Ask X3What does 49 CFR 178.603 (Drop test) require?
Generated guidance. Confirm the source and its applicability before you act. How we check sources.
As Ask X3, your fleet-compliance assistant, here is what 49 CFR 178.603 requires for the drop test:
* Purpose: The drop test must be conducted to qualify all packaging design types and performed periodically as specified in the regulations.
* Test Setup & Orientation: The center of gravity of the test packaging must be vertically over the point of impact (for other than flat drops), and you must use the orientation most likely to cause the packaging to fail. The target must be a rigid, non-resilient, flat, and horizontal surface.
* Sample Quantities and Drop Orientations: The number of samples and drop orientations vary by packaging type:
* Metal/Plastic Drums & Jerricans, Plywood Drums, Wooden Barrels, Fiber Drums, and Drum-shaped Composite Packagings: Requires 6 samples (3 for the first drop striking diagonally on the chime, circumferential seam, or edge; 3 for the second drop striking the weakest part not yet tested, like a closure or welded longitudinal seam).
* Boxes (Wood, Plywood, Reconstituted Wood, Fiberboard, Plastic, Metal) and Box-shaped Composite Packagings: Requires 5 samples tested one drop each: flat on the bottom, flat on the top, flat on the long side, flat on the short side, and on a corner.
* Single-ply Bags with a Side Seem: Requires 3 samples, with 3 drops per bag (flat on a wide face, flat on a narrow face, and on an end).
* Single-ply Bags without a Side Seem, or Multi-ply Bags: Requires 3 samples, with 2 drops per bag (flat on a wide face and on an end).
* Drop Height: The drop height (measured vertically from the target to the lowest point on the package) depends on the packing group and whether the contents are solids or liquids (with specific formulas applying if liquids have a specific gravity exceeding 1.2).
* Special Temperature Preparation: Plastic drums, plastic jerricans, plastic boxes (except expanded polystyrene), plastic composite packagings, and combination packagings with plastic inner packagings intended for solids or articles must have their temperature (and their contents' temperature) reduced to −18 °C (0 °F) or lower prior to testing.
* Passing Criteria: To pass the drop test according to 49 CFR 178.603, packages must generally not leak (for liquids once pressures equalize), must retain their contents (with specific rules for removable head drums, bags, composite packagings, and Class 1 explosives), and any discharge from a closure must be slight and cease immediately upon impact without further leakage.