The Shape of Strength: How Pharmaceutical Tablet Shape Impacts Integrity?

Introduction

In the journey of a pharmaceutical tablet from the production line to the patient, it faces a gauntlet of mechanical stresses. It's tumbled in a coater, vibrated down a packaging line, shipped across continents, and handled by the end-user. Through all this, it must maintain its structural integrity. A chipped, cracked, or broken tablet is more than just a cosmetic flaw; it can lead to incorrect dosing, compromised stability, and a loss of patient confidence.

This raises a fundamental question for any pharmaceutical formulator or manufacturer: What makes a tablet strong?

While formulation is the bedrock of tablet strength, another critical, and often debated, factor is the tablet's geometry. Does a simple round tablet hold up better than a complex oval one? How does shape influence everything from the manufacturing process to the final film coating?

This article delves into the science behind pharmaceutical tablet shape, drawing on authoritative research to explore how it impacts mechanical integrity. We'll examine the interplay between formulation, shape, and the manufacturing process, and reveal how state-of-the-art equipment, like the Grand Rotary Tablet Press, is essential to producing robust tablets of any design.

The Foundation: Why Tablet Strength is More Than Just "Hardness"

Before we discuss shape, we must first define what we mean by "strength." In the pharmaceutical industry, the term "hardness" has been used for decades, often measured by a simple crushing force test. However, modern pharmaceutical science prefers a more precise and meaningful metric: tensile strength.

As detailed in a comprehensive review in the International Journal of Pharmaceutics, tensile strength (σt​) is the force required to pull a material apart. For tablets, it’s measured indirectly using tests like the diametral compression test (or "Brazilian test"). This method provides a standardized value that allows for accurate comparisons between tablets of different sizes and shapes. Why is this important? Because a high "hardness" reading doesn't always mean a tablet is less prone to chipping or capping. Tensile strength is a truer indicator of a tablet's ability to resist the types of failure it will encounter in the real world.

A robust tablet—one with high tensile strength—ensures:

• Durability through coating, packaging, and transport.

• Prevention of capping and lamination (common manufacturing defects).

• Consistent dosage, as pieces don't break off.

• Patient safety and compliance.

With this foundational understanding, let's explore the two primary factors that control this critical attribute: formulation and shape.

It Starts Within: The Overwhelming Impact of Formulation

No discussion of tablet shape is complete without first acknowledging the profound role of the powder formulation itself. The choice of excipients—the inactive ingredients—can make or break a tablet, literally.

The first image provided at the beginning of this article illustrates this point perfectly. It compares tablets made with two different primary excipients: mannitol (a brittle material) and microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) (a material capable of plastic deformation).

The results are stark:

• High Mannitol Content: These tablets exhibit a high percentage of defects even at relatively low impact fracture forces. Mannitol's brittle nature means that when it's compressed, it forms a rigid structure that cracks easily under stress.

• High MCC Content: In contrast, tablets with a high MCC content are far more resilient. MCC particles deform plastically, meaning they can flow and change shape under pressure to form a dense, highly inter-particulate bond. This results in tablets that can withstand much higher impact forces with minimal defects.

This demonstrates a crucial principle: Before you can optimize shape, you must perfect the formulation. A well-designed formulation with good compactibility is the first and most important step toward ensuring tablet integrity.

The Geometry of Durability: How Tablet Shape Influences Stress

Once the formulation is optimized, the tablet's shape becomes the next critical variable. The geometry of a tablet directly influences how mechanical stress is distributed within it, both during the compression process and during post-manufacturing handling.

From Flat to Biconvex: The Problem with Sharp Edges

The earliest tablets were simple, flat-faced cylinders. While easy to produce, this shape has a significant drawback: sharp edges. These edges are points of stress concentration. When a force is applied—whether from a drop, a collision in a coating pan, or the ejection from the die—the stress focuses on these sharp corners, making them highly susceptible to chipping and erosion. This leads to increased friability, the tendency of a tablet to wear away.

To combat this, manufacturers moved to biconvex tablets. The curved faces and rounded edges of biconvex designs serve a vital purpose: they distribute stress more evenly across the entire tablet structure. There are no sharp points where force can concentrate, making the tablet inherently more resistant to chipping and breaking.

Oval and Capsule Shapes: A Modern Solution

As the industry evolved, so did tablet design. Oval and capsule-shaped tablets have become popular for several reasons, including ease of swallowing and product differentiation. From a mechanical standpoint, these elongated shapes build upon the advantages of the biconvex design.

Research published in Powder Technology by Kendal G. Pitt and Matthew G. Heasley used Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to study stress distribution in elongated tablets. Their work revealed a key insight: for most common elongated pharmaceutical tablets (where the length-to-width ratio exceeds 1.7:1), the peak tensile stress reaches a predictable, limiting value. This has allowed for the development of a reliable equation to calculate the tensile strength of these complex shapes:

where $P$ is the fracture load, $D$ is the short axis, $t$ is the overall thickness, and $W$ is the wall height.

