ABSTRACT

Modern medicine and pharmaceutics have far surpassed the days of tonics and teas,

plasters, and compresses. Since the advent of the tablet, the solid dosage form has

remained the most popular drug delivery system, comprising over 80% of all ethical and

generic preparations produced today. As it is rare for pre-blended and sized material to be

available in the ideal form for tableting, the introduction of solid dose forms placed a

demand upon industry for the design and development of new size reduction technology.

This in turn motivated the research into the science of size reduction and powder

behavior. Progress has been made towards understanding fracture mechanics, static

energy, and agglomeration of particles. There are still areas of size reduction that are not

fully understood due to the dynamic nature of crystals and powder blends.