Clay Testing for Brick Production 1

[Kofai]

I would like to produce bricks in small quantities to help contruct buildings in rural areas in Africa. I do not however know much about clay and I have not been able to lay my hands on books on clay.

Does any one know the suitable properties of clay for the purpose of brick production? And if so, could you explain to me how I can test clay to find their suitability for clay production.

I would appreciate to atleast know the various properties of clay and the types of test done to measure the properties.

Many thanks.

Kofai

 

[lovethecold]

The first two links below provide properties and rough directions on how to make mud bricks. As to how to identify clay in the field, try and speak with someone from your local university at the civil engineering or ag department, or try your local extension office. I would think learning to identify clay in order to make bricks should be relatively easy. What portion or the native soil is clay and sand for purposes of obtaining the right mixture may take some experience. I would bet however that if you are going to a region that makes mud bricks someone will likely know the best place(s) to get the needed soil. But, being prepared will not hurt.

A simple field test you could do is to wet some soil and form into a ball, then let it dry out. Clay will become almost as hard as a rock, silt on the other hand will crumble apart relatively easily. Clay with a high percentage of sand will also fall apart relatively easily.

Here are some links using a google search. If you need more, google "mud brick", "making mud bricks", "making adobe bricks", etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe

http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_g/G-521.pdf

http://video.google.com/videosearch...sa=X&oi=video_result_group&resnum=5&ct=title#

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUH92DDrWtk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUH92DDrWtk

http://www.ask.com/web?q=how+to+make+bricks&o=14217&ifr=1&qsrc=999&l=dis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPmNNKAnKPI

http://videos.howstuffworks.com/howstuffworks/4440-brick-making-in-egypt-video.htm

I could not find them, but there used to be a group that makes adobe houses in the US. For a nominal fee they would teach others how to make adobe structures. Adobe structure are surprisingly resilient to weather. If you can find them, they may even teach you for nothing if you are doing this for a charitable cause.

Good luck.

 

[BigH]

try

http://www.adobebuilder.com