Determination of cristobalite phase content in ceramic cores using various X-ray quantitative phase analysis methods

The aim of this research is to investigate different X-ray based quantitative phase analysis methods for determination of cristobalite phase content in ceramic cores. For this purpose, four popular routes including peak absolute intensity method, relative intensity ratio method, direct or calibration method and internal standard (or Alexander-Klug) method have been chosen. Some control samples have been made using common raw materials used in the ceramic cores and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) to measure the main peaks intensities. Using each quantitative method with their unique mathematical calculation procedures, the cristobalite phase contents have been calculated and compared to the real contents in the samples. The results showed that the presence of the amorphous fused silica phase could make drastic effects on the accuracy of the X-ray based quantitative phase analysis routes and the peak absolute intensity method showed the best results among the other routes.