Effects of brass addition on the flexural strength and microstructure of porous clay/brass composites

¹ Mechanical Engineering Department, Universitas Muhammadiyah Semarang, 50273 Semarang, Indonesia
² Mechanical Engineering Department, Gadjah Mada University, 55281 Yogyakarta, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: amin@unimus.ac.id

Abstract

Porous clay/brass composite was fabricated by an extrusion process with the addition up to 40 wt.% brass has been successfully done. Clay 80 wt.%, TiO₂ 10 wt.%, active carbon 5 wt.%, and polyvinyl alcohol 5 wt.% have been prepared as a matrix for this study. All of wt.% has been mentioned excluding solvent water 20 wt.% and lubricant (glycerin oil, 1 wt.%). Before the moulding process, all the raw materials were mixed to obtain homogeneity. Blending process was done by adding 20 wt.% water until the mixture turned into dough. After the moulding process, the specimens were dried at room temperature for 48 hours, and then they were sintered at 800°C for 1 hour in an electrical box furnace with heating rate 1°C/min and holding time of 1 hour. The flexural strength of specimens and the microstructure of the sintered porous bodies were also investigated. The addition of 20 wt.% brass on the composite materials showed a higher on the strength, that is 0.6 MPa and 0.38 MPa on yield strength.