Mechanical and thermal behavior of cellular mullite materials

Abstract

In this paper, the mechanical behavior and thermal properties of cellular mullite bodies obtained by thermal direct-consolidation of foamed aqueous suspensions of mullite-bovine serum albumin (BSA) and mullite-BSA-methylcellulose (MC) were studied. The mechanical behavior of cellular mullite materials sintered at 1600 °C was evaluated by diametral compression at room temperature, 1000 °C and 1300 °C. The variation in the thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity at temperatures up to 900 °C was determined using the laser-flash method. The results of the mechanical and thermal evaluation were analyzed based on the porosity features of the sintered materials, which was determined in turn by the starting system used for shaping the bodies.