Parametric Study Of Sintering Of Ceramic Pellet Using Sarawak Soils

• Main Author: Alya Norshahida, Mohammad Mustaffa
• Format: Final Year Project Report
• Language: English
• Published: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) 2018
• Subjects: TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
• Online Access: http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/33673/1/Alya%20Norshahida%20%20ft.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/33673/
• Institution: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

In this project, there are two Sarawak soil samples used to make the ceramic tiles. The samples are named as KF powder sample and MO powder sample. The KF powder sample is made from eight different soil samples which are Clay 1 – KF, Clay 3 – KF, Filler 1 – KF, Filler 2 – KF, Filler 3 – KF, Flux 1 – KF, Sandy Clay – KF, and White Clay – KF. Meanwhile, the MO powder sample is made from eleven different soil samples which are Clay 1 – MO, Clay 2 – MO, Clay 3 – MO, Feldspar – MO, Filler 1 – MO, Filler 2 – MO, Filler 3 – MO, Flux 1 – MO, Flux 2 – MO, Sandy Clay – MO, and White Clay – MO. To form a ceramic pellet, the raw materials have to undergo the processes of weighing, drying, mixing, grinding, milling, pressing, and sintering. Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometry (EDS) is done on every raw material to identify the elemental composition of the sample. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) is used to study the morphological properties of the raw materials and sintered pellets of KF and MO. The green body pellets of the KF and MO are sintered at three different sintering temperatures. The differences of morphological properties between the raw materials and the sintered pellets are observed and compared. The percentage of densification of each ceramic pellet is calculated to determine the most densify pellet. The relationship between the types of powder sample, the sintering temperatures, and the percentage of densification is identified. The results of the experiments have shown that the densification of KF pellet is higher than MO pellet, where at 1200°C, the increase in density of KF and MO pellets are 59.41% and 45.53% respectively. Therefore, it can be predicted that KF powder sample has better quality than MO powder sample.