Fraunhofer ISC, Center for High Temperature Materials and Design HTL, Bayreuth
TOM_dry is used for the analysis and optimization of drying processes. Drying is necessary after wet forming processes before the green bodies can be debonded. It is time-consuming, energy-intensive and expensive. The drying behaviour of the green bodies is recorded in-situ by means of a precision subfloor scale and a climate-controlled measuring chamber. The flexible temperature control between room temperature and 150 °C as well as adjustable gas flow rates between 1 l/h and 16 l/h allow the adjustment of industry-relevant drying processes. In addition to air with a defined humidity, inert and reactive process gases can subject the sample to laminar gas flow. The volume of the chamber is 180x180x200 mm³, and the maximum sample weight is 250 g.
Using a special drying scale, component weight, flow speed, humidity and temperature can also be measured directly in industrial drying units. The weighing range of the scale can vary between 1 kg and 100 kg.
The measured data, together with other material data measured at Fraunhofer-center HTL such as green strength, viscoelastic material moduli and gas permeability, are employed in special FE models for drying with the goal of optimizing the drying conditions.