Finite Element Analysis of Extrinsic Parameters on the Onset of Tensile Strength in Powders

Most food, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries rely heavily on the supply of free-flowing powders that finds their application in raw materials, additives, and manufactured products. Improper storage conditions combined with environmental factors affect the free-flowing ability of powders. An undesirable transforma-tion of these free-flowing powders into a coherent mass that resists flow is called caking. An important met-ric that can be used to measure the caking propensity of a material is the tensile strength, which is essentially the resistant stress needed to separate two layers of materials using an isostatic tensile strain. Even though several models have quantified the propensity of caking, the complex nature of interactions between the powder and its micro-environment makes the prediction of caking a challenging task. In the present work, the onset of tensile strength in isomalt with changes in temperature, relative humidity, and consolidation pressures using a shear cell was modeled using a finite element approach. The study found that at a consolidation pressure of 3 kPa and relative humidity of 85 +/- 0.1%, an increase in temperature by 5 degrees C increased the tensile strength of isomalt by a factor of 2. On the other hand, at a constant temperature of 25 degrees C, an increase in relative humidity from 85 +/- 0.1% to 86 +/- 0.1% registered an increase in tensile strength by 42.7%. This study also found that an increase in consolidation pressure from 3 kPa to 6 and 9 kPa increased the tensile strength by a factor of 1.79 and 2.54, respectively. The model had good agreement with the meas-urements and had an overall MAPE of 12.13%. This model can be applied to study the influence of extrinsic parameters on the propensity of caking during storage of bulk solids.(c) 2022 American Pharmacists Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study focuses on the caking propensity of isomalt under different temperature, relative humidity, and consolidation pressures. It was found that an increase in temperature and consolidation pressure led to an increase in tensile strength, while an increase in relative humidity also contributed to the increase in tensile strength. The model developed in this study showed good agreement with the measurements and can be used to analyze the influence of extrinsic parameters on caking during the storage of bulk solids.