Validation of a digital packing algorithm in predicting powder packing densities

DigiPac is a particle packing algorithm based on a digital approach to represent particle shape, packing space and particle movements. It is capable of packing particles of arbitrary shapes and sizes in a container of arbitrary geometry. A number of case studies have been performed to validate this digital approach, some of which are reported in this paper to show that with DigiPac shape factors used by many traditional models for predicting packing density become redundant. It also demonstrates that for polydisperse mixtures of non-spherical particles, a single size distribution measured using conventional means (e.g. light scattering) is inadequate for the purpose of predicting packing properties. © 2006 Published by Elsevier B.V.