In materials science, bulk density, also called apparent density, is a material property defined as the mass of the many particles of the material divided by the bulk volume. Bulk volume is defined as the total volume the particles occupy, including particle's own volume, inter-particle void volume, and the particles' internal pore volume.[1]
Bulk density is not the same as the particle density, which is an intrinsic property of the solid and does not include the volume for voids between particles (see: density of non-compact materials). Bulk density is an extrinsic property of a material; it can change depending on how the material is handled. For example, a powder poured into a cylinder will have a particular bulk density; if the cylinder is disturbed, the powder particles will move and usually settle closer together, resulting in a higher bulk density. For this reason, the bulk density of powders is usually reported both as "freely settled" (or "poured" density) and "tapped" density (where the tapped density refers to the bulk density of the powder after a specified compaction process, usually involving vibration of the container.[2])
The bulk density of soil depends greatly on the mineral make up of soil and the degree of compaction.[3] The density of quartz is around 2.65g/cm3 but the (dry) bulk density of a mineral soil is normally about half that density, between 1.0 and 1.6g/cm3. In contrast, soils rich in soil organic carbon and some friable clays tend to have lower bulk densities (<1.0g/cm3) due to a combination of the low-density of the organic materials themselves and increased porosity. For instance, peat soils have bulk densities from 0.02 to 0.98g/cm3.[4] In a detailed study which has used 6,000 analysed samples in the European Union, a high resolution map (100m) of soil bulk density for the 0-20cm using regression model.[5] Croplands have almost 1.5 times higher bulk density compared to woodlands.
Bulk density of soil is usually determined from a core sample which is taken by driving a metal corer into the soil at the desired depth and horizon.[6] This gives a soil sample of known total volume, Vt. From this sample the wet bulk density and the dry bulk density can be determined.[7]
For the wet bulk density (total bulk density) this sample is weighed, giving the mass Mt. For the dry bulk density, the sample is oven dried and weighed, giving the mass of soil solids, Ms. The relationship between these two masses is Mt = Ms + Ml, where Ml is the mass of substances lost on oven drying (often, mostly water). The dry and wet bulk densities are calculated as
Dry bulk density = mass of soil/ volume as a whole
Wet bulk density = mass of soil plus liquids/ volume as a whole
The dry bulk density of a soil is inversely related to the porosity of the same soil: the more pore space in a soil the lower the value for bulk density. Bulk density of a region in the interior of the Earth is also related to the seismic velocity of waves travelling through it: for P-waves, this has been quantified with Gardner's relation. The higher the density, the faster the velocity.
Density is a substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ρ, although the Latin letter D can also be used. Mathematically, density is defined as mass divided by volume:
Relative density, also called specific gravity, is a dimensionless quantity defined as the ratio of the density of a substance to the density of a given reference material. Specific gravity for liquids is nearly always measured with respect to water at its densest ; for gases, the reference is air at room temperature. The term "relative density" is often preferred in scientific usage, whereas the term "specific gravity" is deprecated.
Sintering or frittage is the process of compacting and forming a solid mass of material by pressure or heat without melting it to the point of liquefaction. Sintering happens as part of a manufacturing process used with metals, ceramics, plastics, and other materials. The nanoparticles in the sintered material diffuse across the boundaries of the particles, fusing the particles together and creating a solid piece.
Powder metallurgy (PM) is a term covering a wide range of ways in which materials or components are made from metal powders. PM processes can reduce or eliminate the need for subtractive processes in manufacturing, lowering material losses and reducing the cost of the final product.
A slurry is a mixture of denser solids suspended in liquid, usually water. The most common use of slurry is as a means of transporting solids or separating minerals, the liquid being a carrier that is pumped on a device such as a centrifugal pump. The size of solid particles may vary from 1 micrometre up to hundreds of millimetres. The particles may settle below a certain transport velocity and the mixture can behave like a Newtonian or non-Newtonian fluid. Depending on the mixture, the slurry may be abrasive and/or corrosive.
Soil mechanics is a branch of soil physics and applied mechanics that describes the behavior of soils. It differs from fluid mechanics and solid mechanics in the sense that soils consist of a heterogeneous mixture of fluids and particles but soil may also contain organic solids and other matter. Along with rock mechanics, soil mechanics provides the theoretical basis for analysis in geotechnical engineering, a subdiscipline of civil engineering, and engineering geology, a subdiscipline of geology. Soil mechanics is used to analyze the deformations of and flow of fluids within natural and man-made structures that are supported on or made of soil, or structures that are buried in soils. Example applications are building and bridge foundations, retaining walls, dams, and buried pipeline systems. Principles of soil mechanics are also used in related disciplines such as geophysical engineering, coastal engineering, agricultural engineering, hydrology and soil physics.
Tilth is a physical condition of soil, especially in relation to its suitability for planting or growing a crop. Factors that determine tilth include the formation and stability of aggregated soil particles, moisture content, degree of aeration, soil biota, rate of water infiltration and drainage. Tilth can change rapidly, depending on environmental factors such as changes in moisture, tillage and soil amendments. The objective of tillage is to improve tilth, thereby increasing crop production; in the long term, however, conventional tillage, especially plowing, often has the opposite effect, causing the soil carbon sponge to oxidize, break down and become compacted.
