Can, Catalagzi, Seyitomer and Afsin-Elbistan thermal power plant fly ashes were used to investigate the sintering behavior of fly ashes. For this purpose, coal fly ash samples were sintered to form ceramic materials without the addition of any inorganic additives or organic binders. In sample preparation, 1.5 g of fly ash was mixed in a mortar with water. Fly ash samples were uniaxially pressed at 40 MPa to achieve a reasonable strength. The powder compacts were sintered in air. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that quartz (SiO2,), mullite (Al6Si2O13), anorthite (CaAl2Si2O8), gehlenite (Ca-2,Al2SiO7) and wollastonite (CaSiO3) phases occurred in the sintered samples. Scanning electron microscopy investigations were conducted on the sintered coal fly ash samples to investigate the microstructural evolution of the samples. Different crystalline structures were observed in the sintered samples. The sintered samples were obtained having high density, low water adsorption and porosity values. Higher Al2O3 + SiO2 contents caused to better properties in the sintered materials. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.