Processing of red ceramic using a fast-fring cycle

Abstract

This work reports on the processing of red ceramic for civil construction using fast-fring cycles. The fring cycle is an important variable in the processing of red ceramic materials, which contributes to a high consumption of energy. The red ceramic pieces were prepared by industrial extrusion and fred at fring temperatures varying from 700 °C to 1100 °C using different fring cycles (slow-fring cycle - 1° C/min and fast-fring cycle - 10 °C/min and 20 °C/min). The technological properties (linear shrinkage, water absorption, apparent porosity, apparent density, and fexural strength) as function of the fring temperature and fring cycle are investigated. The development of the microstructure was followed by SEM/SEI. The results showed that fast-fring red ceramics exhibits technological properties and microstructure comparable to conventionally fred red ceramics, resulting in great advantages in energy saving.