Powder Technology 238 (2013) 169–175

Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect

Powder Technology
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/powtec

Determination of the tensile strength of elongated tablets

Kendal G. Pitt a,⁎, Matthew G. Heasley b
a
Global Manufacturing and Supply, GlaxoSmithKline, Priory Street Ware SG12 0DJ, United Kingdom
b
Research & Development, GlaxoSmithKline, Park Road, Ware, SG12 0DP, United Kingdom

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Available online 29 December 2011 The tensile strength of a tablet is an important attribute as the tablet needs to be mechanically strong enough
to withstand further handling such as film–coating, packaging, transport and end-use by the patient, but to
Keywords: be weak enough to break apart in the human body and so release its contents. Mathematical solutions to cal-
Tablet tensile strength culate tensile strength are known for flat-faced and convex-faced circular tablets. The work described here
Finite element analysis
aims to extend this knowledge to capsule-shaped and oval-shaped tablets by means of 2-dimensional (2D)
FEA
Shaped tablet
and 3-dimensional (3D) Finite Element Analysis (FEA). The stress analysis showed that as the tablet was
Oval tablet elongated from a standard circular tablet to become that of an extended tablet shape, the peak principal ten-
sile stress reached a limiting value. This limiting value was reached as the ratio of the length to width dimen-
sions exceeded 1.7:1, which encompasses most modern pharmaceutical tablets. In addition the stress
analysis shows that this limiting value approximated to 2/3 that calculated for circular tablets. Hence for a
convex-faced elongated tablet the calculation for tensile strength generated by Pitt et al. [1] would become:


σ t ¼ 23 πD2 2:84 t −0:126
10P
where σt is the tensile strength, P is the fracture load, D is the length of the
ð D t
W þ3:15 W
D þ0:01Þ
short axis, t is the overall thickness and W is the wall height of the tablet, as shown in Fig. 1c. The solution was
then checked by applying it to commercial tablets of differing shapes to demonstrate its utility.
© 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction and simultaneously developed by Carneiro and Barcellos [4] in Brazil,

The strength of a compact can be defined simply in terms of the com-
pressive force required to fracture a specimen across its diameter [2]. In
the pharmaceutical industry this is referred to as a “hardness test”. More
complex shapes can also be crushed by this method. However the break-
ing load does not take into account either the dimensions and shape of
the compact or the mode of failure. The conversion of a fracture load to
tensile strength, which takes these factors into account, allows for
ready comparisons to be made between samples of different shapes or
sizes.
The tensile strength of a tablet is an important attribute as the tablet
needs to be mechanically strong enough to withstand further handling
such as film–coating, packaging, transport and end-use by the patient,
but to be weak enough to break apart in the human body and so release
its contents. Generally, a tensile strength greater than 1.7 MPa will usu-
ally suffice in ensuring that a tablet is mechanically strong enough to
withstand commercial manufacture and subsequent distribution. Ten-
sile strengths down to 1 MPa may suffice for small batches where the
tablets are not subjected to large mechanical stresses [3].
The solution for finding a tensile strength for a plane-faced round
specimen from the diametral compression test was independently
and by Akazawa [5] in Japan. The test is referred to as the “Brazilian”
or “indirect” tensile test as a tensile fracture is induced by compres-
sive loading.
The test is simple and easy to perform and has been widely used to
determine the tensile strength of a variety of brittle materials such as
concrete [6], coal briquettes [7], Gypsum [8] and lactose tablets [9]. A
complete analytical solution exists for the stress state induced by the
loads [10]. A more detailed analysis of the diametrical compression
tests, where the effects of contact flattening and plastic material be-
haviour were considered, was presented by Procopio et al. [11].
These papers [6–11] give the expression for tensile stress (σt), de-
termination in a flat-face compact as:
2P
σt ¼ ð1Þ
πDt
This theory was further developed for determination of the tensile
strength of cylindrical convex-faced compacts by Pitt et al. [1]:
10P
σt ¼   ð2Þ
πD2 2:84 Dt −0:126 Wt þ 3:15 W
D þ 0:01

Both Eqs. (1) and (2) are listed in monograph 1217 of the United
⁎ Corresponding author. States Pharmacopoeia [12] and are in routine use in the pharmaceutical
E-mail address: Kendal.5.pitt@gsk.com (K.G. Pitt). industry. Increasingly, however, shapes more complex than simple

0032-5910/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.powtec.2011.12.060
170 K.G. Pitt, M.G. Heasley / Powder Technology 238 (2013) 169–175

