logo

Common Packaging Failure You Can Avoid with a Dart Impact Tester

Common Packaging Failure You Can Avoid with a Dart Impact Tester

25-Jul-2025

Presto Instruments

Packaging failure is a widespread but expensive issue across industries that handle transportation, logistics, and consumer products. Poor packaging can lead to product damage in the process of handling, shipping, or stacking. This causes monetary loss, customer dissatisfaction, and compromised brand image. Among the major reasons for packaging failures is poor impact resistance. 

But that can be efficiently corrected using the dart impact tester. This trusted test equipment measures the resistance and toughness of plastic films and packaging materials to unexpected drops, allowing manufacturers to detect flaws before they turn into problems and products arrive at their destination intact and in one piece.  

What is a Dart Impact Tester? 

A Dart Impact Tester is used to measure the impact resistance of packaging materials, plastic films, and laminates. It calculates the amount of energy needed to initiate failure by a free fall of a weighted dart from a set distance. The test ensures the durability and performance of materials against handling, transportation, and use. 

The Dart impact tester is applied in the industries of paper, packaging, and flexible films to compute the impact of a freely falling dart against a plastic film. The impact force by which the falling dart tears the plastic films under specified conditions is computed. The impact on the films is a function of the falling distance of the dart and the dart's weight. 

How Does Dart Impact Tester Work in Packaging

The Dart Impact Tester tests the durability of plastic films or flexible packaging materials to withstand puncture or rupture when impacted suddenly. The tester impacts a hemispherical dart from a given height against a clamped sample of film. Depending on whether the film ruptures or holds, manufacturers can ascertain the impact resistance and total durability of the packaging material.

Procedure for Dart Impact Testing:

  • Prepare Sample: Cut and clamp a flat plastic sheet or film onto the circular clamping fixture.
  • Choose Test Method: Use Method A (fixed height, changing weight) or Method B (fixed weight, changing height).
  • Adjust Dart Setup: Insert the right dart with the set weight and adjust the drop height as needed.
  • Release the Dart: Release the free fall of the dart onto the clamped film in the center.
  • Check the Result: Observe if the film is punctured or not.
  • Repeat the Test: Perform several tests, varying the weight or height as required.

7 Common Packaging Failures and Solutions with Dart Impact Tester

Common failures of the Dart Impact tester include: Film puncture during transit, inconsistent film quality across batches, packaging burst under load pressure, leakage in Liquid packaging, and more.

Failure 1: Film Puncturing During Transit 

  • Problem: Thin or low-strength plastic films may rip or puncture upon exposure to impulse impacts while handling or transporting, resulting in contaminated or damaged products.
  • Solution: Have a Dart Impact Tester test the resistance of the film to impact. According to test data, film manufacturers can choose better materials or film thickness to avoid puncture.

Failure 2: Inconsistent Film Quality Across Batches 

  • Problem: Packaging film of various batches can have inconsistent impact resistance, with resultant unexpected performance.
  • Solution: Implement regular dart impact testing during manufacturing to check for consistency. In this way, only materials that have passed the required impact resistance are utilized for packaging, ensuring that uniform quality is retained.

Failure 3: Packaging Burst Under Load Pressure 

  • Problem: When stacked or compressed, packaging is more likely to have weak areas in the film that break under pressure, leading to spills or product loss.
  • Solution: Dart Impact Testing assists in locating weak areas in the film. Film layering can be adjusted, or co-extruded materials employed to increase strength and withstand compressive forces by manufacturers.

Failure 4: Leakage in Liquid Packaging 

  • Problem: Sachets or flexible pouches containing liquids can leak because of impact- or handling-stress-generated micro-tears.
  • Solution: Conduct dart impact testing to mimic actual conditions in handling. Strengthen the packaging structure according to test results to provide improved liquid containment and protection.

Failure 5: Consumer Complaints Due to Damaged Packaging 

  • Problem: End-users can end up with products arriving in compromised or damaged packaging, lowering trust and return rates.
  • Solution: Perform regular dart impact testing to the standards of durability. This ensures against packaging failure, increases customer satisfaction, and provides a good brand image.

Failure 6: Film Rupture During Automated Packing 

  • Problem: Automated packing lines can put excessive stress on packaging materials, causing film breakage prior to shipment.
  • Solution: Determine by dart impact testing whether the packaging material is capable of surviving machine handling. Recycle material composition or slow process as necessary.

Failure 7: Increased Packaging Waste Due to Film Failures 

  • Problem: Recurrent film failures cause high rejection rates, rising waste, and high production costs.
  • Solution: By measuring optimal impact resistance with the Dart Impact Tester, it is possible for manufacturers to minimize waste, enhance yield, and enable sustainable packaging.

Conclusion

Ensuring your packaging is durable and reliable is key to protecting your products and preserving brand trust. The Dart Impact Tester offers a precise and standardized method to evaluate the impact resistance of plastic films, helping you identify weak points before they lead to costly failures.

By integrating dart impact testing into your quality control process, you can boost packaging performance, reduce product returns, and align with sustainability goals through smarter material usage.

Ready to strengthen your packaging with confidence? Presto Instruments provides the industry’s most accurate and reliable Dart Impact Tester—designed for excellence and offered at the best price in the market.

Presto Instruments is a leading Dart Impact Tester Manufacturer in Indonesia, committed to global quality standards. Our equipment is designed to improve product reliability, reduce defects, and ensure consistent performance. Trusted by industries worldwide, we offer reliable and customized solutions to meet your testing needs. Contact us today.

 

 

Related Blogs

Request a Quote

Elevate your quality assurance process to new heights

© Copyright 2024. All Rights Reserved by Presto Instruments