Computer Simulation of WC Powder Size Distributions

Abstract

A computer program has been written to produce simulated images of powder size distributions using a fast, transputer based image processing system. The images can be displayed in monochrome for comparison with scanning electron micrographs or in size coded colour to illustrate the distribution width. The technique has been used to generate images from number or mass distributions obtained from a variety of instrumental and microscopical powder sizing methods, in order to clarify the advantages and disadvantages of the various methods. For example, serious problems have been identified with the data obtained from a laser diffraction method for powder sizing in class sizes below about 0·5 μm. PM/0605