Abstract |
This report describes a laboratory technique that was developed for the production of test surfaces containing deposits of known dust characteristics. A rugged computerized system was designed, assembled, and evaluated using surrogate particulate materials. The system consists of an aluminum chamber which houses deposition equipment and a computer-controlled positioning system. The system can generate surfaces with a spatial uniformity of 15 percent coefficient of variation or less for particle sizes betwen 1 and 500 microns (1 and 850 microns aerodynamic diameter) for total surface loadings of 0.3 gram per square foot and greater. Transport efficiencies from the deposition system to the test surfaces are essentially 100 percent for particle sizes above 50 microns to approximately 15 percent for 1-10 micron particles. In addition to sampler characterization studies, the ability to lay down repeatable, accurate, well-characterized deposits of widely varying particle sizes onto specific surfaces will facilitate the study of dust movement processes such as transport, reentrainment, resuspension, and recontamination. |