The below passage is an excerpt of an article authored by Stable Micro Systems (SMS). To request the complete article, visit SMS’ website.
Measuring density is crucial in manufacturing many of today’s products.
Being able to characterize the structure and quality of solid materials quickly and efficiently can not only help guide development and manufacturing processes, but also influence the quality of the end
products.
In ceramic engineering, the most common method for producing ceramic components is to form a green body comprising a mixture of the ceramic material and various organic or inorganic additives, and then to fire it in a kiln to produce a strong, vitrified object. The measurement of bulk density of, for example, green ceramic tiles during production is a fundamental parameter for the quality of the product. The porosity of
freshly pressed ceramic bodies governs green tile behavior during the process (drying, glazing, and firing) and largely determines the properties of the final product. This makes it necessary to control tile porosity during shaping.
Due to the difficulty of measuring ceramic tile porosity, bulk density is the physical magnitude that is actually measured to control
the pressing stage. By measuring the density of the product, it becomes easier to regulate porosity and adjust formulations accordingly.
For example, decreases in density can signal the presence of voids, whereas increases may indicate that a process, such as a polymer approaching its crystalline state, is optimized. Density measurements must therefore be as accurate as possible, in order to reduce the number of cracks in the material which are proportional to the mechanical resistance and could potentially damage its structural integrity.
As such, monitoring density could not only help with quality control, but could also reduce waste for manufacturers. It is therefore important that optimum measurement procedures are followed in determining density.
Laser profiling has been pioneered as a non-contact, non-destructive method of measuring density, which is particularly suited to fragile samples, such as green compact ceramics. Laser scanning equipment removes many of the inaccuracies and limitations of traditional
density measurement techniques.
Stable Micro Systems’ Ceramscan is a benchtop laser-based scanner that measures the volume, density and dimensional profiles of solid products, and which provides such a solution.
The Ceramscan works by loading a sample onto one of several platform options. The desired settings can be simply entered into the software before running the test. Measurements are automatically produced
after each scan, including volume, surface area and density. It is also easier to compare samples of the same batch, as the mean, standard deviation and coefficient of variation are automatically calculated.
Besides the measurement of density and dimensional profiles, Stable Micro Systems manufactures instruments that measure the tensile and compressional properties of ceramics. As with any manufacturing
innovation, the end product must go through a quality control process to assess its physical properties.
A Texture Analyzer is a crucial part of this procedure, giving a reliable way to test the mechanical properties of ceramic objects by applying a choice of compression, tension, extrusion, adhesion, bending or cutting tests to measure a product’s physical properties, e.g. tensile strength, flexural modulus, fracturability, compressibility, to name but a few.
To request more information on density measurement and other topics, contact your TTC rep to learn more!
