CHEMICALLY BONDED PHOSPHATE CERAMICS WITH DIFFERENT FIBER REINFORCEMENTS

The main goal of this paper is to present Wollastonite-based chemically bonded phosphate ceramics (CBPCs) with the different fiber reinforcements. Wollastonite based CBPCs are composites materials itself fabricated by mixing a special formulation phosphoric acid with Wollastonite powder, through the Thinky Mixing technique. These CBPCs have different crystalline (Brushite and Wollastonite) and amorphous (silica, amorphous calcium phosphates) phases. Glass, graphite, Basalt and SiC fibers were introduced through a manual process that optimizes the fiber impregnation by the liquid mixing. Bending strength was obtained with the three point bending test. The microstructure was analyzed with Optical and Scanning Electron Microscopes. Bending strength results showed that fibers improve the material for more than 14, 20, 16 and 21 times with respect to the CBPC matrix for glass, graphite, basalt and SiC fibers reinforced composites respectively.