volumeverlies

Volumeverlies is a term used in materials science to describe irreversible volume loss that a material experiences under processing or service conditions. It represents a permanent reduction in solid volume caused by mechanisms such as compaction, sintering, desorption of fluids, phase changes, or chemical degradation, and is distinguished from reversible thermal expansion or elastic deformation.

The word is a simple portmanteau of volume and loss. It has no universally established definition and appears mainly in informal discussions, project notes, and niche technical reports rather than in standard textbooks.

Applications and contexts include porous materials, soils, foams, catalyst supports, and battery electrodes, where processing steps like drying, calendering, or repeated cycling gradually reduce pore structure and overall size. It is used to describe cumulative, irreversible dimensional changes that affect performance, strength, or transport properties.

Measurement and reporting typically use the relative volume change, ΔV/V0, expressed as a percentage or fraction. Methods to quantify volumeverlies include in situ imaging (micro-CT, MRI), porosimetry, dimensional metrology, and Archimedes principle, applied across cycles or processing steps.

Volumeverlies relates to but is distinct from related concepts such as shrinkage, densification, compaction, and aging. It can be confounded by moisture loss, adsorption, and reversible swelling, so careful experimental design is required to isolate irreversible volume loss.