24-hour Delayed Drop Test Is Abandoned By Coe

Drop testing protocol for performance standards does not specify a time at which the test is to be performed after fabrication. A recent proposal had been brought to the United Nations Committee of Experts to perform this test 24-hours after the container was prepared for testing. Determined to establish the most critical time to perform the Open Head Drop Test for a liquid, some testing was completed at the US-DOT Tobyhanna Test Laboratories. In question was whether drums dropped 24-hours after closing would fail the drop where drums closed and dropped immediately might pass. The end results showed that, in fact, the opposite condition existed and that the most difficult time to perform the drop test would be at the time of initial closure. As a result of this finding and that of other test laboratories, the 24-Hour Delay proposal was abandoned by the UN Committee of Experts.