Effect of Steatite Waste Additions on the Physical and Mechanical Properties of Clay Composites

Abstract

Mineral rock wastes are being widely investigated due to possible damage to the environment when discarded indiscriminately in the nature, but also because of their great potential as ceramic raw materials. This work aims to study the effect of steatite particle additions on the mechanical properties of clay composites. A comprehensive series of experiments have been conducted to assess the influence of: steatite particle size, steatite fraction and compacting pressure on the performance of clay composites. The composite of superior properties was manufactured with 20 wt. (%) of steatite, 100-200 US-Tyler of steatite particle size and 30 MPa of compacting pressure.

Full text

Materials Research. 2010; 13(4): 535-540 © 2010
*e-mail: panzera@ufsj.edu.br
Effect of Steatite Waste Additions on the Physical
and Mechanical Properties of Clay Composites
Túlio Hallak Panzeraa,*, Kurt Streckera, Luiddimar Geraldo de Oliveiraa,
Wander Luiz Vasconcelosb, Marco Antônio Schiavonc
aDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of São João del-Rei – UFSJ,
Campus Sto Antônio, Praça Frei Orlando 170, CEP 36307-352, São João del-Rei, MG, Brazil
bDepartment of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering,
Federal University of Minas Gerais – UFMG, CEP 31270-901, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
cDepartment of Natural Sciences, Federal University of São João del-Rei - UFSJ,
Campus Sto Antônio, Praça Frei Orlando 170, CEP 36307-352, São João del-Rei, MG, Brazil
Received: September 22, 2010
Mineral rock wastes are being widely investigated due to possible damage to the environment when discarded
indiscriminately in the nature, but also because of their great potential as ceramic raw materials. This work aims
to study the effect of steatite particle additions on the mechanical properties of clay composites. A comprehensive
series of experiments have been conducted to assess the influence of: steatite particle size, steatite fraction and
compacting pressure on the performance of clay composites. The composite of superior properties was manufactured
with 20 wt. (%) of steatite, 100-200 US-Tyler of steatite particle size and 30 MPa of compacting pressure.
Keywords: steatite, clay, composites, mechanical properties
1. Introduction
In recent years, the investigation of industrial wastes for use
as alternative materials has been intensified across the world. The
raw materials used in the traditional ceramic industry generally
are constituted of plastic and non-plastic materials, of varied
compositions, reason which allows the presence of many residual
substances1.
The main industrial wastes used as dispersive phase in ceramic
composites are commonly from: the mining2-6, the ceramic industry7,
the steel mill8-9 and the energy industries10-11, besides other urban
residues12 which can be incorporated after adequate treatment.
Mineral rock wastes are widely studied due to the great
environmental impact when discarded indiscriminately in the nature
and also to their huge potential as ceramic raw materials13.
The steatite mineral, commonly known as soapstone, is the name
given to a metamorphic rock, basically composed of talc and many
other minerals such as magnetite and silica14-15. Talc is a hydrated
magnesium silicate, with the following chemical formulation:
Mg3Si4O10(OH)2
[16].
The effect of steatite additions in clay composites was investigated
in this work. A full factorial Design of Experiment (DOE) was adopted
in order to identify the main and the interaction effects of the factors
compacting pressure, weight fraction and particle size of the steatite
waste, on the responses, such as: linear shrinkage, apparent density,
apparent porosity and flexural strength.
2. Materials and Methods
The ceramic composites were constituted of two phases, the clay
matrix phase and the steatite waste powders used as dispersive phase.
2.1. Matrix phase: São Simão clay
A chemical analysis by X-ray fluorescence was conducted to
characterize the São Simão clay. The results are shown in Table 1,
where a high percentage of silicon oxide (48.90%) and aluminium
oxide (36.30%) were identified. The apparent density of 1.31 g.cm–3
was obtained by nitrogen gas picnometry technique.
2.2. Dispersive phase: steatite waste
The mineral wastes of steatite were collected in the city of
Congonhas (Minas Gerais, Brazil). The powder of steatite was
dried in an oven at 80 °C for 24 hours and classified by sieving in
two particle size envelopes: 16-40 and 100-200 US-Tyler. Table 2
shows the chemical analysis of the steatite material obtained by
X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, identifying high contents of silicon
oxide (44.73%) and magnesium oxide (29.28%), as expected for a
magnesium silicate. The apparent density (0.76 g.cm–3) of steatite
particles was determined by nitrogen gas picnometry technique.
2.3. Full factorial planning
The full factorial planning of type nk consists of investigating
all possible combinations of the experimental factors (k) and its
respective levels (n). The result of the factorial nk corresponds to the
number of the experimental conditions existent in the experiment17-18.
The chosen responses in this experiment and their respective
standards were: linear shrinkage19, apparent density20, apparent
porosity21 and flexural strength22. Two qualitative experiments were
performed for the microstructural analysis, that is, X-ray diffraction
analysis (XRD) and backscatter scanning electron microscopy (SEM).
Three experimental factors were investigated with their respective
levels: the weight fractions of the steatite phase (5, 20 and 40%), the
steatite particle size envelopes (16-40 and 100-200 US-Tyler) and
the compacting pressures (10 and 30 MPa). Some factors were kept
constant in the experiment such as: the water content (6 wt. (%)), the
time of mixture (5 minutes) and the environmental temperature of
manufacture (~22 °C). Table 3 shows the experimental factors and the

