Design and fabrication of permeability apparatus for determination of permeability of porous ceramics

Abstract

Permeability measurement determines the pore size and pore connectivity is an important characterization for porous materials. For the measurement of permeability highly sophisticated & expensive instrument are commercially available for research purpose but for undergraduate level research the purchase of this equipment is an expensive affair though the working principle of the apparatus is very simple. So an attempt has been made to design and fabricate a permeability measurement set up for undergraduate level research work at very low cost using Darcy’s equation as basic principle. Initial sketches and designs were drawn manually on the basis of text book diagrams and research papers. Subsequently the designs were analysed with respect to ease of fabrication, cost and adaptability to various size of samples. Finally the final design was selected out of 3 designs and the three dimensional design of the final design was made using CATIA (version 5) software, after which the equipment was fabricated using brass. Brass is used for its easy machinability and long life. The measured permeability showed similar trend for similar sample measured by other equipment (Mercury porosimetry).