EFFECT OF FORMING PRESSURE ON THE REACTIVITY AND MICROSTRUCTURE OF ZIRCON POWDER COMPACTS

Preliminary results of a study on the effects of the forming pressure on the reactivity, sintering and microstructure of very fine natural zircon powder compacts. The effects of compaction pressure on the green densities and sintered densities are also discussed. The relationship between the density and the compaction pressure governs the mechanism that occurs in the consolidation process. The investigation has demonstrated changing the compaction pressure in the range 45-180MPa does not influence the onset temperature of sintering of powdered zircon (1150-1170 °C) but does influence the apparent density of the green compacts and consequently the porosity of the sintered specimens. Low relative density values were obtained in these sintering conditions.