Clay-Based Construction Products

The performance of clay-based construction products, e.g., bricks and roofing tiles, can be monitored using thermal methods. The types of raw materials, viz., clay and accessory minerals, and their reactions that occur during the firing process and the durability of clay products can be examined through the application of DTA, TG, TMA, and dilatometric methods. This is particularly important for quality control as physical and chemical behaviors are dependent on the raw material characteristics, e.g., composition, particle size, and morphology. 

Fired cl bricks are generated as a waste product from construction and demolition activities, and their value is an additive in the manufacture of PC-based construction products. It was established that the aluminosilicate phase in the fired clay bricks promoted the development of the tobermorite, the principal binder in most calcium silicate products under hydrothermal conditions. The use of CB waste as a cement replacement for the manufacture of these products was also demonstrated as a viable option. 

UPE resins can be used as clear castings or in combination with particulate fillers or fibres. The resin was developed to meet the demand of lightweight materials in military application. The first functional use of UPE was in radome. Because of the obvious advantages of easy processability and low cost, it was used in a wide range of applications in civil sectors such as tanks, pipes, and electronic gears. Some of the important products based on cast UPE resins are encapsulation of electronic assembly, buttons, door handles, knives, umbrellas, industrial wood and furniture finishing. A filled resin system using limestone, silica, and china clay are used for floor tiles. The major use of UPE is as a matrix for fibre-reinforced composites. Such composites have wide applications in automobile and construction industries such as boats, water-skis and television antennae. Examples of applications of UPE resins are presented in Table 2.7. 

Concrete and cement-based products are widely used construction materials. The primary ingredient is Portland cement, which is also used to produce common building block. Portland cement was patented in 1824 by an English bricklayer named Joseph Aspin. He produced the first batch by burning limestone and clay together. The name Portland cement was derived after a natural stone found on the Isle of Portland. 

Composites are widely used in such diverse areas as transportation, construction, electronics and consumer products. They offer unusual combinations of stiffness, strength and weight that are difficult to attain separately from the individual components. The advent of nanoscience and nanotechnologies has continuously provided the impetus pushing for the development of materials with fascinating properties and a rich variety of applications. Polymer-clay (PC) nanocomposites represent a new class of materials based on reinforcement of polymeric materials by dispersion of nano-scale clay particles at molecular level in the polymer matrix. Because of their nanometer size features, nanocomposites possess unique properties typically not shared by their more conventional miaocomposite counterparts and therefore offer new technology and business opportunities. 

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