Browse PTI technical publications

A Pharmaceutical Research study trained Random Forest and XGBoost classifiers on particle size, shape, surface energy, and silica dry-coating data to predict powder blend flowability category. The accuracy holds up as a screening tool and breaks down in specific, predictable places.

Cold spray coatings form only when particles clear a critical impact velocity, a threshold set by material properties, particle size and morphology, and native oxide condition. This article looks at what powder-side QC can flag before a spray trial, and where it stops short of predicting deposition efficiency.

Triboelectric separation turns contact electrification from a handling hazard into a deliberate sorting mechanism. This article covers how material pairs are selected by charge polarity, what feed moisture and particle size do to separation efficiency, and where the technique sits relative to density and optical sorting.

Pairing laser diffraction with dynamic image analysis adds per-particle shape descriptors, aspect ratio, circularity, convexity, that help explain an anomalous D50 or D90 and show where the combined result still cannot replace a dedicated particle morphology study.

FDA's proposed hub-and-spoke registration rule treats geographically separate manufacturing units as one establishment. The registration paperwork is new; proving that blend uniformity, granulation endpoints, and moisture behavior actually match between sites is the older, harder problem.

Gas pycnometry and BET surface area each report a single number. X-ray micro-CT builds a three-dimensional map of the pore network, showing connectivity, tortuosity, and closed porosity that single-value tests cannot resolve, within real resolution and sample-size limits.

AIR7359 explains why AMS-AM metal powder feedstock specifications leave certain properties uncontrolled, citing limited applicability and immature standardized inspection methods, and what that gap means for aerospace AM qualification programs.

Powder spreading in powder bed fusion is a recoater-powder interaction shaped by cohesion, particle size distribution, and particle shape. This article maps streaking, short-feeding, and layer non-uniformity back to their underlying mechanisms and separates powder-driven causes from blade wear and spreading speed.

Dynamic and aerated powder testing measures basic flow energy and specific energy to fill the gap between shear cell consolidation data and Hausner ratio screening, particularly for fluidized processing and rapid-refill feeding.

Single-contact electrification apparatus measures charge transfer from one controlled particle-surface or particle-particle contact, isolating a variable that bulk triboelectric and charge decay measurements can only report as an average.

As aerospace metal additive manufacturing capacity expands, more reused powder is going back into qualified builds. The virgin-to-reused blend ratio decision depends on PSD shift, satellite formation, and morphology drift, and cannot be settled by a single powder check disconnected from the part's stress state.

Two lots that pass the same incoming flowability spec can still granulate differently after roller compaction. The reason usually traces to ribbon density, which responds to roll force, gap width, and feed screw speed as an interacting set, not to roll pressure in isolation.