Flowability

When a rotary airlock valve leaks, wears, or jams, the cause usually lies in the powder rather than the equipment. This insight maps cohesion, abrasiveness, bulk density, and particle size distribution to distinct failure patterns and explains what each pattern tells you about the powder state.

An additive that improves powder flow or caking resistance can also increase [...]

Loose bulk density depends on how powder enters the measuring container. Funnel [...]

LFP cathode powder quality is built in stages, not inspected at the end. This article follows the precursor-to-powder route and shows why particle size distribution and tap density are the measurements that actually tell you whether the synthesis worked.

Fumed (colloidal) silica improves powder flow by separating host particles and reducing [...]

Drying does not always improve powder flow. Dissolved material can form solid [...]

Hausner ratio, shear cell, and dynamic flow energy results on the same PBF powder lot rarely agree exactly. That disagreement is a decision input, not proof that a method or lab got it wrong.

Wood powder can bridge because fibrous particles mechanically interlock, because moisture increases [...]

DEM input parameters are fitted to match a bulk observable, not derived from first principles. A parameter set calibrated against an angle of repose test constrains one point in a multi-dimensional parameter space. When the hopper geometry changes, the stress state changes, and unconstrained parameters become the dominant source of prediction error.

CFD-DEM simulations show triboelectrically charged particles can reverse direction in low-drag duct corner zones during pneumatic conveying, with the delay between feed pulses driving the effect more than pulse length.

LED-based particle image velocimetry (PIV) images the velocity field inside a moving powder bed during blending, adding spatial resolution that static angle of repose, Hausner ratio, and shear cell tests cannot provide. Here is what that resolution can and cannot support for a process decision.

In powder-fed laser cladding, a stable feeder setpoint and an in-spec particle size distribution do not guarantee a stable deposit. Catchment efficiency and stream divergence sit between the feeder and the melt pool, and both can drift independently of the powder's PSD.