Interparticle contact forces in fine cohesive powders. Theory and experiments

The flow of fine powders is strongly influenced by interparticle contact forces. Depending on the interparticle load force the contact behavior can be elastic, fully plastic or elasto‐plastic. We propose a model for the elasto‐plastic loading regime that yields a nonlinear dependence of the interparticle adhesion force on the interparticle load force. Interparticle forces are also obtained experimentally. Theoretical results are in reasonable agreement with experimental data.