536 Panzera et al. Materials Research
2.4. Manufacturing process
The material’s preparation and the procedures of curing followed
the recommendations of the British Standard (BS12390-2)[23] in
order to assure small variability in the manufacturing process. A
randomization procedure was adopted to prepare and carry out the
sample tests, allowing an arbitrary ordinance of the experimental
conditions, preventing that non-controlled factors affected the
responses17-18.
A prismatic steel die was used to manufacture the specimens.
The ceramic powder was mixed using a constant water percentage of
6 wt. (%). The ceramic material was leaked and compacted under two
pressure levels, 10 and 30 MPa, during 30 seconds. The composites
were subsequently sintered with a heating rate of 3 °C/min up to
the temperature of 1200 °C followed by 40 minutes of isothermal
sintering. The dimensions of the prismatic green samples were:
20.5 × 5 × 70.6 mm.
Six specimens were manufactured for each experimental
condition. Taking into account 12 experimental conditions and
2 replicates, 144 specimens were prepared. The replicate consists
of a repetition of the experimental condition in order to provide an
estimate of the magnitude of the experimental error against which
the differences among the treatments are judged. The extension of
this error is important to decide whether significant effects exist or
can be attributed to the action of factors17-18.
3. Experimental Results
Table 4 exhibits the P-values of the Analysis of Variance
(ANOVA) for the mean of the responses. The P-values indicate which
of the effects in the system are statistically significant, based on the
examination of the experimental data from replicate 1 and replicate 2.
If the P-value is less than or equal to 0.05 the effect is considered to
be significant. A α-level of 0.05 is the level of significance which
implies that there is 95% probability of the effect being significant.
The results will be presented via ‘main effect’ and ‘interaction’
plots. These graphic plots cannot be considered typical ‘scatter’
plots, but serve to illustrate the statistical analysis and provide the
variation on the significant effects. The main effect of a factor only
must be interpreted individually if there is no evidence that it does
not interact with other factors. When one or more interaction effect
of superior order is significant, the factors that interact must be
considered jointly17-18.
The ‘main effects’ plot is most useful when several factors such
as particle size, weight fraction and compacting pressure affect the
composite property. These plots are used to compare the changes in
the mean level to examine which of the processing factors influences
the response (e.g. apparent density) the most. A ‘main effect’ is present
when different levels of a factor affect the response differently.
An ‘interaction’ is present when the change in the mean response
of the composite (e.g. apparent density) from a low to high level of
a factor (e.g. particle size) depends on the level of a second factor
(e.g. weight fraction)17. Interactions plots are used to visualize the
interaction effect of two or more factors (e.g. size and geometry; size
and pressure; geometry and pressure; size, geometry and pressure)
on the response and to compare the relative strength of the effects.
The value of ‘R2 adjust’ shown in the ANOVA analysis indicates
how well the model predicts responses for new observations. Larger
values of adjusted R2(adj) suggest models of greater predictive
ability17-18. Table 4 shows the values of R2(adj) for the responses. A
variation from 85.70 to 95.10% can be observed, which demonstrate
the quality of adjustment of the models being satisfactory.
The ‘residuals plots’ can be useful for comparing the plots to
determine whether your model meets the assumptions of the analysis.
Table 1. Chemical analysis of São Simão clay.
Chemical element Results (%)
SiO248.90
Al2O336.30
Fe2O31.09
TiO20.46
CaO –
MgO –
Na2O–
K2O 0.24
Loss on ignition (LOI) 13.00
Table 2. Chemical analysis of steatite.
Chemical element Results (%)
SiO244.73
Al2O33.70
Fe2O38.38
TiO2< 0.001
CaO 2.95
MgO 29.28
NaO2<0.001
K2O <0.001
MnO 0.13
P2O50.01
Loss of ignition (LOI) 10.34
Table 3. Planning matrix.
Particle size
(US-Tyler)
Fraction of
steatite (%)
Pressure of
compaction (MPa)
C1 16-40 5 10
C2 16-40 5 30
C3 100-200 5 10
C4 100-200 5 30
C5 16-40 20 10
C6 16-40 20 30
C7 100-200 20 10
C8 100-200 20 30
C9 16-40 40 10
C10 16-40 40 30
C11 100-200 40 10
C12 100-200 40 30
levels which were investigated in this work, establishing a factorial
planning matrix of type 312121 that provide 12 distinct experimental
combinations.
The statistical techniques Design of Experiment (DOE) and
the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) provided the significance of
each factor on the investigated responses. The statistical software,
Minitab v.14 was used to perform the mathematical planning and
the data analysis.

