CHARACTERIZATION OF POWDER PARTICLE MORPHOLOGY

Abstract

Technological properties of powders depend on their granulometry and particle morphology. Most of the image analysis methods provide only average size parameters (diameter, area, perimeter, etc.) which are often inadequate for characterizing the morphology of the particles. For particle abrasivity characterization, angularity factors are more sensitive. This paper studies different parameters for describing the hardmetal powder granulometry and morphology. The main aim is to find numerical descriptors for the shape factors that adequately characterize the hardmetal powders produced by the mechanical method milling in a disintegrator. For the characterization of the powder particle morphology, irregularity parameter IP (relation of the diameters of the maximum inscribed and minimum circumscribed circles) suits best, taking into account the ellipticity and irregularity of the particle form. For describing the angularity of ground powders, the so-called spike parameter quadratic fit can be used.