Computer simulation of tablet motion in coating drum.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose is to develop a new method of finding optimal conditions in tablet coating operations with the use of computer simulation.


METHODS
DEM(Discrete Element Method), which calculates trajectories of individual tablets by numerically integrating Newton's equations of motion, was used in this simulation.


RESULTS
The effects of tablet size, tablet loading, rotation speed on mean surface time, circulation time, and surface time deviation agree qualitatively with experimental results by other workers.


CONCLUSIONS
It is found that DEM is a useful method of predicting tablet motion in a coating drum.
Yamane
K
K
Department of Quality Control, Taiho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, Tokushima, Japan.
Sato
T
T
Tanaka
T
T
Tsuji
Y
Y
D003198:Computer Simulation; D004339:Drug Compounding / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D009038:Motion; D055585:Physical Phenomena; D010825:Physics; D012399:Rotation; D013607:Tablets; D013997:Time Factors
D013607:Tablets