The aim of the present study was to investigate the tableting behavior of Ibuprofen DC 85 W with special focus on the tablet disintegration time, the tablet crushing strength, and the sticking tendency to punch surfaces. To simulate production conditions, tableting was conducted on a rotary press, equipped with three compaction stations. An I-optimal design of experiments was used to analyze the influence of the pre-compaction, the intermediate compaction, and the main compaction force on the two responses: tablet disintegration time and crushing strength. It was shown that Ibuprofen DC 85 W showed a good tableting behavior with regard to both responses. The tablet disintegration was considerably affected by the maximum compaction force applied, but was also slightly affected by preceding compaction events. The tablet crushing strength was mainly affected by the maximum applied compaction force independent of the order of these forces. The sticking tendency of Ibuprofen DC 85 W was compared with that two other ibuprofen powder formulations in long-term tableting runs. Compared to the other two formulations, sticking was considerably lower with Ibuprofen DC 85 W. The sticking tendency was not influenced by the addition of an intermediate compaction force, but was remarkably reduced by the choice of the punch tip coating.
Keywords: DoE; Tableting; crushing strength; disintegration time; ibuprofen; multiple compaction; punch coating; sticking.