The flow characteristics of fine metal powders are important in filling dies for pressing of powder metallurgy compacts, which are later sintered and sometimes machined into finished parts. The flow rate determines the flow necessary for a precise quantity of powder to be introduced into the die.
The new standard, B964, Test Methods for Flow Rate of Metal Powders Using the Carney Funnel, will serve as a complement to standard B213, Test Method for Flow Rate of Metal Powders, when B213 cannot be used due to fine powders not flowing through the small-orifice Hall funnel. The Carney funnel has an orifice twice the diameter of the Hall.
“The B964 test method has already proved useful in measuring the flow characteristics of several relatively fine tungsten powders, with excellent precision,” says Frank Venskytis, formerly of Global Tungsten & Powders Corp, and a member of Committee B09 on Metal Powers and Metal Powder Products, which developed the standard.
B964 will be most useful to those who work with refractory metal powders and fine ferrous materials.