2010; 13(4) Effect of Steatite Waste Additions on the Physical and Mechanical Properties of Clay Composites 537
Table 4. Analysis of variance (P-values).
Experimental factors Linear shrinkage
(%)
Apparent porosity
(%)
Apparent density
(g.cm–3)
Flexural strength
(MPa)
Main
effects
Fraction of steatite 0.000 0.428 0.040 0.000
Particle size 0.951 0.135 0.878 0.000
Compaction 0.247 0.000 0.000 0.000
Interaction
effects
Fraction of steatite * Particle size 0.098 0.066 0.351 0.000
Fraction of steatite * Compaction 0.017 0.004 0.063 0.004
Particle size * Compaction 0.525 0.641 0.098 0.420
Fraction of steatite * Particle size * Compaction 0.872 0.742 0.261 0.474
R2 (adjust) % 85.70 90.68 85.78 95.10
The normal probability plot indicates whether the data are normally
distributed, other variables are influencing the response, or outliers
exist in the data. The residuals for all responses investigated in this
work are normally distributed following a straight line, validating
the ANOVA analysis.
3.1. X-ray diffraction (XRD)
The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns were collected with powder
samples with a diffractometer (Shimadzu, model XRD-6000) operating
at 40 kV and 30 mA, with a CuKα radiation (λ = 0.15418 nm) as
incident beam. Figure 1 exhibits the XRD results for the samples C2,
C3, C4, C8, C11 and C12.
The XRD patterns of the sample set are displayed in Figure 1 with
the corresponding assignments, according to the Joint Committee
on Powder Diffraction Standards - JCPDS. The peaks in sample C2
were attributed to quartz and mullite crystalline phases. In sample
C3, besides these crystalline phases, the crystallization of cristobalite
started, as observed by the appearance of a peak at ~21.9o (2θ). The
composites C2, C3 and C4 were manufactured with 5% of steatite
particles, but with different levels of particle sizes and compaction
pressures.
For the following samples a decrease in the relative intensity of
the peaks assigned to quartz can be observed and also an increase
in the relative intensity of mullite and cristobalite peaks. This
behaviour implies that not only the particle size of steatite, but
also the compaction pressure affects the formation of mullite and
cristobalite phases.
In addition, in the samples C11 and C12 cordierite (2MgO.2Al2O3)
has been detected, due to the higher steatite content used. Apparently,
cordierite is formed by the reaction of mullite (3Al2O3.SiO2) and
steatite (3MgO.4SiO2.H20). The higher cordierite content observed
in sample C12 in comparison to sample C11, both prepared with
40 wt. (%) of steatite is attributed to the higher compaction pressure
applied in sample C12, which increases the contact points between
particles and thus accelerates the cordierite phase formation.
3.2. Linear shrinkage
The linear shrinkage of the clay composites varied from
3.52 to 8.48%. The interaction of the factors ‘fraction of steatite
and compaction’ affected the linear shrinkage response exhibiting a
P-value less than 0.05 (Table 4). It is possible to observe in Figure 2
the steatite fractions of 20 and 40% provided a reduction of the
linear shrinkage of the composites. The presence of magnesium
oxide (MgO) in the steatite particles increases the thermal shock
resistance and diminishes the sintering shrinkage24. An increase of
the compacting pressure tends to reduce the existing spaces between
particles. The enhancement of the particle packing provides the
reduction of the atomic diffusion distances, consequently, increasing
the linear shrinkage due to liquid phase formation. This phenomenon
is more evident when a significant percentage of steatite (20 and
40%) is added.
The linear shrinkage of the composites manufactured with 5%
of steatite diminished with the increase of the compacting pressure.
This behaviour can be explained by the large particle packing factor
obtained in the system, as well as the assumption that the samples
have already been close to the final density of the sintered material.
3.3. Apparent porosity
The apparent porosity varied from 24.86 to 43.45%. The
interaction of second order factors, ‘fraction of steatite and
compaction’, presented a significant effect on the apparent porosity,
exhibiting a P-value of 0.004 (Table 4).
A reduction of the apparent porosity as a function of the
compaction increase (30 MPa) can be observed in Figure 3. The
addition of steatite provided not only the reduction of the linear
Figure 1. X-ray diffractometer results.

