Rheological properties of aqueous suspensions (48 vol%) of zircon-alumina mixtures containing different amounts of polyelectrolyte as dispersant were studied. Slip casting in a plaster mold and pressure filtration at 8 MPa experiments were performed to correlate the rheological properties of the suspensions with the relative density of green casts. Flow curves fitted satisfactorily to the Casson model. The Casson viscosity values remained nearly constant whereas Casson yield stress parameter decreased to a minimum and then increased with increasing the amount of dispersant added. The influence of particle size distribution (PSD) of the powder mixtures on Casson yield stress parameter and on the minimum viscosity was also examined. Green densities increased as yield stress Casson parameter decreased. The mixture of alumina and zircon as fine and coarse powders produced bimodal PSD which maximized the green density of the compacts. Some weakly flocculated suspensions having low apparent viscosity and small yield stress produced casts with relatively high densification. This is attributed to a slight higher viscosity at low shear rates of these suspensions in which settling of particles and /or segregation of components can not occur.
zircon; alumina; rheology; slip casting; pressure filtration
