Clay is naturally occurring
aluminium silicate composed
primarily of fine-grained minerals.
The term ceramics is used to indicate the
potters art or articles made by the potter. It is
greek word keramos meaning the potters
earth.
ceramic clay is a water-based substances
made from clay minerals mixed with other
raw materials. They are baked at high
temperatures, in a process know as firing.
The clay produced which are
employed in building industry are :
Tiles
Terra cotta
Earthenwares
Stonewares
Porcelain
The tiles may be defined as thin slabs of
brick which are burnt in kiln. They are thinner
than bricks and hence they should be
carefully handled to them.
Circular kiln for burning
tiles
The tiles can be classified in
two groupsCommon tiles
Encaustic tiles
These tiles have different shapes and size.
They are mainly used for flooring and roofing.
Manufacture of tiles
Preparation of clay
Moulding
Drying
Burning
characteristics of a good
tile
It should be free from any cracks, flaws or
bends.
It should be sound, hard and durable.
It should fit in properly, when placed in
position.
It should give an even and compact structure
when seen on its broken surface.
It should possess uniform colour.
The term earthenware is used to indicate wares or articles
prepared from clay which is burnt at low temperature and
cooled down slowly. The earthenwares are generally soft and
porous.
Earthenware
The term stoneware is used to indicate the wares or articles
prepared from refractory clays which are mixed with stone
and crushed pottery such mixture is then burnt at a high
temperature and cooled down slowly.
The term porcelain is used to indicate fine
earthenware which is white, thin and semi
transparent. Since the colour of porcelain is
white, it is also referred to as whiteware.
Porcelain
The porcelain are of two types-:
1. Low voltage porcelain
2. High voltage porcelain
It is prepared by dry process and it is
mainly used for switch block,
insulating tubes, lamp sockets, etc. If
some quantity of alumina or silicate of
magnesia is added, it can resist high
temperature to a certain extent.
The blocks can be prepared from clay
and they are used in the construction of
partitions. Such blocks may either be
solid or hollow.
BURNT BRICKS
Bricks that has been treated in a kiln at an
elevated temperature to harden it, give it
mechanical strength and improve its
resistance to moisture, compare to unburned
bricks.
BRICK TILES
Brick tiles is also called thin brick or brick
veneer. Brick tiles is becoming increasingly
popular in the US because it is fireproof and
easy to maintain, as well as having the classic
appearence of real bricks at a fraction of the
cost.
Most brick homes built in last 40 years are
actually sided with brick tile rather than built
with solid brick, because solid bricks are
expensive and work intensive to built with.
SURKHI
Surkhi is also known as brick bat coba. Surkhi
is an artificial pozzolana made by powdering
burnt bricks . The surkhi were used to provide
slopes on the flat terraces for easy draining of
rainwater and also some sort of poor
insulation.
MUD INCLUDING STABLISED
EARTH
Mud is a liquid or semi-liquid mixture of water
and some combination of soil, slit and clay.
mud, in the construction industry refers to a
fluid material used to coat or adhere together
items that dries hard such as plaster or other
similar substances
MUD HOME IN
PUNJAB
MUD HOME IN AMRAN