Abstract
In this work, an attempt was made to increase the plasticity of α-Fe2O3-water system. The influence of the variation in the grain size of a-Fe2O3 on its plasticity, and the effect of mixing with clay for increasing plasticity were examined by the Pfefferkorn method, and the results were compared with those of feldspar.
The results were summarized below;
(1) Appreciably good plasticity was found for fine-grained a-Fe2O3 (specific surface area larger than 3.8m2/g)-water system, while the plasticity of coarser α-Fe2O3 (2.4 m2, /g) and feldspar (1.0 m2/g)-water systems was too poor to be measured.
(2) The α-Fe2O3-clay-water system showed higher index of Pfefferkorn plasticity than that of feldspar-clay-water system at any mixing ratio. The difference was explained by the binary-particle packing model.
(3) Plasticity of hematite-clay-water and feldspar-clay-water systems was estimated numerically from the water retentivity (the difference in percent water loss between the bodies heated at 40°C and 100°C).
