Materials Testing

 

Today, laboratories have to characterise and measure an ever expanding range of materials, compounds, containers and laminates in the never-ending search for new technical and marketing features.

In real-world applications many of the most important Materials characteristics are controlled by vapour permeability - for example, materials handling, printability, the ability of packaging to protect the contents, and even just stopping paper jamming in the photocopier.

Vapour Permeability critical affects properties such as the shelf life of pharmaceuticals and foodstuffs.  Unfortunately Manufacturing processes such as heating, forming and bending can change the permeability by a factor of x4!  which means that results simply can’t usually be estimated from a material’s properties but materials must be tested directly. 

For information on Vapour Permeability on Wikipedia click here

Water vapour Permeability and Thermal Conductivity as a Function of Temperature and Relative Humidity

For equipment to measure permeability click here

For information on permeability testing click here

Our permeability meters are automated and its computerised control can cope with several samples at a time - and still produce a permeability measurement in as little as 30 minutes for some materials.  It needs very little re-calibration and requires, at most, minimal training to give results that can be accurate to better than one part per million. Sensitivities depend on sensors and materials but are usually in the PPM range, PPB for some materials. Results are both accurate and highly repeatable.