Open Ceramics (Mar 2022)

A parametric study of conventional and high-speed microwave sintering of robocast porcelain

  • Marianna Peroglio,
  • Christophe Meunier,
  • Julien Favre,
  • Jenny Faucheu,
  • Clémence Petit

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9
p. 100246

Abstract

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The combination of three-dimensional (3D) printing technologies and microwave (MW) sintering offers new perspectives for minimizing material, energy and time waste. This study aimed at conducting a parametric study on the sintering of robocast porcelain by conventional and MW heating in a multimode cavity (2.45 GHz, 3 kW). The effect of heating rate, dwell temperature and dwell duration on sample density, shrinkage and microstructure was investigated on small pellets. With conventional heating, a good densification was achieved with a 2 h dwell at 1250 °C, independent of heating rate (1–20 °C/min). A similar density was reached using microwave hybrid heating at a much higher heating rate (100 °C/min), shorter dwell (30 min) and slightly higher sintering temperature (1300 °C). Without susceptor, a longer pre-heating step was required to initiate the sample heating, thus extending the heat treatment duration. This study provides seeding data for the development of greener processes for aluminosilicate ceramic manufacturing.

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