Elastic-plastic contact law for simulation of tablet crushing using the biharmonic equation.

This work presents a technique for shape modelling of cylindrical and spherical tablets subject to compression. This technique is based on the use of partial differential equations (PDEs), the biharmonic equation in particular. The deformation of the compressed elastic-plastic tablet of both shapes was obtained using the existing contact models found in literature.

Method of modelling the compaction behaviour of cylindrical pharmaceutical tablets.

The mechanisms involved for compaction of pharmaceutical powders have become a crucial step in the development cycle for robust tablet design with required properties. Compressibility of pharmaceutical materials is measured by a force-displacement relationship which is commonly analysed using a well known method, the Heckel model. This model requires the true density and compacted powder mass value to determine the powder mean yield pressure.