A vibrating tube method for evaluating flowability of a small amount of sample particles

To reduce the sample amount required for the measurement and evaluation of particle flowability, a simple method has been developed through experimental research. The principle of this measurement is based on the vibrating tube method. The sample particles used in the experiment were pulverized ZrO2 and granulated WO3 with different concentration of fine particles. After a small amount of sample particles were put into a tube, vibration was applied at a constant frequency and amplitude, and the mass of particles discharged from the tube was measured at constant time intervals. The experimental results showed that the minimum sample amount required for the measurement to evaluate the particle flowability was 10 g. The factors to evaluate the flowability in this simple vibrating tube method were the flow time and the characteristic mass flow rate.