Sample assessment
The source identifies a granular PI foam. No polymer grade, foam density or initial particle-size distribution is provided; the abbreviated material label is retained.
Analyst consideration: For foam particles, compression or deformation may compete with fracture. A useful assessment would distinguish persistent polymer fragments from agglomerates rather than infer the final distribution from appearance.
Recorded objective
The recorded fineness requirement was 5–10 µm.
Equipment and selection
The machine entry is XQM. TENCAN Vertical square planetary ball mill is associated at the recorded series level. No exact housing variant is inferred from jar capacity or an abbreviated machine label.
Test setup
| Jar entry | Corundum500 |
|---|---|
| Media entry | Zirconia 450 |
| Media-charge notation | 15-60/12-75/10-110/5-115/8-115 |
| Sample-load entry | 50 (unit not stated) |
| Controller speed setting | 500 |
| Cycle notation | 5/1 |
Unlabelled jar, media and load numbers remain source notation, not assigned units. Controller settings are not certified rpm. The cycle notation has no independently stated timing unit or reversing definition.
Recorded procedure and results
One sequence comprised seven hours of dry milling followed by five hours of alcohol-assisted wet milling, after which the sampled size was described as acceptable. The same record also states that direct vertical planetary milling for fifteen hours could meet the requirement. These are separate route descriptions, not a single twenty-seven-hour process.
Interpretation
The acceptance statement supports this material-specific trial, but the notebook gives no D50, D90 or maximum-size measurement. It does not establish that the full distribution lay within a 5–10 µm interval or that the two routes were equivalent.
Practical precautions
Confirm the PI grade and define the particle-size acceptance statistic. Keep the dry and wet routes separate in a repeat protocol, with solvent quantity and sample temperature recorded.
TENCAN alternatives to evaluate
TENCAN Laboratory Full-Directional Planetary Ball Mill. For low-density PI foam, added assembly tumbling can be evaluated for material redistribution. Compare the fifteen-hour accepted route with an independently specified QXQM charge. Assembly tumbling changes the orientation of the material bed; this could be evaluated where foam redistribution limits repeated media contact, without assuming the actual foam density or fracture behavior. This is an untested comparison proposal, not a result of this trial.
Association follows the explicit XQM source entry; only recorded tested series/configurations are related. No jar-volume inference.
About this trial
TENCAN laboratory trial, 2017–2020. Observations above come from this experimental record; selection considerations and proposed comparisons are engineering interpretation. Results apply to this sample and recorded conditions.