Inspecting Powders - A New Opportunity

By Robert McGregor, General Manager, Brookfield Engineering Laboratories, Inc.

Advances in powder flow measurement using shear cell technology now make it possible to consider this technique for both incoming inspection and final product acceptance. Why? Shear cells have become affordable devices in recent years, selling for under $20,000. Friendly user interface and repeatable results in test data for powder flowability have given R&D the confidence that this method is more discriminating that traditional practices like flow cup, angle of repose and tap test. The one missing capability for practical use by Quality Control has been speed of test. That has now been solved with quick test times on the order of 10 to 16 minutes per sample.