The practical takeaway is that well-designed oval and capsule shapes are exceptionally robust. Their continuous curvature minimizes stress concentration points, making them highly resistant to fracture during both diametral compression and real-world impacts.

Tablet Shape and Coating: A Perfect Match

The benefits of curved surfaces extend directly to one of the most critical post-compression steps: film coating. Uniform coating is essential for taste-masking, controlling drug release, and protecting the active ingredient.

• Flat-faced tablets are notoriously difficult to coat evenly. The sharp edges can get over-coated while the flat faces receive a thinner layer. These same edges are also prone to erosion during the tumbling process in a coating pan, leading to "edge erosion" or "twinning" defects.

• Biconvex and oval tablets, with their smooth, rolling surfaces, are ideal for coating. They tumble freely and allow for the uniform application of the coating suspension, resulting in a consistent, high-quality finish with fewer defects.

Bringing It All Together: How Tablet Presses Produce Different Tablet Shapes

Understanding the ideal formulation and shape is only half the battle. Executing that design requires a manufacturing process with unparalleled precision and control. This is where the tablet press takes center stage.

The shape of a tablet is dictated by the tooling: the die and the punches. The die forms the tablet's circumference, while the tips of the upper and lower punches create its top and bottom faces. To produce a biconvex oval tablet, for example, the press must be fitted with oval-shaped dies and punches with concave, oval tips.

However, producing high-quality, complex-shaped tablets consistently and at high speed presents significant engineering challenges:

1. Precise Compression Force: The press must apply and maintain the exact compression force needed to achieve the target density and tensile strength. Too little force results in a weak, friable tablet; too much can cause capping or lamination.

2. Uniform Die Fill: For every tablet to have the same weight and strength, the die must be filled with a perfectly consistent amount of powder. This becomes more challenging with non-round shapes.

3. Tooling Alignment and Durability: The upper and lower punches must be perfectly aligned to avoid wear and tablet defects. The entire system must be robust enough to handle the immense forces of continuous operation.

This is precisely where a superior machine like the Grand Rotary Tablet Press provides a decisive advantage. Engineered for the demands of modern pharmaceutical production, it excels at translating formulation science into a flawless finished product.

• Advanced Force Control: The Grand press utilizes sophisticated strain gauge technology and a robust mechanical frame to deliver exceptionally precise and repeatable compression force, ensuring every tablet meets the target tensile strength specifications, regardless of its shape.

• Optimized Feeder Systems: Its force-feed systems are designed to ensure consistent, uniform die fill even with challenging formulations and complex tablet shapes, minimizing weight variation and ensuring content uniformity.

• High-Precision Engineering: The Grand Rotary Tablet Press is built with an emphasis on turret and tooling alignment, reducing the risk of common defects like capping and sticking, and extending the life of expensive, custom-shaped tooling.

By providing this level of control and reliability, the Grand press empowers manufacturers to confidently produce tablets of virtually any shape—from simple round tablets to complex custom designs—without compromising on mechanical integrity or production efficiency.

Conclusion: A Synthesis of Science and Engineering

So, what is the ideal tablet shape for better integrity? The science points to a clear answer: shapes with continuous, curved surfaces, like biconvex, oval, and capsule designs, are mechanically superior to flat-faced tablets with sharp edges. They distribute stress more effectively, are less prone to chipping, and are far better suited for film coating.

However, this is not a victory of shape alone. True tablet integrity is achieved through a holistic approach:

1. It begins with a scientifically-designed formulation that prioritizes compactibility, using excipients like MCC to build inherent strength.

2. It is realized through an optimized tablet shape that minimizes stress concentration.

3. It is manufactured flawlessly using a high-performance tablet press that offers the precision and control necessary to master the complexities of modern tablet production.

The future of pharmaceutical manufacturing lies in this synthesis of materials science, geometric design, and advanced mechanical engineering. By investing in all three, manufacturers can ensure that every tablet they produce is a testament to quality, safety, and strength.

References

1. Chapter 22 The strength of pharmaceutical tablets - ScienceDirect.Iosif Csaba Sinka a 1,Kendal George Pitt a 2, Alan Charles Francis Cocks b

2. The effect of processing parameters on pharmaceutical tablet properties - ScienceDirect.I.C. Sinka a 1 F. Motazedian a, A.C.F. Cocks b,K.G. Pitt c

3. Exploring the impact of formulation and tablet shape on tablet integrity: A comprehensive investigation using mechanical and imaging techniques.Mayank Singhala mayank.singhal@astrazeneca.com ∙ Joona Sorjonenb ∙ Håkan Wikströmc ∙ Pratik Upadhyayc ∙ Farhan Alhusband ∙ Dean Murphye ∙ Luis Martin de Juanc ∙ Jarkko Ketolainenb ∙ Pirjo Tajarobif.https://jpharmsci.org/article/S0022-3549(25)00285-0/abstract
4. Methods for the practical determination of the mechanical strength of tablets—From empiricism to science.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378517312006588