Fig. 1. Tablet shape and dimensions. (a): For Eq. (1). (b): For Eq. (2). (c): For Eq. (4).

cylinders are in use for oral tablets. For example oval and capsule
shaped tablets are designed both to assist in product identification
and to assist in ease of patient swallowing. To date though solutions
have not been calculated for the determination of the tensile strength of
these elongated tablets due to the complexity of the mathematical analy-
sis required. In the work below FEA was used to determine the stress dis-
tribution when tablets are loaded diametrically. The FEA model was first
validated by comparing with the accepted stress solutions for flat-faced
and convex-faced circular tablets, prior to being applied to elongated tab-
lets. The FEA model resulted in a simple conversion curve for comparing
round tablets to elongated tablets. This conversion was then checked by
applying it to commercial tablets of differing shapes to demonstrate its
utility.
2. Finite element simulation
2.1. Finite element simulation: initial setup
2D and 3D FEA simulations were conducted using commercial
software COMSOL Multiphysics® 3.4 along with the COMSOL MEMS
module (COMSOL AB, Stockholm, Sweden).
Static plain strain analysis combined with a deforming mesh was
performed on a 2D geometry in order to simulate the circular flat-
faced tablet and compare to the known solution in Eq. (1). The geom-
etry used can be found in Fig. 2a. Only a quarter of the geometry was
modelled as the rest could be simulated by symmetry. The tablet is
represented by a quarter circle (bottom of Fig. 2b) and loading was

Fig. 2. (a): Whole geometry showing the complete system and symmetry lines with the section used in the simulation shown is shaded. (b): Geometry setup for the simulations.
 K.G. Pitt, M.G. Heasley / Powder Technology 238 (2013) 169–175 171

Fig. 3. (a): Example mesh for the whole model, with a box showing the contact area. (b): Example starting mesh for the contact area before elastic deformation. (c): Example mesh
for the contact area with the applied load, showing the elastic deformation and contact flattening of the tablet.

performed by applying a pressure to the top face of the block (shown
at the top of Fig. 2a). In the initial geometry, there is an infinitely
small contact area between the tablet and the compression plate,
which would result in a theoretical infinite pressure at this location.
In order to remove the infinite pressure and make the simulation
closer to reality, the model incorporated a deforming mesh, which en-
abled the software to simulate contact flattening due to elastic
deformation.
The material used for the compression plate was steel (Young's
Modulus of 2 × 10 11 Pa). In the absence of reliable mechanical proper-
ties for a tablet, it was decided to initially model the tablet as an iso-
tropic, elastic material, with a Young's Modulus of 2 × 10 6 Pa. The
choice of Young's Modulus was based on an understanding that the
bulk of the contact flattening would be deformation of the tablet rath-
er than deformation of the compression plates, and therefore was
chosen to be significantly smaller than that of steel. The choice of an
isotropic, elastic material was based on photographs of fractured tab-
lets from Fell and Newton [9], which do not show significant plastic
deformation of tablets after undergoing this compression test. Both
the tablet and the compression plate were modelled as having a
thickness of 5 mm. The pressure applied to the top face of the com-
pression plate was 1 × 10 4 Pa in the -y direction. This pressure is
equivalent to a force of 0.5 N. The force was chosen to be small as
it is sufficient to show the relative tensile stress for a given com-
pressive force, without the model being affected by plastic
deformation. The compression plate was also constrained to move
only in the y direction.
2.2. Finite element simulation: meshing
Example meshes can be found in Fig. 3. A triangular mesh was
used, with higher resolution on all three edges of the quarter-tablet,
and along the bottom-most edge of the steel compression plate
than in the bulk of these materials. The maximum element size
around these edges was 50 μm. The bulk of the tablet was set with a
maximum element size of 200 μm and the bulk of the compression
plate was set with a maximum element size of 400 μm. The resulting
mesh had 9673 triangular elements.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Finite element simulation: model verification using circular tablets
The simulation was first validated by comparing the results with
the accepted stress solutions for circular tablets. The value of most in-
terest to us was the failure mode of the tablets in this test. The failure
mode is tensile stress in the x (horizontal) direction. Fig. 4a shows
tensile stress in the x direction, showing that the negative values
are numerically much larger than the positive values. However, the
negative values are showing compression, so the important values
172 K.G. Pitt, M.G. Heasley / Powder Technology 238 (2013) 169–175

Fig. 4. (a): Initial model, showing compression and tension in the x direction. (b): Initial model, showing positive stress in the x direction only. Hence this shows tension in the x
direction, which is the failure mode in the diametral compression test. Future models show positive tensile stress only. (c): Initial model, but with a high Young's Modulus, low
compression and high spatial resolution. (d): Initial model but with high spatial resolution.

