Owning an industry and ensuring it runs smoothly is no easy task. From seeing whether the workers are working properly or not to constantly updating techniques of work and upgrading machines it involves a lot of hard work and patience.
There are times when owners focus more on the labour of the workers, as in their hours put in or the techniques but sometimes forget about upgrading the lab testing instruments. It is mandatory to always upgrade lab instruments with time as the newer and updated version of the instrument will not only be faster and smoother than the previous version but also your labourer will be able to finish tasks in lesser time and you will be able to get more result in that same time span. When a labourer is using a newly updated instrument then his experience also widens and he also takes interest in the work as with time we all tend to get used to the process ultimately resulting in boredom. Updating lab testing instruments from time to time will help you keep all these problems at bay.
There are many kinds of testing instruments and today we will look in detail about the scuff tester:
Scuff resistance testers are highly accurate tools for evaluating the abrasion resistance between two stickers or other common printed materials. The word scuff in itself means that two materials rub against each other creating friction. Scuff tester is used in various industries for different purposes.
Uses of a scuff resistance tester
A scuff resistance tester is used to evaluate the scratch resistance (damage caused by rubbing) of labels and general printed materials. The scuff resistance tester is used to evaluate abrasion performance. Rub the specimen continuously and visually observe the results. This equipment is used to evaluate the abrasion resistance of prints on paper and cardboard. It can also be used to measure and evaluate ink transfer due to rubbing from printed/painted surfaces. The application can be extended to measure the abrasion resistance of some plastic materials/aluminium foils.
To understand scuffing we also need to understand printing.
Let’s take a look at what is printing in scuffing?
The wearing out of one material usually occurs when there is friction between two surfaces. This leads to print fading due to scuffing of the foil and paper. To avoid wear and tear, manufacturers take many precautions. If the precautions are taken care of then what will the success rate be? Do they adequately protect the label? All this can only be tested when the label is used under real working conditions.
You don’t need to observe eternity to determine label behavior. For this reason, accelerated tests are carried out. Scuff resistance tester is used to evaluate abrasion performance. Rub the specimen continuously and visually observe the results. In other words, how will the printed film behave after 500 revolutions? Just set the number of revolutions and the machine will complete the test in a few hours. This test transfers the effects of friction to the test object in fast-forward.
How to use a scuff tester?
It is motorized and has a piston arrangement for placing two samples opposite each other. The abrasion tester assembly moves in a rotary motion. Abrasion is initiated by the constant friction of the sample. The number of revolutions is set with a preset counter. After the test is completed, a sample is taken for observation. Further measures are planned to depend on the test results
How does it work?
In this machine, here two samples of the same substrate are rubbed together in the same plane under the constant pressure of 2 psi and a fixed speed of 60 rpm. After that, you need to record the number of rubs with a non-contact digital counter. After doing this simple process you will get the desired result.
This device is ideal as a comparison device for differences in print quality between different batches or different suppliers. High scuff resistance means better print quality. The lesser the abrasion resistance the lesser the print quality.
