ABSTRACT
This study is centre on the design and construction of an extrusion tile-making machine, following specific design standards, design considerations, design theories and calculations, to improve the level of efficiency of production in ceramic industries and institutions of higher learning in Nigeria. Mild steel, stainless steel, cast iron and wood were the materials utilized in the fabrication of this machine. A mathematical modelling was first produced of the entire machine. Each component of the designed machine was drawn with AutoCAD, sketch up and pen. The various forces acting on the machine and other relevant mechanics were calculated before the physical fabrication. The machine is about 450cm long with three important sections: the processing, stamping and cutting, and the receiving section, powered by an electric gear motor of 3hp. Two major bodies were compounded from clay, feldspar, silica and kaolin and the second was of kaolin and clay in different percentages. After beneficiation they were lined and quaixially blended. Performance and capacity tests were employed to check the effectiveness of the machine and extrusion of sample tiles. Sample tiles of 30by30cm, 20by20cm, 15 by 15cm and 10 by 10cm in thickness of 20, 15, 12 and 10mm respectively were extruded and fired to a high bisque temperature of 1100 0C. An average of 48 of 20 x 20 cm2 and 72 of 15 x 15 cm2 pieces of tiles were extruded in an hour, 384 and 576 pieces of tiles in a day and 10,752 and 16,128 pieces of tiles in a month respectively. The following Mechanical tests were carried out on the tiles produced: Hardness Test, Impact Test and Tensile Strength tests. These tests results were compared with the mechanical properties of existing China Tiles. The work gave encouraging results because at least the mechanism that was proposed worked and produced usable samples of tiles in different proportion and thickness. This is stimulus for evolving more enduring researches to upgrade our indigenous technology using available local materials.