ASTM E1458-12(2016)

1.1 This test method describes a procedure necessary to permit a user to easily verify that a laser diffraction particle sizing instrument is operating within tolerance limit specifications, for example, such that the instrument accuracy is as stated by the manufacturer. The recommended calibration verification method provides a decisive indication of the overall performance of the instrument at the calibration point or points, but it is specifically not to be inferred that all factors in instrument performance are verified. In effect, use of this test method will verify the instrument performance for applications involving spherical particles of known refractive index where the near-forward light scattering properties are accurately modeled by the instrument data processing and data reduction software. The precision and bias limits presented herein are, therefore, estimates of the instrument performance under ideal conditions. Nonideal factors that could be present in actual applications and that could significantly increase the bias errors of laser diffraction instruments include vignetting4 (that is, where light scattered at large angles by particles far away from the receiving lens does not pass through the receiving lens and therefore does not reach the detector plane), the presence of nonspherical particles, the presence of particles of unknown refractive index, and multiple scattering.