The Impact of the Particle Size Distribution of Organic Additives on the Microstructure of a Clay Ceramic and Its Thermal and Mechanical Properties

Abstract

In this study, the structure-property relationships of a clay ceramic with calibrated particles (10 or 50 μm) of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) were investigated to improve both the thermal and mechanical properties of fired clay bricks incorporating organic wastes. The structure was characterized using differential thermal, thermomechanical, and computed tomography analysis. It was found that the addition of 10-or 50-μm particles of PMMA resulted in a same 11% decrease of the thermal conductivity during the extrusion process. The Young's modulus also increased by 23% during the extrusion process with the addition of 50-μm particles. However, the addition of 10-μm particles resulted in a greater increase of the Young's modulus by 34%. The calibrated particles of PMMA were then found to transform into porosity during firing of the clay ceramic. Typically, the pore size of the clay ceramic corresponded to the particle size of the calibrated particles of PMMA. The improvement of the thermal and mechanical properties that was obtained during the extrusion process was conserved in the form of porosity with a reduction of the median pore size after the firing process. Hence, the current results indicate that the thermal and mechanical properties of fired clay bricks can be improved at the same time using a wide range of organic wastes if the organic wastes are subjected to grinding prior to incorporation in the mixture. They also suggest that organic wastes can reduce the environmental impact of fired clay bricks with an energetic contribution of 73.8%.

A Comparison of Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Clay Bricks Prepared with Three Different Pore‐Forming Additives: Vermiculite, Wood Ash, and Sawdust

“…The porosity of the brick will reduce its thermal conductivity. However, the size and type of porosity in the brick may matter . Nagy et al found that 10 and 50 μm pores resulted in the same reduction in thermal conductivity, but the smaller pores resulted in much greater compressive strength.…”

“…However, the size and type of porosity in the brick may matter . Nagy et al found that 10 and 50 μm pores resulted in the same reduction in thermal conductivity, but the smaller pores resulted in much greater compressive strength. Sveda et al investigated the effects of pore size on thermal conductivity in clay bricks.…”

Thermal conductivity of clay based material incorporating Argan Shell: Experimental characterization

“…The decrease of the thermal conductivity is associated to the formation of pores, 36% for RA20 sample. In fact, the thermal conductivity decreases because of the low thermal conductivity of air in the newly formed pores [4].…”

“…However, agricultural biomass additives such as straw improve the properties of mud bricks [1].Consequently, studying these properties is a first step in evaluating the impact of the material not only on energy consumption, but also on indoor comfort [3]. The use of organic additives has increased worldwide, mainly due to their availability and also for their thermal, mechanical and environmental impact [4][5][6][7][8][9][10].As a result, the incorporation of biomass additives into clay bricks can reduce thermal conductivity and enhance compressive strengths. In our case, we used the argan shells as additives to the clay blocks; Argan trees are located mainly in the sous massa region.…”

Utilization of Construction and Demolition Mix Waste in the Fired Brick Production: The Impact on Mechanical Properties

“…Figure 4 depicts the thermal analysis (DTA/TGA) of the mixed C&D waste at a temperature ranging from 30 to 1000 °C. The study is done in a dynamic manner, which means that the temperature rises continuously at a constant heating rate [51]. The weight loss is approximately 4% when the temperature is raised from 30 °C to 200 °C due to the removal of free water and interlayer OH-groups, and trapped carbon dioxide.…”