The Importance Of Steel Quality In Pharmaceutical Tablet Tooling Operations

By Dale Natoli

In the design and manufacture of tablet compression tooling, nothing is more important than the quality of the materials being used. Steel quality is the fundamental building block upon which all successive value-added steps are laid. Steel quality describes how well a steel meets its specified chemistry, and its cleanliness. It also includes the degree to which it is free of impurities or inclusion, homogeneity of the microstructure, grain/carbide size, and, sometimes, whether it meets the mechanical requirements for that steel. 

In this article, explore the difference between how non-powder metal steels and powdered metals are produced, as well as the steps taken before and after the initial pouring of steel to increase the cleanliness of the traditionally cast steels.