(680a) A Course at Purdue University on Particle, Powder, and Compact Characterization

Purdue’s Center for Particulate Products and Processes offers a dual-level course entitled “Particles, Powders, and Compact Characterization” every other spring. The goal of this course is to familiarize students with the properties and methods used to characterize the mechanical behavior of particles, powders, and compacts, with the intention of using these properties for process and performance design. Topics covered in the course include sampling, particle size and size distributions, particle shape, particle density, particle surface area, powder bulk density, powder compressibility, powder flow, compact elastic modulus, Poisson’s ratio, yield and fracture strength, viscoelasticity, and variation with porosity. Students work in small teams in the laboratory to measure sample properties in order to gain hands-on experience using standard laboratory equipment. In addition, students also develop small computational projects related to characterization. Students who have enrolled in the course have been from aerospace, mechanical, chemical, agricultural and biological, and materials engineering, as well as industrial and physical pharmacy, reflecting the inter-disciplinary nature of the course topics. Students successfully completing the course are able to: (1) define and describe the significant properties of particles, powders, and compacts, (2) describe and demonstrate techniques used to measure these properties, and (3) demonstrate how these properties are useful in product and manufacturing performance.