Low pressure rheology of granular powders using a drawing plate technique

Abstract

An analysis of a drawing plate test for easily monitoring the low‐pressure frictional characteristics of powders is presented. The test is performed by measuring the force required to withdraw a plate from a cylindrical bed of dry powder. The characteristics of the drawing force profile are analyzed using Janssen's classical differential element approach to relate the product μK of powders as a function of packing of powder medium, where μ is the coefficient of friction of the powders against the solid drawing plate, and K is Janssen's constant, an anisotropic pressure distribution factor of a powder bed. The packing arrangement, expressed as the external void fraction, due to tapping, significantly alters the μK value and the effective sustaining strength of a powder bed. Experimental results on spherical glass beads having mono‐ and bimodal size distributions, and on three different poly (vinyl chloride) (PVC) powders are discussed. A spherical, high bulk density PVC powder has the combination of low μK and high, bulk density desirable for rigid powder compounding applications.