Objective
Explore the impact of powder flow properties such as flow energy and compressibility on the performance characteristics of foundation powders such as cake strength and pay‐off.
Methods
FT4 Powder Rheometer from Freeman Technology was utilized to explore various powder compositions. The three major tests performed were flowability test, compressibility test and shear cell test.
Results
The results highlight that the sample which has higher compressibility has the better cake strength, and the sample which requires lower total energy has better pay‐off. Particles or samples with lower total flow energy, should have easier flow, therefore, should have better pay‐off. Samples and components with higher compressibility, should hold the structure better, therefore, should have better cake strength. Talc has the highest compressibility and lowest flow energy. Foundation sample 5 has the highest concentration of talc and also has the best performance.
Conclusion
The lower the total flow energy, the easier it is for the powder to flow, and have better pay‐off. Powder compressibility correlates with cake strength which means that a sample with better compressibility consequently has the better cake strength. Samples 5 and 10 require less total flow energy, have lower shear stress, and higher compressibility, therefore, have better final performance. Both samples 5 and 10 have higher talc concentrations compared to other formulations.