PMC: Modeling particle size distribution of metal powders

Different applications require different types of metal powders. Consequently characterization of powder properties is instrumental for quality control and product performance. In general powder characterization may be divided into chemical and physical characterization. This project is focusing on physical characterization and more specifically particle size distribution. The size distribution (typically ranging from 5µm to 400µm) together with particle shape strongly affect the performance of the powder in applications, such as mentioned above. The project objective is to link particle size distribution measured by two different methods to determine the level of correlation for powders with different shapes and size distributions. The project involves selecting a number of different standard powder grades and getting familiar with the two most common methods for measuring size distribution, sieve analysis and laser diffraction. On a theoretical level the project covers experimental planning, statistics, principles of the two measuring methods and multivariate data analysis (regression analysis and Principal Component Analysis, PCA). Experimental work will include selecting and retrieving powder samples from production, sub-sampling and carrying out measurements of size distribution.

Contacts
Questions regarding the scope of the project may be directed to:

Ola Litström
Global Development
042-338944
[email protected]