Effects of dry grinding of powder mixture on formation of forsterite in sintered body and its mechanical properties

Dry grinding of a powder mixture composed of talc and magnesium carbonate w as conducted using a tumbling ball mill to investigate formation of forster ite in bodies sintered from the ground mixture and their bending strengths. The grinding causes a structural change in the starting materials from a c rystalline state to an amorphous one. The amorphous mixture leads to the fo rmation of single-phase forsterite at relatively low sintering temperature, at which the bending strength of the sintered bodies reaches the maximum v alue. The maximum bending strength increases with increasing grinding time for the mixture. The sintering temperature providing the maximum bending st rength becomes low as grinding progresses. Dry grinding for the mixture is favorable for production of forsterite ceramics.