Application of Statistical Methods in Predicting the Properties of Glass-Ceramic Materials Obtained from Inorganic Solid Waste

Abstract

This paper uses mathematical methods as the basic tool at the stage of experiment planning. The importance of research programming applications was shown using the theory of experiments and the STATISTICA software. The method of experiment planning used in the case of studying the properties of a mixture, depending on its composition, features considerable complexity. The aim of the statistical analysis was to determine the influence of variable chemical composition of waste materials on selected properties of glass-ceramic materials. A statistical approach to multicomponent systems, such as ceramic sets, enables the selection of appropriate amounts of raw materials through the application of ‘a plan for mixtures’. To utilize the raw waste materials, e.g., slags from a solid waste incinerator, fly or bottom ashes, in the modeling of new materials, a mathematical relationship was developed, which enables estimating, based on the waste chemical composition, selected technological and practical properties of the glass so as to obtain a material featuring the required technological–practical parameters. For the obtained glasses, a comparative analysis of the experimentally and computationally determined properties was carried out: transformation temperature, liquidus temperature, density, and thermal expansion coefficient. The obtained high theoretical approximation (at the level of determination correlation coefficient R2 > 0.8) confirms the suitability of the polynomial model for mixtures for applications in the design of new glass-ceramic products.