Analysis of breaking strength

Tensile strength analysis measures the maximum force a material or product can withstand before cracking, breaking, or losing its mechanical integrity. This test is essential for ensuring the safety, reliability, and performance of materials used in the packaging, plastics, materials and polymers, cosmetics, animal nutrition, and food industries. This mechanical property allows manufacturers to validate product robustness, control batch quality, and optimize their formulations or manufacturing processes.

Industrial challenges of resistance to breakage

Tensile strength is a key indicator of a material's mechanical behavior under stress in real-world use. It helps anticipate the risks of breakage, excessive deformation, or structural failure. In packaging films, it determines resistance during packaging and transport. In polymers, it is used to validate the mechanical strength of extruded or molded parts. In the food industry, it allows for the control of the hardness and friability of tablets, briquettes, or textured products. In cosmetics and nutraceuticals, it ensures the mechanical consistency of compressed or molded solid products.

This analysis is also used in compliance audits, supplier comparisons, aging tests, or troubleshooting problems related to unexpected disruptions.

Analytical methods: tension, bending or compression

Depending on the nature and shape of the material, the test can be performed in tension, compression, or bending. The dynamometer or texture tester applies increasing force to the sample until it breaks. The measured data allows the determination of:
• the maximum force withstood
• the stress at break
• the deformation before break
• the modulus of elasticity
• the mechanical profile of the material

These parameters characterize a product's rigidity, resilience, brittleness, or ductility. Additional tests can be performed under different temperatures or loading rates to simulate specific usage conditions.

Matrices analyzed and applications

The analysis applies to a wide range of products: plastic films and flexible packaging, composite materials, technical foams, rigid or flexible polymers, food or nutraceutical tablets, nutritional briquettes, molded parts, extruded products, technical materials intended for significant mechanical stresses.

It is used to:
• validate the mechanical conformity of a batch
• optimize the formulation or density of a material
• compare different suppliers or raw materials
• characterize the hardness or brittleness of solid products
• identify manufacturing or processing defects

YesWeLab Support

YesWeLab collaborates with a network of specialized mechanical testing and materials characterization laboratories, selected for their expertise and compliance with ISO 17025 and COFRAC standards. Our digital platform allows manufacturers to centralize their test requests, track their samples, and easily access results. Our scientific team supports each project to define appropriate test parameters, interpret the data obtained, and meet the technical and regulatory requirements of your industry.

Since 2020, many design offices, manufacturers, processors and distributors have trusted YesWeLab to evaluate the breaking strength of their products and ensure their mechanical quality.

Other analyses from the YesWeLab catalogue

• Tensile strength analysis
• Elongation at break analysis
• Flexural and hardness tests