538 Panzera et al. Materials Research
Figure 4. Main effect plots for apparent density, fraction of steatite and the
compaction.
Figure 5. Interaction effect plot for flexural strength, fraction of steatite and
particle size.
Figure 2. Interaction effect plot for linear shrinkage, fraction of steatite and
compaction.
Figure 3. Interaction effect plot for apparent porosity, fraction of steatite
and compaction.
shrinkage, but also the diminishing of the apparent porosity. Studies,
carried out by Bajza25, showed that an increase in the compacting
pressure can be the main reason for the density increase, diminishing
the pore diameters and consequently providing high strength of
ceramic products.
3.4. Apparent density
The apparent density for the composites varied from 1.59 to
2.08 g.cm–3. The main factors “fraction of steatite” and “pressure
of compaction” showed significant effects exhibiting P-values less
than 0.05 (Table 4).
Figure 4a and 4b shows the main effects of the factors ‘fraction
of steatite’ and ‘compaction’ on apparent density, respectively. The
change of the fraction levels from 5 to 20% represents a percentage
increase of 4.6% on the apparent density (Figure 4a). On the other
hand, the addition of 40% of steatite did not provide the same
behaviour, which can be explained by the presence of cordierite phase
in the materials microstructure. Figure 4b shows that the increase
of the compacting pressure provides an increase of the apparent
density of the composites. The particle packing factor is enhanced
with the increase of pressure, consequently increasing the density
of the composites.
3.5. Flexural strength
The flexural strength varied from 44 to 127 MPa. The interactions
of second order factors such as ‘fraction of steatite and particle size’
and ‘fraction of steatite and compaction’ showed significant effects
on the flexural strength response, presenting P-values lesser than
0.05 (Table 4).

