CLAY MATERIALS for SURFACE FINISHES and PRODUCTS MAKING > Part -I

Post 706 -by Gautam Shah

Part -II will deal with ADDITIVES for CLAYS

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Surface finishes and Products composed with CLAY as the prime raw material have been used, for every conceivable purpose and in all parts of the world. Clay is preferred for : Abundant supply, cheapness, universal availability, insulation qualities, ecological value and simplicity of application. Clay finishes and products have some drawbacks like: shrinkage on drying, i.e., cracking, poor weathering qualities, lack of homogeneity in dry state, high water permeability -hygroscopic, poor bonding to a substrate peel-off, vulnerability to white ants and insects.

The quality of the clay-based surface finishes and products depend on:

1. Quality of soil
2. Fillers
3. Additives
4. Manufacturing processes

Quality of Soil

Soil is a product, formed mainly from the decomposition of a rock and ashes of lava origin. The decomposed product may remain at its place of origin or get transported to other places by natural forces like water, wind etc. The product, which remains at the place of origin the Residual clays, are comparatively pure, but have less uniform particle size distribution. Materials that after being transported get deposited somewhere else are the Sedimentary or secondary clays. These are generally contaminated by other materials and have smaller but uniform particle size distribution.

Principal constituents of clays are Alumina and Silica. Alumina provides the plasticity, and Silica, if free, reduces the shrinkage and warping. Composite silica, though increases the warping on baking. Other elements of clays are Calcium, Magnesium, Iron, Manganese, Potassium and Sodium. Various compositions of these elements and their crystalline structure affect the quality, colour and texture of the soil. Kaolin is the chief constituent of clays used for Ceramics production.

Clays used for products making and surface finishing, are either Top-organic soils or Virgin-non organic soils.

Top-organic soils have substantial amounts of organic matters from the decomposition of vegetation and human, and animals excrete. The presence of organic matters makes a soil light in weight and dark in colour. Organic soils usually show high workability and low shrinkage characteristics. When organic soils are found below an existing layer and are old, contain gallic acid and tannin in small proportions but sufficient to act as fungicide and mild insecticide.

Virgin or non organic soils have negligible amounts of organic matters, and so reflect the basic characteristic of the predominant constituent element, i.e., lime, silica, or alumina. Non-organic soils, however, do take-on the personality of the other minor minerals present in it. Iron oxide as ferric and ferrous is the most important colourant. Other important colourants are quartz, kaolin, mica etc. Soils show a wide range of colours from off-white to yellow, light brown and chocolate to reddish tones. Non-organic soils unless constituted by colloidal particles show very little plasticity. Some mineral constituents of such soils are reactive to water resulting in swelling and leaching.

Residual or sedimentary materials available at the top of the surface, or below a certain depth, can be classified as: Clays, Sands, Silt, Shale, Colloids, Hard pan, Hoggin, Loam, Peat-Muc, Humus.

Clays are fine albuminous products formed by decomposition of igneous rocks (lava activity). Clays are tenacious and plastic when wet. Clays are highly cohesive, have high capillaries and no internal friction. Clays are smooth to touch, sticky and plastic. Clays can also be classified according to their plasticity, or silt content. Hard clays or stiff clays have low sand content, and are difficult to excavate. Fine clays have medium sand content, and can be excavated with slight effort. Soft clays have coarse texture and are easy to excavate. Pure clays are mostly useless because of the high plasticity and excessive shrinkage on drying. Plastic clays are called fat clays, and less plastic clays and are also called lean clays.

Clays are black, white, red, brown and yellow in colour. China Clay is a residual material, contaminated with silica, mica, feldspar and decomposed feldspar. Ball clay is a sedimentary material of fine grain size and some organic contents. It is finer than china clay. Fire clays are formed from feldspar as residual and sedimentary deposit. Brick clays are high in iron content, and impurities of calcium compounds and organic matter.

Sands are of small granular particles, usually of stones. Sands are gritty to touch, with little cohesion. It has high internal friction and very little capillarity. Silts are soils that are somewhere between a clay and sand. Silts are slightly gritty to touch and are darker in colour than clays. Colloids are gluey matter found with clays but of ultra fine particles. The colloids absorb moisture and remain suspended, rather than settle down in water. Shale is a compressed and laminated clay with or without organic matter. Shale is plastic when wet but disintegrates when dry.

Hard pan is a very dense accumulated mass of soil, consisting of clay, sand, gravel, etc. held together in a rock like but layered formation. Hard pan does not soften when wetting. Hoggin is a natural deposit of a mixture of clay with small stones, grit and sand. Loam is a soft mixed deposit of silty clay and sand in different proportions. Peat-muc and Humus, have fibrous or spongy organic matters formed by the decay of plants. These deposits are black or dark brown in colour, varying compressible in presence-absence of water and so unsuitable for heavy loads. The decomposition of organic material is more advanced in muc than in peat.

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