RESEARCH ON THE COMPRESSIVE BEHAVIOUR OF CERAMIC COMPOSITE MATERIAL BASED ON BENTONITE

The paper presents the results of a study on the compressive behaviour of ceramic composite made with bentonite matrix. During the study, samples were made of ceramic composite, of filter type, cylindrical with a diameter of 16 mm and heights between 14-16 mm. To achieve the porous structure, the matrix was reinforced with ceramic powders of Al2O3 and SiC, and to control the pore size, metal powders of Al and Fe were used in percentages between 3-12%. The compaction of the samples thus obtain was performed by mechanical pressing in a metal mould on a universal testing machine with a force F=20 kN. In order to test them in compression, the samples were sintered in an oven at T=1100°C in a heat treatment oven after a predetermined treatment cycle. For each test, the diagram was registered with the help of the software from the machine’s equipment, respectively the behaviour of the different sintered ceramic composite samples. The results thus obtained were analysed in correlation with the composition of the tested samples. In conclusion, dependencies were established between the type, nature and ratio of the constituent samples of ceramic composite and their behaviour at the request of compression.