Maximum Tensile Strength if the Pore Volume is Filled with a Liquid

2 Maximum Tensile Strength if the Pore Volume is Filled with a Liquid 

If the entire pore volume of the agglomerate is filled with a liquid such that concave menisci are formed at the agglomerate surface, a negative capillary pressure develops in the interior. Because the membrane forces at the surface are negligibly small in relation to the capillary pressure, the tensile strength of agglomerates filled with a liquid can be approximated by the capillary pressure  

Assuming that the pore diameter is characterized by the mean half hydraulic radius of the pore system, further assuming complete wetting and spherical monosized particles, the following equation is obtained  

Therefore, the maximum tensile strength of agglomerates filled with a liquid is proportional to a porosity function (1 -e)/e and the surface tension of the liquid a it is inversely proportional to the grain size x of the particles forming the agglomerate. The factor a has a value between 6 and 8. 

To correctly describe the capillary pressure and the tensile strength, a function of the wetting angle /(5) would have to be included in the above formula. This function equals one if the liquid completely wets the solid. 

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