Ceramic specific weight. Weight of different ceramic types

The first objects made of fired clay are dated to the 25th-29th millennium BC. Scientists state that at that time the ancestors of humankind created the first artificial material after moving to a settled way of life. Only in the third millennium BC was the potter’s wheel invented, which significantly simplified the technological process.

Different countries had their own unique recipes for ceramic production. As humankind developed, compositions and manufacturing methods improved. Craftsmen not only applied simple patterns to their works by incising, but also created unique painted patterns and applied various coatings.

Today, ceramics usually means products made of clay and some other inorganic materials, such as diatomites, tripoli and others, with mineral additives and thermal treatment.

Types of Ceramics

The main ceramic types used for producing artistic items since ancient times are:

• terracotta: fired yellow or red clay without glaze coating; the body of such a product is porous;

• pottery ceramics: clay products processed in a kiln and covered with transparent glaze; the body of such products is porous;

• majolica: ceramics originating from the island of Mallorca, with a coarse-porous body and often relief decorations. Made of white or colored clay, majolica was partially covered with pastel-colored glaze;

• faience: a creation of Italian masters, ceramics made of white clay with a very fine porous body, covered with colorless glaze and not translucent;

• porcelain: a unique type of ceramics. Its thin translucent white body is impermeable to water. Production materials include kaolin, plastic refractory clay, feldspar and quartz.

Ceramics is widely used in the production of construction and finishing materials. Porous ceramics with moisture absorption of 8-10% are opaque and allow water to pass under pressure. Such material is used to make various wall and roofing products, drainage pipes and more. Facing brick and tile, as well as sanitary construction faience products, are made from glazed porous ceramics.

Clinker bricks, floor tiles, sanitary construction porcelain and semi-porcelain are produced from ceramics with a sintered body without pores. Water absorption of this ceramic type is from 3% to 10%. Additional glassy coatings, or glazes, reduce water absorption.

Ordinary building brick and ceramic roof tile belong to the category of coarse ceramics. The material has a coarse-grained structure. Fine ceramics include glazed facing tile, acid-resistant brick and porcelain products.

Ceramics is also classified by structural purpose:

• wall materials: bricks, panels and others;

• roofing materials: roof tiles;

• floor structures: beams, blocks, panels;

• fillers for concrete mixes: expanded clay;

• facing details: floor and wall tile, decor;

• drainage and sewerage: pipes, road bricks;

• sanitary products: toilets, sinks, bathtubs;

• acid-resistant and heat-resistant products: bricks, tiles and other materials.

The specific weight of ceramics depends on the density of the body. There are concepts of true and average density. True density is the mass of substance without pores, while average density is the natural-state density with pores and voids.