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To determine the Plasticity of China clay, Bentonite Clay and
Fire Clay.
Group No: 4
Members
M12-337 Khubaib Ahmed Zohaib
M12-345 Muhammad Shaheen
M12-304 Riaz Sarwar
M12-347 Muhammad Awais
M12-316 Aurangzaib
M12-335 Muhammad Daaim
M12-339 Muhammad Zubair
M12-314 Muhammad Usman
Specific Member for Lab Report
M12-345 Muhammad Shaheen
M12-337 Khubaib Ahmed Zohaib
Instructor:
Dr. Mohsin Ali Raza
Date of Experiment:
24-10-2013
Date of Submission:
1-10-2013
Aim:
The aim of the experiment is to observe which clay has more moulding/shaping capability. This
will be observed by observing the plasticity of clays. In addition, it will be investigates how the
addition of non-plastic silica into plastic clay effect the plasticity of the clays
Principle:
The addition of certain quantity of water makes clays plastic. The plasticity cannot be measured
absolutely. One vague method is to measure bending angles of coils made from clays. The
plasticity of clay is related to bending angle. High bending angles indicates higher plasticity of
the clays.
Material/Apparatus:
China clay
Silica
Bentonite Clay
Fire Clay
Water
Dish
Weight Balance
Theory:
Plasticity:
The property of clay that allows it to change shape without rupturing when force is applied to it.
(http://ceramicartsdaily.org/ceramic-supplies/ceramic-raw-materials/the-particulars-of-clay-bodyplasticity/)
but has the unfortunate side effect of developing unpleasant odors, and some additives can promote
the growth of unhealthy bacteria and/or molds.
(http://pottery.about.com/od/potteryglossarykp/g/Plasticity.htm,
(http://ceramicartsdaily.org/ceramic-supplies/ceramic-raw-materials/the-particulars-of-clay-bodyplasticity/,
http://www.hamgil.com/plasticity-and-tha-origin-of-clay)
Benefits of plasticity:
Method
Procedure:
China clay is weighed using electric balance. An appropriate quantity of silica sand is mixed
with China clay by hand. Then water was added slowly into the mixture to make a dough. The
mixture so formed is mixed with water in a dish and sample of 2 inches diameter and 6 inches
length is made i.e. in the form of rod. Now as rod like shape is formed of given measurements, it
is placed on a protector in order to find out its bending angle. One end of rod (let A) is placed on
the origin of protector and the rod is rotated by the application of slight force on its other end (let
B). End A is kept fixed while end B is forced to rotate about the origin of protector. The rod is
rotated as long as cracks appear. Now the angle at which cracks appeared is noted. Care should
be taken during the rotation so that the sample rod must not break but just cracks should form.
The same procedure for different proportions of China clay and silica sand is repeated and values
of observed angles are taken. After completing series of experiments on China clay the same
procedure for Bentonite Clay and Fire clay is repeated.
Angle 0
65
55
50
40
25
Figure 1: Graph between composition of Silica sand + China clay and bending angle.
Result:
Plasticity decreases as the percentage of silica increases.
Angle 0
40
28
22
18
13
Figure 2: Graph between composition of Bentonite clay + China clay and bending angle
Result:
Plasticity decreases as the percentage of Bentonite increases.
Angle 0
36
48.5
18.5
21.5
Figure 3: Graph between composition of Fire Clay + Bentonite clay and bending angle
Result:
Plasticity increases at 20 and 80 % of Bentonite clay and decreases at 50 %.
Clays
China Clay
Bentonite clay
Fire Clay
70
Bending Angle
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
China Clay
Bentonite Clay
Fire Clay
Figure 4: Comparative graph between China clay, Bentonite clay and Fire clay
Discussion:
In figure 1 the plasticity of China Clay decreases when the appropriate percentage of Silica clay
increases and so that bending angle also decreases. We can say that bending angle and plasticity
has direct relation, when bending angle decreases the plasticity also decreases and when angle
increases plasticity increases. China clay have finer particle then silica sand and china have high
plasticity then Bentonite and fire clay. Silica sand is a non-plastic raw material. So due to nonplastic nature of silica sand the plasticity of china clay decreases with the increase in silica sand
in the sample. The moisture content present in the sample also effect the plasticity, more the
moisture content more the plasticity but within the moisture range.
In figure 2 the plasticity decreases because the Bentonite clay is less fine particle size then china
clay.
In figure 3 Plasticity should be increase as the percentage of Bentonite increases. But the
readings given to us was not according to the property of Bentonite clay. The operator of that
group said that by mistake they increased the amount of water in that sample due this there
reading are not accurate.
In figure 4 the comparison of pure clays are shown in bar chart. China clay are more plasticity
then Bentonite clay and Bentonite have more plasticity then fire clay.
Errors:
Excess of moisture content in sample.
Reference:
Applied Clay Science: Article
Measuring the plasticity of clays: A review
F.A. Andrade, H.A. Al-Qureshi, D. Hotza
Reading of China and Bentonite clay from Group No.7
Reading of Fire clay and Bentonite clay from Group No.6