Preparation of crucibles from special refractories by slip-casting

Abstract

The slip-casting process, which is widely used in ceramics, has not been gener-ally applied to the preparation of crucibles from special refractories, which lack the property of plasticity. However, enough plasticity to make slip-casting feasible can be developed in some of the special r efractories by fine grinding and treatment with acid. Thin-walled crucibles of alumina, beryllia, zircon, zirconia, and electrically fused thoria were cast from aqueous slips, and bricks 5 cm thick were made by a modified process . Magnesia crucibles could not be cast from aqueous slips but wer e formed s uccessfully from a suspension of fin ely ground magnesia in absolute alcohol.