Influence of Leaning Materials on the Quality of Building Ceramics

Abstract

Clay of the deposit Liepa is used for the production of ceramic building and finishing bricks in the factory “Lode” in Latvia. In the present work different types of these clays were investigated and “quartz effect” was determined using quartz sand as a leaning material. The substitution of quartz sand with milled E-glass fibre from Valmiera Glass was investigated and the changes in the magnitude of the quartz inversion effect were analysed. Thermal expansion was the main method for the determination of possible formation of cracks during technological process. Powder of milled glass fibre in amount of 5–10 % affects such properties as water uptake, porosity and apparent density and provides the required material properties at a lower firing temperature.