Sealing Tool Design

Sealed seam quality, particularly with regard to tightness, strength and appearance will be influenced by the property of the packaging material, the sealing parameters and the profile of the sealing tool. As commonly known, the design of sealing tool profiles can influence the sealed seam quality positively. This is particularly important when it comes to demanding packaging tasks. Choosing the right sealing tool design for a packaging task on hand today is based on the experiences of individual experts.

Basics and scientific investigations how the sealing tool profile influences the sealing process, in combination with particular characteristics of the packaging material are unknown. The aim of this research project is the specification of basic interactions between those parameters of the sealing tool profile, the packaging material and the packaging process. In this intent, an analysis of the seam formation process will proceed by using different types of sealing tool profiles.

It is being analyzed in experiments and also with a mathematic simulation model, how the geometric conditions of the sealing tool and packaging mean interaction the process conditions within the fusion area (sealing temperatures, distribution of temperature, sealing pressure conditions, shear stress, etc.). Thereby, it is going to be investigated which role the packaging mean properties like the material composition / layer compound, mechanical behavior / compressibility, viscosity of the melted sealing material, etc. play. This shall be done by:

• analysis of the temperature distribution within the sealing area, to draw conclusions about the plastification rate of the sealing materials
• modeling of local states of stress in the packaging mean and working stress peaks, that have an effect on the mechanical damage of the packaging mean and / or the displacement of the melt
• microscopically thin cut analyses of seam seal samples, to assign the calculated states of stress to the real melt flow and, if applicable, to occurring packaging mean damages like delamination
• virtual parameter studies for parameter settings, that are not feasible through experiments
• expansion of analyses on whole packages and verification of the result portability based on a seam section on whole packages