2010; 13(4) Effect of Steatite Waste Additions on the Physical and Mechanical Properties of Clay Composites 539
Figure 6. Interaction effect plot for flexural strength, fraction of steatite and
compaction.
The interaction effect plot exhibited in Figure 5 shows that the
smaller particles of steatite (100/200 US-Tyler) provided a percentage
increase on the flexural strength of 28.26 and 60.47% for the steatite
fractions of 20 and 40%, respectively. However, the same behaviour
is not observed for the composite with 5% of steatite, showing
a percentage reduction of 5.21% when the particle size level is
100-200 US-Tyler. Based on the XRD results, the addition of fine
particles of steatite into clay composites contributed to the formation
of crystalline phases, i.e, quartz, mullite, cristobalite and cordierite.
This behaviour can be attributed to the major particle packing capacity
and sintering of grains of smaller diameters, enhancing the mechanical
strength of the composites.
The interaction effect plot of Figure 6 exhibits the effect of
compacting pressure on the flexural strength response. The strength
of the composites is increased when the compacting pressure levels
change from 10 to 30 MPa. As it was observed in Figure 5, the addition
of steatite particles provided an improvement of the mechanical
strength of the composites. The steatite fraction of 20% compacted
with 30 MPa exhibited a superior strength. This behaviour is in
accordance to the apparent porosity (Figure 3) and density (Figure 4a)
results, where the composite manufactured with 20% of steatite
showed lower porosity and higher density.
3.6. Microstructure
Backscatter-mode scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used
for examination of the composites C3 and C11 which correspond
to the materials manufactured with 100-200 US-Tyler particle size,
10 MPa of pressure and 5 and 40% of steatite fraction respectively.
Figure 7 and 8 exhibit the images of the composites C3 and C11,
respectively. It is possible to observe that the microstructure of the
composite C3 presents a smaller pore size than C11. The increase
of the steatite fraction with low pressure of compaction (10 MPa)
can be the main factor responsible for the increase of the apparent
porosity as shown in Figure 3, beyond the decrease of the flexural
strength shown in Figure 6.
On the other hand, Figure 9 shows the microstructure of C4
composite, manufactured with 100-200 US-Tyler particle size,
30 MPa of pressure and 5% of steatite fraction, exhibiting smaller pore
sizes compared to C3 and C11, which explains the effect of pressure
on the porosity and the mechanical strength of the composites.
Figure 7. Composite C3, backscatter-mode scanning electron microscopy image.
Figure 9. Composite C4, backscatter-mode scanning electron microscopy image.
Figure 8. Composite C11, backscatter-mode scanning electron microscopy image.

540 Panzera et al. Materials Research
4. Conclusion
The addition of steatite in clay composites revealed promising
effects on the mechanical properties. The pressure of compaction of
30 MPa provided an increase of the linear shrinkage, the apparent
density, the apparent porosity and the strength of the composites.
The presence of magnesium oxide in the steatite increases the
thermal shock resistance and diminishes the sintering shrinkage. The
steatite particle size distribution of 100-200 US-Tyler affected the
flexural strength providing a significant increase of the composite’s
strength when manufactured with 20 and 40% of steatite which
was attributed to the crystalline phases formed, mainly cordierite.
The steatite fraction of 20% exhibited superior results of density,
porosity and mechanical strength. Finally, in this experiment, the
clay based composite of superior properties is that one manufactured
with 20% of steatite, 100-200 US-Tyler of particle size and 30 MPa
of compacting pressure.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to express their gratitude to the financial
support received by FAPEMIG under grant no. CEX 00221/06 and
PIBIC.
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