A decoupling of inter-particle bonding area and strength from the tabletability equation applied to mixtures

Tablet strength is derived from particle interactions characterized by bonding area and bonding strength. These quantities should be considered separately for accurate description of tabletability for mixtures of materials having disparate physical and chemical properties. However, in the development of tabletability mixture models, bonding area and strength have been considered jointly as a tabletability parameter known as maximum tensile strength. This is a significant shortcoming in the endeavor to describe and predict the tabletability of mixtures. To address this shortcoming, this study attempted to decouple bonding area and strength and proposes a new tabletability equation. Applied to binary mixtures, values for bonding area and strength were determined which allowed accurate description of tabletability for a wide variety of materials. The curious use of the geometric mean typically applied in determining the maximum tensile strength for mixtures was also addressed. It was found that the use of the geometric mean may be justified for certain combinations of materials, but it should not be used in a general tabletability model intended to be applied to a wide variety of materials.