ASTM F2029

Introducing ASTM F2029 – Industrial Physics

ASTM F2029 is a global ASTM test method that guides you in how to make heatseals from flexible webs and how to determine their heat sealability and seal strength.  

Heatseals are frequently used in flexible packaging, particularly for ensuring an airtight seal for products that need to stay fresh and free from contamination. This means it’s particularly important for the food and pharmaceutical industries, but it is used in lots of other sectors as well.  

Heatseal testing is also referred to as hot tack testing. To perform a successful inspection, you’ll need a suitable heatsealer machine, sometimes known as a hot tack tester. 

ASTM F2029 offers two heatseal testing approaches

There are two approaches to take when carrying out ASTM F2029 heat seal testing. These practices are for webs that are to be used on commercial machines employing reciprocating sealing jaws. This includes most vertical form-fill packaging machines and platen heatsealers. 

Your heatseals can be made between webs of the same or dissimilar materials. The individual webs may be homogeneous in structure or multilayered (coextruded, coated, laminated). 

ASTM F2029 practice A, surface heat sealability

The first ASTM F2029 heatseal testing practice leads to determining the heat sealability of a surface, or sealant layer if there is one, as a function of interface temperature, free of the influence of other web properties. 

ASTM F 2029 practice A is used commercially in the development of improved polymers and blends. These are typically used as a sealant layer in coextruded films and laminated or coated web constructions.  

You focus on the sample’s heat sealability when following this ASTM F2029 approach. It’s a useful quality control method for manufacturers of these films and laminations as other test types can be affected by properties such as total thickness. There are alternative independent heatseal tests for these. 

ASTM F2029 practice B, web sealability

Of course, a heatseal surface should have an adequate heatseal strength for the intended application. Additionally, the web needs to have a specific construction and a total thickness, to satisfy any other requirements. 

Your web’s construction, thickness and the properties of a sealant layer will affect the sealing performance. What happens if the rate of heat transfer through the web is too slow due to its construction or thickness? If it’s therefore too slow for the production rate required? Well, it may be necessary to use a sealant layer with a lower seal-inception, or fusion, temperature. 

ASTM F 2029 practice B compares specific web constructions for their suitability for application. This includes where the dwell time may be too short for the sealing interface to reach the required jaw temperature.

This ASTM testing approach covers laboratory preparation of heatseals and the treatment and evaluation of heatseal strength data. This is used to determine the heat sealability of flexible barrier materials. 

ASTM F2029 testing equipment

So, how can Industrial Physics improve your ASTM F2029 testing?  

Testing Machines Inc – Heat Sealer and Hot Tack Base 75-50

The SL-10 Hot Tack Tester and Seal Tester, is the most precise and consistent heat sealer in the packaging industry. Developed by Testing Machines Inc, our specialist physical properties testing company, this industry-leading heatsealer machine is also a heatseal tester and hot-tack tester! 

Heat Sealer TS-4 with Interchangeable Seal Jaws 75-59

With its precision load cell system, which measures and displays the total force applied to the film sample, the TS-4 heatseal tester produces consistent and accurate seals  

It has an integrated digital electronic controller that displays sealing force, load tare functionality, and dual selectable timer set points. 

Need ASTM F2029 testing solutions? Get in touch

We’ve learnt a thing or two about heatseal testing over the last few decades. And now Industrial Physics is recognized as a brand that likes to bring new, innovative heatsealer machines and hot tack tester equipment to market. 

We like to share our knowledge and we’re here to help you to answer your questions about heatsealing. Across the knowledge base of our website we publish lots of blogs on related subjects. For example, why not check out this blog on Hot Tack Testing FAQs?  

If you have any questions about ASTM F2029 or heatseal testing in general, then please just get in touch!

Contact us – Industrial Physics

Your global test and measurement partner for ASTM F2029