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Lightweight fired clay brick production for archeological heritage site maintenance application

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Abstract

In this paper, azodicarbonamide (AC), a thermo-sensitive chemical blowing agent, was applied to produce the lightweight fired clay brick with low thermal conductivity and suitable mechanical property. Rice husk was also added to induce the ancient brick texture and brick reinforcement for the archeological site maintenance purpose. Prior to production, thermal decomposition of AC was estimated to design the firing condition, and it was added from 0 to 3.0 pph. AC exhibited suitable thermal sensitivity that could begin pore formation via gas releasing process at the firing temperature of 300 °C. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) indicated that the chemical compositions of the clay bricks before and after firing were the same excepted for Cl, which was possibly liberated under firing process. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed some structural changes and the crystal transformation after firing. In comparison, all chemical-blown bricks showed the significant decrease of bulk density, indicating the capability of AC to lighten the brick by generating the porous structure. The compressive strength values were higher than the requirement value of the severe weathering grade of the clay brick, which was specified by ASTM C62-12. In summary, the optimal use of AC blowing agent of 2.0 pph with the assistance of rice husk provided the bricks with lower bulk density, higher specific compressive strength, higher porosity and lower thermal insulation properties than neat fired clay brick.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author on request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Upper Central Research Network (UCRN) for the financial support of this research. We acknowledge the supports of Dr. Pornnapa Kasemsiri, Dr. Phisut Naknaen, Dr.Thanut Amatayakul and Dr.Wasinee Channuan.

Funding

This research was financial supported by the Upper Central Research Network (UCRN) research grant (Contract no. 012/2554).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Udon Thani Rajabhat University, Udon Thani, Thailand

    Benjatham Sukkaneewat

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Srinakharinwirot University, Nakhon Nayok, Thailand

    Nawadon Petchwattana

  3. Faculty of Engineering and Technology, King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok, Rayong, Thailand

    Jakkid Sanetuntikul

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  1. Benjatham Sukkaneewat
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Correspondence to Nawadon Petchwattana.

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Sukkaneewat, B., Petchwattana, N. & Sanetuntikul, J. Lightweight fired clay brick production for archeological heritage site maintenance application. Mater Struct 56, 111 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-023-02197-7

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