Flowability that quantifies the flow behaviour of powders is an important material attribute for such applications as packing, hopper flow and powder transport. It is also one of the critical material attributes of pharmaceutical formulations for solid dosage forms. It is anticipated that size enlargement via dry/wet granulation will improve the flowability of feed powders, but it is still unclear how significant the flowability can be enhanced. Therefore, in this study, an experimental investigation was performed to explore how dry granulation affects the flowability of pharmaceutical powders, such as microcrystalline cellulose (MCCs), mannitol and lactose. Both as-received powders and binary mixtures were considered. Granules of various sizes were produced using roll compaction followed by ribbon milling, and the flowability of as-received powders and produced granules was characterised using two methods: 1) the critical filling speed measured using a model die filling system and 2) the flow index measured using a Flodex tester. It was shown that the flowability increases as the size of the granules increases for all materials considered. Furthermore, it was found that there is a strong correlation between the critical filling speed and the flow index: the critical filling speed is proportional to the flow index to a power of − 5/2.

中文翻译：

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干法制粒对充模过程中药粉流动行为的影响

量化粉末流动行为的流动性是包装、料斗流动和粉末输送等应用的重要材料属性。它也是固体剂型药物制剂的关键材料属性之一。预计通过干/湿法制粒来增大尺寸将改善饲料粉末的流动性，但目前尚不清楚流动性可以提高到什么程度。因此，在本研究中，进行了一项实验研究，以探讨干法制粒如何影响微晶纤维素 (MCC)、甘露醇和乳糖等药物粉末的流动性。考虑了原样粉末和二元混合物。使用辊压和带式研磨生产各种尺寸的颗粒，使用两种方法表征原样粉末和生产颗粒的流动性：1) 使用模型模具填充系统测量的临界填充速度和 2) 使用 Flodex 测试仪测量的流动指数。结果表明，对于所有考虑的材料，流动性随着颗粒尺寸的增加而增加。此外，还发现临界填充速度和流动指数之间存在很强的相关性：临界填充速度与流动指数的 - 5/2 次方成正比。