2018 Volume 72 Issue 1 Pages 197-203
We have developed an original theory of void fraction for particles with different size distributions, which is derived using a statistical method by applying the fundamental theory given by M. Suzuki. As the void fraction depends on the size distribution function, the use of this original theory enables the calculation of the void fraction of a particle system. This theory can also be applied to the calculation of the density of a multi-component mixture system by considering its size distribution function. The software that is based on this theory calculates the void fraction and the average coordination number of particle systems with any arbitrary size distribution. It can handle up to 20 size distribution datasets, and each size distribution dataset supports up to 200 particle sizes. The application of the original theory enables the calculation of the interparticle distance and the moisture distribution of cement powder paste depending on the size distribution. The moisture distribution and average interparticle distance of cement powder has been calculated and found to vary in accordance with the water-cement ratio. As a result, it has emerged that the real interparticle distance is represented by taking the geometric mean as the interparticle distance, because the theoretical moisture distribution using the geometric mean as the interparticle distance is nearly equal to calculated moisture distribution using the mean distance approximation at any water-cement ratio.
