STRUCTURAL CLAY PRODUCTS

ceramic products intended for use in building construction. Typical structural clay products are building brick, paving brick, terra-cotta facing tile, roofing tile, and drainage pipe. These objects are made from commonly occurring natural materials, which are mixed with water, formed into the desired shape, and fired in a kiln in order to give the clay mixture a permanent bond. Finished structural clay products display such essential properties as load-bearing strength, resistance to wear, resistance to chemical attack, attractive appearance, and an ability to take a decorative finish. In this article the raw materials, properties, and general applications of structural clay products are reviewed. At certain points reference is made to industrial processes employed in the manufacture of structural clay products; for more detailed description of these processes, the reader is referred to the article traditional ceramics. Additional reading Structural clay products are specifically dealt with in the subsection by Gilbert C. Robinson, Structural Clay Products, in Theodore J. Reinhart (ed.), Engineered Materials Handbook, vol. 4, Ceramics and Glasses, ed. by Samuel J. Schneider (1991), pp. 943952. A good introduction to ceramics in general is provided by David W. Richerson, Modern Ceramic Engineering: Properties, Processing, and Use in Design, 2nd ed., rev. and expanded (1992). The processing of traditional ceramics is described in F.H. Norton, Elements of Ceramics, 2nd ed. (1974); James S. Reed, Introduction to the Principles of Ceramic Processing (1988); George Y. Onoda, Jr., and Larry L. Hench, Ceramic Processing Before Firing (1978); and four sections of the Reinhart text cited above: Ceramic Powders and Processing, pp. 41122; Forming and Predensification, and Nontraditional Densification Processes, pp. 123241; Firing/Sintering: Densification, pp. 242312; and Final Shaping and Surface Finishing, pp. 313376. Thomas O. Mason