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Abstract

The heat-seal performance of a flexible plastic package depends on the sealing bar temperature, packaging line speed, film thickness and properties of the sealant resin. For a given sealant, thinner films reach their maximum seal strength at lower bar temperatures and faster line speeds than thicker films. A model is developed that relates these factors to the amount of molecular penetration that develops at the heat-seal interface of ionomer films. A critical value of the penetration is found that corresponds to the ultimate heat-seal strength in laboratory heat-seal data. The results point to how laboratory data may be used to predict the sealing performance of ionomers on high-speed packaging lines.

Keywords

packaging heat-seal heat transfer molecular diffusion

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References

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Predicting the Heat Seal Performance of Ionomer Films

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