Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 February 2011
Achieving spatially uniform and hierarchically structured microstructures during the shape-forming of colloidal ceramics depends largely on (i) the magnitude of the effective stresses (i.e., stresses that are supported by the particulate network) and (ii) plastic properties, which in turn are significantly altered by processing parameters affecting interparticle friction and adhesion. To quantify the effects of processing parameters on consolidation, we present a novel approach for analyzing sediments by gamma-ray densitometry and a fluid mechanics model. This method enables us to correlate processing parameters with spatial variations of the packing density and the local effective stress. These correlations are difficult to achieve by traditional techniques (e.g., rheometry, sedimentation kinetics modeling, soil mechanics tests), especially for the low stresses (< 1000 Pa) that are typically encountered in sediments. Aside from being destructive to samples, these techniques also tend to measure volume-averaged properties, and as a result they usually fall short of describing localized consolidation phenomena.