Effects of temperature on the tensile strength of pharmaceutical powders.

Measurements have been made of the tensile strengths of fatty acids, lactose and of an oxtetracycline and a paracetamol tablet formulation at temperatures between -20 and +90 degrees. The measurements were made on compressed tablets and on consolidated beds of powders, using a diametral compression tester and a split plate tensile tester which had been designed to operate over this range of temperature. The tensile strengths of all the materials increase with temperature and values are given for the activation energies of bonding between particles.