Experimental Drying of Ceramics Bricks Including Shrinkage

Abstract

This work presents an experimental study on the behavior of clays during the drying process. Experimental tests were carried out with clay material for the production of red ceramics and white ceramic (ball clay). Different dimensions and the material initial moisture content plus temperature and relative air-drying humidity were taken into account. Drying kinetics and volume changes of parallelepiped-shaped samples were shown and analyzed. It has been verified that air-drying temperatures and body shape have an enormous influence on the drying rate process. The drying process occurs during the falling drying period and the volume changes display two linear periods.