are those above zero, which can be seen in Fig. 4b. The peak tensile
stress of the model described thus far was 6447 Pa (4sf). Inserting
the same numbers into Eq. (1), we have P = 0.5 N, D = 10 mm and
t = 5 mm. Hence σt = 6366 Pa (4sf). These tensile stress values,
while not identical are within 2% of each other.
As it is possible that the small difference in outcome is due to the
deformation of the tablet in the simulation, the simulation was repeat-
ed but with a higher Young's Modulus for the tablet, at 2 × 10 10 Pa.
This value results in minimal deformation of the tablet and therefore
shows the relative effect of the deforming mesh. As shown in Fig. 4c,
the result looked extremely similar to the initial model, but the peak
tensile stress was almost identical to the theoretical calculation of
Eq. (1), at 6366 Pa (4sf). This shows that the deforming mesh was
the cause of the discrepancy in results between the simulation and
the theoretical calculation. However, for all later models, the lower
Young's Modulus (2 × 10 6 Pa) was used, as some elastic deformation
would be expected with the higher forces used in a real test of tensile
strength.
In order to further check the accuracy of the initial simulation, a
third simulation was performed, at a much higher resolution. In this
high resolution model, the maximum element size at the point of
contact was set to 2.5 μm and all other parts of the mesh were refined
significantly. The resulting mesh had 171,168 elements. The results of
this high resolution model, which can be seen in Fig. 4d, were ex-
tremely similar to those of the initial model, but with a higher spatial
resolution and less points that appeared anomalous. The peak tensile
stress was identical, at 6447 Pa (4sf). This high resolution simulation
showed that the original resolution had sufficient accuracy for all fu-
ture models.
Similar comparisons were carried out between the initial simula-
tion and Eq. (2), setting t = W, ie a flat-faced tablet. With Eq. (2), its
accuracy requires 0.1 ≤ W/D ≤ 0.3 [1]. Hence further simulations
 K.G. Pitt, M.G. Heasley / Powder Technology 238 (2013) 169–175
Fig. 5. Extended capsule shapes showing positive tensile stress in the x direction, with D = 10 mm. (a): L = 12.5 mm. (b): L = 18 mm. (c): L = 25 mm.
were generated for comparison with thicknesses of 1 mm, 2 mm and
3 mm. These new thinner models, and the initial simulation, which
had a thickness of 5 mm (W/D = 0.5), compared favourably with
Eq. (2), all giving results within about 15% of the calculated result,
which is consistent with the margin of error discussed in [1]. This
shows that, within a small margin of error, Eq. (2) can also be ap-
plied to flat-faced tablets. These simulations are not shown here
as the key difference between them and the original simulation is
the numbers.
3.2. Finite element simulation: elongated tablets
Elongation of the tablet was carried out by adding a rectangle onto
the bottom of the quarter circle of the tablet and recalculating. Rect-
angles were added in 0.25 mm increments, which were equivalent
to adding 0.5 mm of length to the whole tablet, while keeping the
6500
6000
Peak tensile stress, Pa
5500
5000
4500
4000
1 1.5 2 2.5
Length / Width ratio
Fig. 6. Effect of shape on tensile strength for a tablet.
173
diameter of the semicircle that makes up the end of the tablet the
same. The physics, mesh constraints and underlying equations were
kept identical to the initial model, with the compression loading
being along the longer axis. Fig. 5 shows the impact of lengthening
the body of the tablet on the tensile stress distribution.
The peak tensile stress from each simulation was added to a graph
for comparison, as shown in Fig. 6. As the ratio of length to diameter
was increased the stress reached a limiting value 2/3 that of a circular
tablet, as shown in Fig. 6. This limiting value occurring at a length to
width ratio of greater than 1.7:1; this encompasses most modern
tablets.
Hence for a flat-faced elongated tablet the calculation for tensile
strength would become:


