Efeito do empacotamento de partículas nas propriedades mecânicas e tribológicas de misturas de argila-rocha

Abstract

In this work was studied the basaltic source rock addition effect of on the packing particle of clay mixtures for ceramic industry applications. The raw materials (MPs) were collected in the region of Caí Valley in the Serra Gaucha and analyzed by X- ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) to determine their chemical and mineralogical composition, also the alteration index CIA and CIW were calculated to complement the geochemical classification. The ceramic powders were mixed to obtain five ceramic formulations with different rock contents 10, 20, 30, 40 and 60% by weight. The granulometric curves were determined by laser diffraction and analyzed statistically to determine the particle size population features (coarse, medium and fine). The particle packing was determined by comparison of the size distribution curves with semi-empirical models for optimal packing, Andreassen (q distribution module between 0.33 and 0.5) and Alfred (q = 0.37), and experimentally by tapping density test according to the relative packing density. Also was analyzed the particle packing relationship with their morphology, characterized by Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analysis. To study the effect of packing on the physical, mechanical and tribological properties after forming and sintering, ceramic extruded pieces were produced from mixtures with different rock contents and sintered at 900°C, for 40%wt of rock addition. For those pieces were determined the density, porosity, linear shrinkage, water absorption, microstructure, flexural strength and micro-abrasive wear resistance. The results showed that in relation with packing the rock addition causes an increase on the Andreassen distribution module q≈0,22 corresponding to the clay, to q≈0,40 corresponding to 60%wt. of rock addition. The increase in the packing with the rock addition is related to the increase of sandy coarse rock particles, with spherical and sharp morphologies, more solid, whose voids are filled by fine particles of clay and also of rock particles. Regarding the physical properties, formulations with higher rock contents have higher green density and lower levels of linear shrinkage and water absorption after burning. However, rock content above 40%wt. significantly increased microstructural defects decreasing the flexural strength and wear micro-abrasive coefficient, suggesting the use of mixtures with 20% to 30% wt. of rock content.