Producing strong, high-quality pellets often depends on costly trial and error. Through her doctoral work, Prutha Nagaraja investigated how material properties and processing conditions influence pellet formation, providing new insights that could help industries optimize production processes more efficiently.
What are the most important or interesting results?
One of the most important results is the development of a simpler approach to model the compaction behaviour of plastic additive powders using the Drucker–Prager Cap model. The method uses data from relatively simple experimental equipment instead of more complex and specialized testing machine. This makes it possible to predict powder compaction behaviour with fewer experimental requirements. The research also showed that temperature significantly influences pellet formation and strength.
What was the goal of the doctoral work?
The goal was to better understand how material properties and processing conditions influence powder compression and pellet formation, and to develop a predictive modelling approach that can help improve the pelletization process.
Why is this research important?
Pelletizations is widely used to convert powders into easier-to-handle, transportable products. However, optimizing the process often relies on trial and error. This research provides a better understanding of powder behaviour and tools that could help industries improve pellet quality, reduce experimental effort, and develop more efficient pelletization processes.
Prutha Nagaraja will defend her PhD thesis "Experimental Investigation and Constitutive Modelling of Plastic Additive Pelletization" on 13 November 2026. Read more about the event here.