A new method for measurement of the vitrification rate of earthenware texture by scanning electron microscope.
A new method for determining the vitrification rate of pottery depending on the firing temperature was devised using secondary electron images (SEI) of scanning electron microscope (SEM). Several tests were performed to establish the appropriate operating conditions of SEM and reproducibility as well as to examine the applicability of the method. The grayscale values converted from each pixel of SEI were used to determine the vitrification rate of pottery, which in our study were artificially fired specimens composed of three types of clay. A comparison between the vitrification rate value and appearance temperature of minerals shows that mullite formation starts at 1,100°C, during which the vitrification rate rapidly increases by over 10%. In consequence, the result presented here demonstrates that the new method can be applied to estimate the firing temperature of pottery.
Conservation Science Division, National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, 472 Munji-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-380, Korea.
Eun Jung
EJ
Moon
Su Kyeong
SK
Kim
Min Su
MS
Han
Eun Woo
EW
Lee
Jun Su
JS
Heo
Han Hyoung
HH
Lee