NEW SLURRY CHARACTERIZATION TECHNIQUE FOR OPTIMIZING WET-SHAPING PROCESS (PART-1) - TRANSIENT CENTRIFUGAL CONSOLIDATION PROCESS OF PARTICULATE SLURRIES

For the purpose of characterizing concentrated slurry suspension appli ed in fine ceramics shaping process, an evaluation technique has been developed which measures time changes in balancing moment stemming fro m the centrifugal consolidation of particles. The dispersing system of alumina slurry has been controlled by adjusting the concentration of dispersant as well as the solids content. It is shown that the transie nt behavior of concentrated slurry in centrifugal field essentially co nsists of a consolidation and deformation process of network structure immediately formed after particle sedimentation is started. The mecha nical strength of the network structure depends on the dispersing syst em of prepared slurry. It is also demonstrated that the consolidation process of the network structures can be expressed by strain parameter , e=e(infinity){1-exp(-t/tau)}, which contains two characteristic valu es: the final equilibrium strain, e(infinity) and the delay time, tau.