The Effect of Agglomeration on the Flowability of Powder

Abstract

Shear tests were performed on a powder bed made of a dispersed powder and of an agglomerate powder, respectively. These results are compared each other, and the effects of agglomeration on the flowability of the powder are discussed. In the region of low preconsolidation stress, agglomeration affects the results of the shear test, that is, when the powder exists as an agglomeration, the shear stress of failure is lower, and the slope of P. Y. L. is smaller. For the dispersed powder, the flow index (FI) obtained from the results of the shear test is nearly constant and not greatly affected by the preconsolidation stress. It was shown that for the cohesive and agglomerate powder, FI is considerably affected by agglomeration, that is, the value of FI increases as the preconsolidaton stress becomes larger.