PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

P J Woodhead

Publications and source records attributed to P J Woodhead.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1984

The effect of sinusoidal vibration on the uniformity of packing of powder beds.

Sinusoidal vibration, at a number of defined sets of conditions, has been applied to packings of certain particle size fractions of lactose. The distribution of local porosity within these vibrated packings was determined using a gamma-ray attenuation technique, and could be compared with porosity data for samples not subjected to vibration. It was found that the application of vibration in a vertical mode markedly increased the uniformity of packing; horizontal vibration was less effective in this respect. The relationship between local porosity and position with a packing, observed in most non-vibrated samples, was generally absent from vibrated packings.

Chemistry, Pharmaceutical↗
PubMed1983

The vibratory consolidation of particle size fractions of powders.

The use of controlled sinusoidal vibration as a means of consolidating packings of lactose within small containers has been examined. Vertical vibration was found significantly more effective and reproducible than horizontal vibration in terms of the degree of consolidation achieved. An optimum frequency range was identified within which the densification was greatest, and this range was largely independent of particle size for particle size fractions of mean volume diameters ranging from 15.6 to 155 micrometers. The consolidation increased with increasing vibration acceleration up to a level beyond which no further decrease in porosity resulted. Typical effective vibration conditions were characterized by amplitudes of an order of magnitude similar to the particle sizes studied. For particle size fractions of mean diameters 17.8, 37.5 and 80.8 micrometers, there is evidence that an optimum particle size range exists, within which energy requirements for consolidation are at a minimum.

Lactose↗
PubMed1983

The influence of deposition method on the packing uniformity of powder beds.

A number of methods of preparing powder packings have been assessed in terms of the resulting variability of local porosity. Measurement of local porosity was carried out by a gamma-ray attenuation technique. It was found that overall porosity and the distribution of local porosity were highly dependent on particle properties and deposition method. Some deposition methods tended to give rise to the alternate formation and collapse of temporary structures within a growing bed, and in such cases, relatively high variability of local porosity was detected. More uniform packings could be formed by deposition of powder in even layers. In many cases, a significant relationship between local porosity and position within a packing was established, the central areas generally being of lowest porosity. This was true of packings both of high and low overall variability of porosity.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1982

Determination of porosity variations in powder beds.

A gamma-ray attenuation technique for detecting local porosity variations in packings of pharmaceutical powders has been developed and assessed. It proved necessary to employ an empirical expression describing the attenuation coefficient of the model material, lactose, as a function of porosity. The precision of measurement of local porosity can be pre-selected due to the statistical basis of the method, and local porosity measurements with 95% confidence intervals of +/- 0.005 can readily be carried out. A method of producing grey-scale images of porosity distributions has been employed to enable the degree of inhomogeneity of a powder bed to be seen.

Gamma Rays↗