Study on Molding of Fused-Silica Material by Pressure Slip-Casting from Alcohol-Based Slurry

Abstract

In this manuscript a kind of alcohol-based slurry was prepared, in which the fused-silica powder, alcohol and thermosetting phenolic resin were the main components. Then, the fused-silica material was prepared by the process of pressure slip-casting, drying, curing and high temperature sintering. And at last, the properties of fused-silica material were analyzed. The slurry used for molding consisted of 82.5% fused-silica powder in which the 6 μm and 30 μm powders were at the ratio of 8:1, 17% alcohol and 0.5% phenolic resin, and settlement of the slurry was 3% after standing still for 2 hours. By pressure slip-casting at 0.5MPa pressure for 30 minutes, the green body with 12 mm thickness was obtained, and the strength of which could reach 2.3MPa after being cured at 90°C for 4 hours. After sintering at 1200°C for 2 hours, the strength of the fused-silica material reached 78MPa and the elastic modulus was 37.7GPa, and quartz and other crystalline phases did not appear in the test of XRD. Scanning electron microscopy showed that silica particles were uniformly distributed in the material.