Tribological Behaviour of Alumina Ceramics with Nano TiO2 as a sintering aid in Non-Conformal Contact

The study emphasized the sintering behaviour and tribo-mechanical properties of alumina ceramics by nano TiO2 addition as a sintering aid. With increase in sintering temperature, the bulk density of alumina has increased gradually and optimized at 1600°C. The optimizing effect of densification at 1600°C is 98.25% by the addition of 1 wt.% nano TiO2. The maximum solid solubility of titania in alumina grains was at 1600°C, causes optimisation of densification by 1 wt. % addition. The excess addition of TiO2 formed low dense Al2TiO5, appear as a secondary phase at grain boundaries and does not significantly improved densification. Fracture toughness increases and coefficient of friction decreases with the addition of nano TiO2 in alumina matrix. The 1wt.% nano TiO2 addition improved hardness to 8.82% and reduces specific wear rate to 45.56%. The 1wt.% nano TiO2 addition greatly influenced the microstructure of sintered Al2O3. The morphology was sharply changed from hexagonal columnar shape to order sub round orientation which also directly impact the tribo-mechanical properties of sintered alumina. The 1wt.% addition substantially decreases wear track depth as observed by 3D surface profilometer. Microscopic observation of the worn-out surface showed that wearing is majorly caused by plastic deformation and abrasion.

Effect of Different Concentrations of Titanium Oxide (TiO2) Addition on the Crystallization Behaviour and Some Properties of Alkaline Earth Aluminosilicate Glass-Ceramics

Glass-ceramics in the CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2 quaternary base glass system was produced via melting technique using feldspar, limestone and magnesite as sources of starting materials. Glass-ceramics production involves making a base glass, annealing and cooling to room temperature and then reheating the base glass to nucleation and crystal growth temperatures. Characterization of the produced glass-ceramics was carried out using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The effects of the crystallization process on some properties such as hardness, chemical durability in acid and alkali media of samples were determined. The results portrayed that glass-ceramic samples to which various amounts of TiO2 (2,4,6,8 and 10 wt.%) were incorporated showed the formation of crystalline phases dispersed in the matrix of their respective residual glassy phases. Significant improvement in hardness, as well as minimum weight loss, were recorded for all the glass-ceramic samples. On the contrary, the glass samples did not crystallize despite subjecting them to heat treatment, their hardness values were low and they were not resistant to acid (1M HCl) and alkali (1M NaOH) attacks. The inability of TiO2 addition to fully transform them into glass-ceramics remains a shortcoming. However, the glass-ceramic samples obtained from this study can be used for tiling works.

Evaluation of rheological properties of mortar with TiO2 addition

Adding TiO2 tocoating mortars is carried out to promote self-cleaning through photocatalytic activity. However, this addition influences the workability of the mortar and, consequently, the application stage as the TiO2 used can present a large number of fine particles and a high surface area, increasing the demand for mixing water, requiring consistency adjustments before coating. In this work, three mortars (two with the addition of different types of TiO2 and one reference) were developed on a laboratory scale to maintain similar workability, using the flow table test. The amount of kneading water was changed to maintain a spread of 220 ± 10 mm and the content of air-entrained was kept constant, around 25%. The mortars were evaluated using the squeeze flow method. Then, a blind test was performed to assess the mason sensitivity during handling and application of the coating, and all mortars were considered similar. However, the yield of the compositions with TiO2 addition was lower compared to the reference composition, making it possible to explain the results based on the physical parameters of the formulations and with a more in-depth analysis of the rheological indices obtained by the squeeze flow test.

SINTERING BEHAVIOUR OF MAGNESIUM OXIDE OBTAINED FROM SEAWATER DOPED WITH NANO-TiO2

In order to improve the properties of sintered MgO (80 % precipitation) obtained from seawater, an investigation was carried out with (0, 1, 2) w/% of nano-TiO2 and micro-TiO2 additions during sintering at a temperature of 1500 °C (1 h and 2 h). The effects of the TiO2 addition on its microstructural properties, density, porosity and chemical composition after sintering were observed. The SEM/EDS analysis confirmed the formation of a homogeneous microstructure composed mainly of periclase grains and well-distributed secondary phases. CaTiO3 and MgTiO4 are predominantly located at the inter- and intra-periclase grain boundary surfaces during cooling. The microstructure of the MgO samples with the addition of nano-TiO2 become more compact, having a positive impact on the porosity and density of the samples. The addition of 1 w/% of nTiO2 represents the optimal amount for the improvement of the properties of the MgO samples (80 % precipitation) obtained from seawater.