Measure Coefficient of Friction of Plastic Films

Measure Coefficient of Friction of Plastic Films

Coefficient of friction (CoF) plays an important role in performance of wrap on product packaging. The CoF can be measured when any wrapped item gets pushed or pulled during the wrapping process. It is important to understand the friction forces when any packaging film is used for packaging.

Coefficient of friction measurement device measures friction which is of two types: Static and Kinetic

Static CoF: The force that is required to start the movement. The packaging industry uses the static CoF value to measure the friction between bags when they are stacked.

Kinetic CoF: The force required to maintain the movement. This is used for rolls of plastic films processed on form fill seal packaging machines.

Plastic film packaging when pulled across a stainless-steel surface, this force to move the film can be measured using a testing instrument. Packaging film CoF refers to the level of slip that the packaging material has when interacting with different parts of the machine.

Based on packaging application, packaging film can be of high or low CoF. It is an important value for the industries that manufacture plastic bags and films. The friction hinders the movement of two surfaces coming into contact of each other. Industries manufacturing plastic bags and films need to control and optimise the performance and prevent problems specific to storage and transportation.

Excessive friction causes sealant’s side of the film using horizontal form fill and seal systems, problems of dragging at the time of passing over metal plates causing serious damage to the goods. For vertical form fill and seal systems, same problems occur leading to poor film feeding as the bags go over metal forming collars leading to unpleasant squealing noise.

Every manufacturer must check the quality testing before investing in testing machines. The testing is done to reduce the losses due to friction that occurs in plastic industry. The CoF value is used to know the degree of abuse that a plastic film can tolerate without damaging the products.

Some of the important features of Static / Kinetic Friction Tester are:

• Simple to use with feather touch control
• Microprocessor display for dynamic and kinetic friction
• Motor-driven elevation
• Simple and low-cost measurement of static CoF

Coefficient of Friction Tester is used to test the behaviour of packaging instrument when it undergoes extreme friction. Products must be kept intact when it is transported and delivered to the customers.  Ant defacing of the product can lead to rejections in the market. This defacing occurs due to friction.