SVWT - Sieve Analysis Wet Test

Also called "Sieve Analysis Water Washed".
A set of numbers representing the percentage of material particles retained on each sieve in a stack of interlocked sieves with successively finer openings. The material is slaked and washed through the stack of sieves. Each percentage value should show the screen size. Use this for presentation on data sheets, use the SIEV test if you are managing the measurement and collection of the actual data.

This is what labs use to measure particle size

Two example of high quality brass laboratory sieves

To measure particle size in a slurry or powder you need sieves. This is the most popular type used in labs. They are made from brass by a company named Tyler. The range of screen sizes for testing particle size is very wide (obvious here: the top screen has an opening of 56 mm, the bottom one 0.1 mm - the wires are almost too small to see). You can often buy these used on Ebay for a lot less than new ones, search for "tyler sieve". The finer sieves (especially 200) are fragile and more easily ripped. For potters it is good to have a 50, 100 and 150.

A root-of-two series of test sieves

The coarsest screen is at the top, the finest on the bottom. The top one has an opening of 425 microns (thus 425 micron and finer particles will pass through it, +425 micron particles will not). Its opening area is 180,000 square microns (425x425). Going downward, the openings have areas half that of the one above (thus, for the second, the opening area is 300x300=90,000 microns). Structural products industries, like brick, measure coarser particles than this, using 10-70 mesh. Using this series one can produce a standard measurement of the distribution of particle sizes in a material powder. The finer sieves (from 100-325) are only practical for wet processing (where the powder is water washed through the stack). In Insight-live the SIEV test (water washed) uses this series of sieves.

Variables

VAL - Value (V)

Related Information

Links

Articles	Simple Physical Testing of Clays Learn to test your clay bodies and clay materials and record the results in an organized way, understanding the purpose of each test and how to relate its results to changes that need to be made in process, recipe and materials.
Tests	% Passing 325 Mesh Wet
Tests	Hegman Fineness
Tests	Sieve Analysis 35-325 Wet A measure of particle size distribution by washing a powdered or slaked sample through a series of successively finer sieves
Typecodes	Particle Tests Tests conducted to determine particle populations, sizes, shapes, densities, surface areas, etc.
Glossary	Particle Size Distribution Knowing the distribution of particle sizes in a ceramic material is often very important in assessing its function and suitability for an application.
Glossary	Sieve Sieves are important in ceramics for removing particulates and agglomerates from glaze, engobe and body slurries.

By Tony Hansen
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