Water content or moisture content is the quantity of water contained in a material, such as soil, rock, ceramics, crops, or wood. Water content is used in a wide range of scientific and technical areas, and is expressed as a ratio, which can range from 0 to the value of the materials' porosity at saturation. It can be given on a volumetric or mass (gravimetric) basis.
A fluidized bed is a physical phenomenon that occurs when a solid particulate substance is under the right conditions so that it behaves like a fluid. The usual way to achieve a fluidized bed is to pump pressurized fluid into the particles. The resulting medium then has many properties and characteristics of normal fluids, such as the ability to free-flow under gravity, or to be pumped using fluid technologies.
Coal analysis techniques are specific analytical methods designed to measure the particular physical and chemical properties of coals. These methods are used primarily to determine the suitability of coal for coking, power generation or for iron ore smelting in the manufacture of steel.
Soil morphology is the branch of soil science dedicated to the technical description of soil, particularly physical properties including texture, color, structure, and consistence. Morphological evaluations of soil are typically performed in the field on a soil profile containing multiple horizons.
Soil chemistry is the study of the chemical characteristics of soil. Soil chemistry is affected by mineral composition, organic matter and environmental factors. In the early 1870s a consulting chemist to the Royal Agricultural Society in England, named J. Thomas Way, performed many experiments on how soils exchange ions, and is considered the father of soil chemistry. Other scientists who contributed to this branch of ecology include Edmund Ruffin, and Linus Pauling.
A sieve analysis is a practice or procedure used in civil engineering and chemical engineering to assess the particle size distribution of a granular material by allowing the material to pass through a series of sieves of progressively smaller mesh size and weighing the amount of material that is stopped by each sieve as a fraction of the whole mass.
Effective porosity is most commonly considered to represent the porosity of a rock or sediment available to contribute to fluid flow through the rock or sediment, or often in terms of "flow to a borehole". Porosity that is not considered "effective porosity" includes water bound to clay particles and isolated "vuggy" porosity. The effective porosity is of great importance in considering the suitability of rocks or sediments as oil or gas reservoirs, or as aquifers.
The particle mass density or particle density of a material is the mass density of the particles that make up the powder. Particle density is in contrast to the bulk density, which measures the average density of a large volume of the powder in a specific medium.
The pore space of soil contains the liquid and gas phases of soil, i.e., everything but the solid phase that contains mainly minerals of varying sizes as well as organic compounds.
Particle technology is the "science and technology related to the handling and processing of particles and powders." This applies to the production, handling, modification, and use of a wide variety of particulate materials, both wet or dry, in sizes ranging from nanometers to centimeters; its scope spans a range of industries to include chemical, petrochemical, agricultural, food, pharmaceuticals, mineral processing, civil engineering, advanced materials, energy, and the environment.
Porosity or void fraction is a measure of the void spaces in a material, and is a fraction of the volume of voids over the total volume, between 0 and 1, or as a percentage between 0% and 100%. Strictly speaking, some tests measure the "accessible void", the total amount of void space accessible from the surface.
The physical properties of soil, in order of decreasing importance for ecosystem services such as crop production, are texture, structure, bulk density, porosity, consistency, temperature, colour and resistivity. Soil texture is determined by the relative proportion of the three kinds of soil mineral particles, called soil separates: sand, silt, and clay. At the next larger scale, soil structures called peds or more commonly soil aggregates are created from the soil separates when iron oxides, carbonates, clay, silica and humus, coat particles and cause them to adhere into larger, relatively stable secondary structures. Soil bulk density, when determined at standardized moisture conditions, is an estimate of soil compaction. Soil porosity consists of the void part of the soil volume and is occupied by gases or water. Soil consistency is the ability of soil materials to stick together. Soil temperature and colour are self-defining. Resistivity refers to the resistance to conduction of electric currents and affects the rate of corrosion of metal and concrete structures which are buried in soil. These properties vary through the depth of a soil profile, i.e. through soil horizons. Most of these properties determine the aeration of the soil and the ability of water to infiltrate and to be held within the soil.
Liquid phase sintering is a sintering technique that uses a liquid phase to accelerate the interparticle bonding of the solid phase. In addition to rapid initial particle rearrangement due to capillary forces, mass transport through liquid is generally orders of magnitude faster than through solid, enhancing the diffusional mechanisms that drive densification. The liquid phase can be obtained either through mixing different powders—melting one component or forming a eutectic—or by sintering at a temperature between the liquidus and solidus. Additionally, since the softer phase is generally the first to melt, the resulting microstructure typically consists of hard particles in a ductile matrix, increasing the toughness of an otherwise brittle component. However, liquid phase sintering is inherently less predictable than solid phase sintering due to the complexity added by the presence of additional phases and rapid solidification rates. Activated sintering is the solid-state analog to the process of liquid phase sintering.
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