1984 Volume 17 Issue 1 Pages 20-26
Mullite beads (2.38-2.83 mm in diameter) whose shapes are irregular but close to spherical were repeatedly separated with an inclined rotary disk. The disk was tilted at 4.5° to the horizontal and rotated at 6.5 rpm. After 10 separations, the beads were finally classified into two groups: highly spherical particles and others. The shapes of these particle projections were analyzed and several linear discriminant functions (LDF) for particle shape were determined. The degree of sphericity and separation efficiency were evaluated and the effects of shape indices on the separation and discrimination were studied. Variances of sphericity between the classified groups of particles are larger than those of surface roughness and elongation. The shapes of mullite beads are satisfactorily discriminated with an LDF composed of two indices on global sphericity. The separation efficiency can also be evaluated by using the same LDF.