2 2P
σt ¼ ð3Þ
3 πDt
Similarly, for a convex-faced elongated tablet the calculation for
tensile strength derived by Pitt et al. [1] would become:
!
2 10P
σt ¼   ð4Þ
3 πD2 2:84 Dt −0:126 Wt þ 3:15 W
D þ 0:01
3.3. Finite element simulation: 3D
The same simulation was extended to three dimensions. 3D simu-
lations of tablets with flat faces agreed with the 2D simulations of the
same and with Eq. (1) (for a circular tablet) or Eq. (3) (for an elongat-
ed tablet). 3D simulations of elongated tablets with convex sides (as
shown in Fig. 1c) and of an unconventional tablet design having a dif-
ferent width at the centre than the diameter of the semicircle at the
3 end of the tablet all agreed with Eq. (4), within a small margin of
error as discussed in [1].
The 3D simulations had smaller compression plates and lower spa-
tial resolution than the 2D models in order to minimise computation
174 K.G. Pitt, M.G. Heasley / Powder Technology 238 (2013) 169–175
Fig. 7. 3D model of a circular tablet under compression, showing positive and negative tensile stress in the x direction.
requirements. However they did agree with the 2D models and the
equations. An example 3D model is shown in Fig. 7.
3.4. Experimental data
The validity of Eq. (4) was demonstrated by manufacturing two
sets of tablets of identical formulation. One set was flat-faced circu-
lar tablets of 6 mm diameter and 100 mg compression weight. The
other set was convex-faced oval tablets of 17 mm long by 7 mm
wide and 750 mg compression weight. Both sets of tablets were
compressed over a range of compaction pressures and then frac-
tured to determine their tensile strength. Fig. 8 clearly shows
agreement between the tensile strength calculated from Eq. (1)
for the circular tablets and the tensile strength calculated from
Eq. (4) for the oval tablets. It should be additionally noted that
this was despite a 7-fold difference in volume between the tablet
shapes.
Fig. 8. Tensile strength comparison of flat-faced and oval convex-faced tablets.
3.5. Application to manufacturing
During the development of a commercial tablet, product was
compressed on a rotary tablet press both in a convex-faced round
tablet shape and in a capsule-shaped tablet. On further processing,
edge erosion was seen with the round tablets but not with the cap-
sule shape. The round tablet hardness (compressive fracture load)
was 60 to 90 N and the capsule shape hardness was 100 to 140 N.
Converting these hardness values to tensile strength using Eqs. (2)
and (4) respectively enabled the cause of the edge erosion to be
assessed. The hardness values were equivalent to a tensile strength
of below 1 MPa for the damaged round tablets and above 1 MPa for
the capsule shape (Fig. 9), indicating that low tensile strength of the
round tablets was the cause of the damage.
4. Conclusion
The tensile strength of elongated tablets that do not show signifi-
cant plastic deformation can now be readily estimated, so facilitating
Fig. 9. Tensile strength comparison of tablet shapes.
 K.G. Pitt, M.G. Heasley / Powder Technology 238 (2013) 169–175 175

the development and transfer of formulations and processes between [3] D. McCormick, Evolutions in direct compression, Pharmaceutical Technology 17
(4) (2005) 52–62.
differently shaped tablets. [4] F.F.L. Carneiro, A. Barcellos, Tensile strength of concrete, RILEM Bulletin 18 (1953)
99–107.
List of symbols [5] T. Akazawa, RILEM Bulletin 16 (1953) 11–23.
[6] P.J.F. Wright, Comments on an indirect tensile test on concrete cylinders, Maga-
zine of Concrete Research 7 (1955) 87–96.
σt tensile strength [MPa] [7] R. Berenbaum, I. Brodie, Measurement of the tensile strength of brittle materials,
P fracture load [N] British Journal of Applied Physics 10 (1959) 281–287.
[8] E. Addinall, P. Hackett, The effect of platen conditions on the tensile strength of
D length of short axis (equivalent to disc diameter) [m] rock-like materials, Civil Engineering and Public Works Review 59 (1964)
L length of long axis [m] 1250–1253.
t overall thickness [m] [9] J.T. Fell, J.M. Newton, Determination of tablet strength by diametral compression
test, Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 59 (1970) 688–691.
W tablet wall height [m] [10] S. Timoshenko, J.N. Goodier, Theory of elasticity, 2nd Edn McGraw Hill, New York,
1970.
[11] A. Procopio, A. Zavaliangos, J.C. Cunningham, Analysis of the diametrical com-
pression test and its applicability to plastically deforming materials, Journal of
References Materials Science 38 (2003) 3629–3639.
[12] The United States Pharmacopeia 2011. 34th Edn. US Pharmacopeia Convention,
[1] K.G. Pitt, P. Stanley, J.M. Newton, Tensile Fracture of doubly convex cylindrical Rockville, Maryland.
discs under diametral loading, Journal of Material Science 28 (1988) 2723–2728.
[2] J.E. Rees, E. Shotton, Some observations on the ageing of sodium chloride com-
pacts, Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology 22 (1970) 17S–23S.