Multitechnique Investigation of Extruded Clay Brick Microstructure

Despite the omnipresence of clay brick as construction material since thousands of years, fundamental knowledge about the link between composition, microstructure, and mechanical performance is still scarce. In this paper, we use a variety of advanced techniques of experimental mechanics and materia...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the American Ceramic Society 2011-09, Vol.94 (9), p.3012-3022
Main Authors: Krakowiak, Konrad J., Lourenço, Paulo B., Ulm, Franz Josef
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Backbone
Brick
Clay (material)
Clay minerals
Durability
Extrusion
Firing
Microstructure
Porosity
Porous materials
Scanning electron microscopy
Strength
Zoroastrianism
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Summary:Despite the omnipresence of clay brick as construction material since thousands of years, fundamental knowledge about the link between composition, microstructure, and mechanical performance is still scarce. In this paper, we use a variety of advanced techniques of experimental mechanics and material characterization for extruded clay brick for masonry, that range from scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy, mercury intrusion porosimetry, to instrumented nanoindentation and macroscopic strength and durability tests. We find that extruded clay brick possesses a hierarchical microstructure: depending on the firing temperature, a “glassy” matrix phase, which manifests itself at submicrometer scales in form of neo‐crystals of mullite, spinel‐type phase, and other accessory minerals, forms either a granular or a continuum matrix phase that hosts at submillimeter scale the porosity. This porous composite forms the backbone for macroscopic material performance of extruded brick, including anisotropic strength, elasticity, and water absorption behavior.
ISSN:0002-7820
1551-2916
DOI:10.1111/j.1551-2916.2011.04484.x