Tablet brittle fracture

Hiestand Tableting Indices Likelihood of failure during decompression depends on the abihty of the material to relieve elastic-stress by plastic deformation without undergoing brittle fracture, and this is time dependent. Those which relieve stress rapidly are less... 

One should note that BC represents a highly elastic material as little plastic deformation or brittle fracture has occurred. Also, sharp differences between the slope CD and DE are indicative of weak, or failed, tablet structures. The RDWF estimated from these plots can provide a good indication of the ejection force. More detailed treatments of such studies are now in the open literature, to which the interested reader is referred [118-120],... 

Just as metals can be ductile or brittle, so can organic materials. The Brittle Fracture Index is a measure of the brittleness of a material. It is a measure of the ability of a compact of material to relieve stress by plastic deformation. The Brittle Fracture Index (BFI) is determined [29,31] by comparing the tensile strength of a compact, stress concentrator) in it, o-T0, using the tensile test we have described. A hole in the center of the compact generally weakens a tablet. If a material is very brittle, theoretical considerations show that the tensile strength of a tablet with a hole in it will be about one-third that of a solid tablet. If, however, the material can relieve stress by plastic deformation, then the strength of the compact with a hole in it will approach that of a compact with no hole. The Brittle Fracture... 

Hiestand has developed many indices that are useful for tablet formulations (16 18). These include the frequently cited brittle fracture index (BFI), the best-case bonding index (Bib), the worse-case bonding index (BI ), and the viscoelastic index (VI) (15,16). 

Strain rate sensitivity of (or the effect of press speed on) the formulation is of primary concern in scale-up. Whether the product development work was performed on a single-stroke press or a smaller rotary press, the objective in operations will be to increase efficiency, in this case the tablet output rate and, therefore, the speed of the press. For a material that deforms exclusively by brittle fracture, there will be no concern. Materials that exhibit plastic deformation, which is a kinetic phenomenon, do exhibit strain rate sensitivity, and the effect of press speed will be significant. One must be aware that although specific ingredients (such as calcium phosphate and lactose) may exhibit predominately brittle fracture behavior, almost everything has some plastic deformation component, and for some materials (such as microcrystalline cellulose) plastic deformation is the predominant behavior. The usual parameter indication is that target tablet hardness cannot be achieved at the faster press speed. Slowing the press may be the only option to correct the problem. 

A technique generally applied to characterize and prevent the capping and lamination of a material intended to be compacted is using the brittle fracture index (BFI). The BFI was designed by Hiestand et al. [31] and measures the ability of a material to relieve stress by plastic deformation around a defect. It is obtained by applying Equation (8) and compares the tensile strength of a tablet with a hole in its center (To), which acts as a built-in stress concentrator defect, with the tensile strength of a similar tablet without a hole (T), both at the same relative density ... 

As mentioned previously, for certain types of products, precompression at a force level higher than that of main compression may increase tablet hardness. The author has found that for materials that primarily undergo brittle fracture, application of a precompression force higher than the main compression force can result in a higher tablet hardness. However, this is typically not the case for materials with elastic properties (e.g., products prone to capping and lamination) because these products require gradual application of force to minimize elastic recovery and allow stress relaxation. 

Dibasic calcium phosphate dihydrate is widely used in tablet formulations both as an excipient and as a source of calcium and phosphorus in nutritional supplements. It is one of the more widely used materials, particularly in the nutritional/ health food sectors. It is also used in pharmaceutical products because of its compaction properties, and the good flow properties of the coarse-grade material. The predominant deformation mechanism of dibasic calcium phosphate coarse-grade is brittle fracture and this reduces the strain-rate sensitivity of the material, thus allowing easier transition from the laboratory to production scale. However, dibasic calcium phosphate dihydrate is abrasive and a lubricant is required for tableting, for example about 1% w/w of... 

Pharmaceutical compacts are complex structures that present difficult challenges when measuring their mechanical properties. Hiestand was a pioneer who quantified the compaction properties of pharmaceutical powders and (105-109) the result of his work are indices known as the Hiestand Tableting Indices. These indices are dimensionless numbers used to describe the mechanical properties and consolidation behavior of materials under compression and decompression. The three main Hiestand Tableting Indices are the bonding index, brittle fracture index BFl), and strain index. 

Hiestand Tableting Indices Likelihood of failure during decompression depends on the ability of the material to relieve elastic stress by plastic deformation without undergoing brittle fracture, and this is time-dependent. Those which relieve stress rapidly are less likely to cap or delaminate. Hiestand and Smith [Powder Technol., 38, 145 (1984)] developed three pharmaceutical tableting indices, which are applicable for gener characterization of powder com-pactiability. The strain index (SI) is a measure of the elastic recovery following plastic deformation, the bonding index (BI) is a measure of plastic deFormation at contacts and bond survival, and the brittle fracture index (BFI) is a measure of compact brittleness. 

Roberts, R. J., and R. C. Rowe. 1986. Brittle fracture propensity measurements on tablet-sized compacts./. Pharm. Pharmacol. 38 526-528. 

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