Numerical Modeling of Drying Behavior of Ceramic Tiles with High Silica Content of Kaolin

The drying process of the green ceramic body is concurrent and coupled with heat and mass transfer phenomena. Dimensional variations and mechanical stresses occur within the body during the drying process. In this research, the drying behavior of ceramic tile was investigated, and a ceramic tile body mix was developed using M2 kaolin clay as the main clay mineral. Initially, the composition and structure of the M2 kaolin clay were analyzed using X-ray diffraction and wet chemical analysis, and it consists of 56.78 % silica. The body mix of the green ceramic tile was prepared, and the particle size distribution was analyzed. The powder pressing method was used to obtain the shape of the tiles. Samples were dried in an oven at 80 °C and the moisture variation of the green ceramic tile was determined with time. A mathematical relationship was formulated to determine the drying behavior of green ceramic tiles. An unsteady three-dimensional model was formulated and simulated in the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) framework. Results developed by the simulated model were compared with data obtained by experiments conducted using green ceramic tiles. The model results were validated and complied with the experiment results, and the R² value was 0.9