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Preparation and Performance Study of Mullite/Al 2 O 3 Composite Ceramics for Solar Thermal Transmission Pipeline
Author(s) -
Wu Jianfeng,
Hu Cheng,
Xu Xiaohong,
Ma Xionghua,
Zhang Yinfeng
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
international journal of applied ceramic technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.4
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1744-7402
pISSN - 1546-542X
DOI - 10.1111/ijac.12584
Subject(s) - mullite , materials science , thermal shock , composite material , ceramic , sintering , thermal expansion , cristobalite , microstructure , flexural strength , composite number , quartz , mineralogy , chemistry
For lowering sintering temperature of mullite/Al 2 O 3 composite ceramics for solar thermal transmission pipeline, kaolin, potassium feldspar, quartz, and γ‐Al 2 O 3 were used as raw materials to in situ synthesize the composite ceramics with pressureless sintering method. Densification, mechanical properties, thermal expansion coefficient, thermal shock resistance, phase composition, and microstructure were investigated. The experiment results demonstrated that the introduction of potassium feldspar and quartz decreased the lowest sintering temperatures greatly to 1300°C. The optimum sample A3 sintered at 1340°C obtained the best performances. The water absorption, apparent porosity, bulk density, bending strength, and thermal expansion coefficient of A3 were 0.04%, 0.12%, 2.71 g/cm 3 , 94.82 MP a, and 5.83 × 10 −6 /°C, respectively. After 30 thermal shock cycles (wind cooling from 1100°C to room temperature), no cracks were observed on the surfaces of the sample, and the bending strength increased by −7.96%. XRD analysis indicated that the main phases of samples before and after 30 thermal shock cycles were consistently mullite, corundum, and α‐cristobalite, while the content of mullite increased after thermal shock. SEM micrographs illustrated that the mullite grains growth and micro‐cracks appeared after thermal shock endowed the composite ceramics with excellent thermal shock resistance.