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Effect of Particle Size on Void Fraction

Method · August 2023

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Perfil Liu
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APPLICATION NOTE

Effect of Particle Size on Void Fraction

Perfil Liu
Application Research Lab, Bettersize Instruments Ltd.

Abstract: The void fraction, an important powder packing property, has a direct impact on many of the powder
physical characteristics and applications. In order to demonstrate how the variation in powder particle size
affects its packing property, this application note illustrates the true density, skeletal density, tapped density, and
void fraction of glass beads at different particle sizes.

Introduction
The fundamental characteristic of dry powder is its
porosity, which typically only considers the fraction
of voids between the particles. This powder property
is very useful to comprehend the mechanical,
electrical, heat transfer, and flow properties of
the powder in many different fields, such as soil,
ceramic, metallurgy, pharmaceutical, etc.
packing void fraction; when it is in the tapped
packing state, its packing density is equal to its
tapped density and the void fraction is equal to the
tapped-packing void fraction; these values are as
follows:

The void fractions are related to particle shape,

p a r t i c l e s i ze , a n d p a c k i n g m o d e . I n o rd e r to
determine the void fraction, tapped density, bulk
density and skeletal density of packed powder are Where:
typically characterized. Therefore, the main goal of
this application note is to investigate the relationship εbulk = void fraction of bulk powder
between the particle size and the void fraction. εtapped = void fraction of tapped powder
VV = volume of void
V = volume of powder
Evaluation Parameters of Void Fraction
Vskeletal , ρskeletal = skeletal volume, skeletal density
The void fraction can be derived from the difference
between of bulk density or tapped density
Vbulk , ρbulk = bulk powder volume, bulk powder
and skeletal density. When the powder packs density
naturally, its packing density is equal to its bulk Vtapped , ρtapped = tapped powder volume, tapped
density, and its void fraction is equal to its bulk-
powder density

© Bettersize Instruments Ltd. 1

* Please refer to the introduction video for more
information on bulk density, tapped density, and
skeletal density on the Bettersize's YouTube channel.

Effect of Particle Size on Void Fraction

When it comes to the actual manufacturing process,
particle size, particle shape, moisture content and
wall effect, all play a significant role in how well the Figure 1. Microscopic images of glass bead samples
powder-packing property performs. (40x, Photoed by BeVison D1)

In this experiment, glass beads with various particle

sizes were examined. Their par ticle sizes and
circularity were first characterized by the image
analyzer BeVision S1, and the results are displayed
in Table 1 and Figure 1. It is clear that there was
little variation in the samples' circularity, and they
were all well-rounded. The bulk density and tapped
density were measured by using the Tapped Density
Tester BeDensi T2 Pro. The wall effect could be
disregarded because the employed cylinders were
24 mm in diameter and the ratio of the diameter
value to the D90 of sample is greater than 50. In fact,
when the ratio of container diameter to particle size
Figure 2. Particle size effects on sample void fraction
is greater than 50, it has been demonstrated that
the wall effect brought on by the container size can
be ignored. Prior to the test, the samples were also
dried at a high temperature to eliminate the impact of
water content on the test results. Therefore, particle
size is the primary factor affecting the void fraction
in this experiment, and the impact of particle size on
the void fraction can be further examined.

Table 1. Particle size and shape values of the glass

bead samples

Circularity
No. D10 (μm) D50 (μm) D90 (μm)
(S50)

#1 25.9 40.1 53.2 0.996

The BetterPyc 380 was used to test the skeletal

#2 54.8 60.1 65.8 0.996
density of samples, and the BeDensi T2 Pro for bulk
#3 60.9 65.7 71.4 0.998 density and tapped densities. The bulk-packing void
fraction and tapped-packing void fraction of the
#4 169.7 200.3 232.5 0.995 samples were calculated using equations (1) and (2),
respectively, and the results are displayed in Table
#5 400.2 433.5 474.2 0.994 2. The table shows that the skeletal density nearly

2 © Bettersize Instruments Ltd.

remained constant, but as the par ticle size Conclusion
decreased, the bulk density and tapped density
Characterizing the packing property of powder
decreased and the void fraction increased, as shown
with different particle sizes, including true density,
in Figure 2. The decrease in particle size significantly
tapped density, and bulk density, demonstrates how
raises the void fraction, particularly when comparing
important particle size is in affecting the packing
glass beads #1 and #2. This is due to the fact that
property of powders. Therefore, when developing or
when particle size is smaller, void fraction are larger.
producing powder products, the particle size can be
changed to optimize the powder packing property.

Table 2. Packing properties of glass bead samples

Sample ρskeletal (g/cm3) ρbulk (g/cm3) ρtapped (g/cm3) εbulk εtapped

#1 2.4839 1.31 1.49 0.474 0.402

#2 2.4869 1.39 1.51 0.441 0.393

#3 2.4860 1.41 1.53 0.438 0.386

#4 2.4842 1.45 1.55 0.418 0.378

#5 2.4851 1.47 1.58 0.408 0.364

© Bettersize Instruments Ltd. 3

 Bettersize Instruments Ltd.

Further information can be found at

https://www.bettersizeinstruments.com

Email: info@bettersize.com

Address: No. 9, Ganquan Road, Lingang Industrial Park,

Dandong, Liaoning, China

Postcode: 118009

Tel: +86-415-6163800

Fax: +86-415-6170645

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