Rupture testing, synonymous with puncture strength testing, is used to determine the puncture or rupture characteristics of a material. This is generally a compressive test, when a material is compressed by a probe or other type of device until the material ruptures or until an elongation limit is achieved.

Rupture testing is commonly used to determine the strength of a material such as film, rubber or membrane. It is also often used in the food processing industry to determine the texture or ripeness of a product. Puncture testing may be used in medical applications for determining the sharpness of a syringe, scalpel or blade or to measure the resistance of pliability of synthetic skin.

Typical graph showing a compress to rupture test: