Reevaluation of the diametral compression test for tablets using the flattened disc geometry.

Mechanical strength is an important critical quality attribute for tablets. It is classically measured, in the pharmaceutical field, using the diametral compression test. Nevertheless, due to small contact area between the tablet and the platens, some authors suggested that during the test, the failure could occur in tension away from the center which would invalidate the test and the calculation of the tensile strength.