of lamination properties of pharmaceutical powders.