PLASTICITY MEASUREMENTS OF CLAYS

AND CERAMIC BODIES

Plasticity is the characteristic behavior of a ceramic material to become permanently deformed
after the application of an external force. This property is the most characteristic one in clays,
and there are some factors that influence the plasticity and they should be considered in
plasticity measurements:

 Water physical characteristics like, viscosity, surface tension…

 Particle size distribution of the solid sample and its specific surface
 Chemical and mineralogical composition of samples
 Effect of the additives added to the clay/water system
 Sample temperature
 The way to prepare the sample, particularly the energy used to mix and to process
clay, water & additives

Plasticity is defined as the capacity to be deformed without being broken. Many methods
available to measure it, and they are classified into two groups: direct and indirect methods.

Direct methods define the plastic behavior measuring the moisture effect in the ratio between
stress and deformation. Therefore, direct methods provide a more reliable measurement of
plastic behavior than indirect methods. Limitations of direct methods are related to equipment
costs and time needed to prepare the sample and to run the method. These limitations make
direct methods impractical when it is essential to get quick results.

Indirect methods evaluate other properties related with plasticity, like moisture content, clay
consistency, mechanical strength, etc. Indirect methods are commonly used for quality control
in the ceramic industries, due to their low cost and practicality. Atterberg and Pfefferkorn are
two examples of these methods.

One of the main problems observed in indirect methods is that packaging grade has a strong
effect in plasticity results. The lower the packaging grade, the higher moisture necessary to get
a given plasticity, because the pores’ volume has to be covered by water. Pfefferkorn method
has a strong dependence on packaging, while Atterberg is less dependent of that variable,
because this effect modifies both limits, liquid and plastic, and it disappears after calculating
the difference between them (Atterberg index).

Both direct and indirect methods can provide useful information on clay plasticity and how it is
modified by the incorporation of additives to the clay. However, it is quite important to
understand the fundamentals and limitations of each method, in order to avoid misreading
plasticity results.

Plasticity index calculated in five samples, using three different methods are shown in the
figure below. This case illustrates how different methods can lead to completely different
results in the evaluation of the plasticity of a clay sample.
 Table1. Direct and indirect plasticity methods.

Method Name Description

It provides good results due to its low sensitivity to small speed
Moore modification and its independency of moisture content. It is
(compression) defined as the ratio between pressures to deform a cylindrical
probe up to 10% and 50% of its original height.
Direct Real time process at pilot plant scale in which many parameters are
Extrusion recorded like amperage, pressure, throughput, consistency,
temperature…
Strain-
Compression, traction, flexion, torsion.
deformation
It determines humidity range in which the samples are workable,
and is defined as the difference between liquid and plastic limits.
Atterberg Liquid limit is the maximum moisture that gives some consistency
to the clay to be workable, and plastic limit is the minimum
moisture for the clay to be mouldable.
It determines the amount of water required to achieve a 30%
contraction in relation to the initial height of a test body under the
action of a standard mass. The results are normally expressed as
Indirect Pfefferkorn graphs showing height reduction as a function of moisture content.
Measuring of plasticity is based on the principle of impact
deformation using a sample with a defined diameter and height
deformed by a free falling plate with a given mass.
It is defined as the ratio between the water responsible of tile
Barna contraction and the total water; Bigot curves show this
information.
Mechanical This method calculates Modules of rupture of a small tile, by
strength breaking it.
 Figure 1. Plasticity index calculated with different methods.

Perhaps the best solution could be to work with a combination of both direct and indirect
methods to establish an experimental correlation among them. The indirect method could then
be used for quality control purposes since it would provide fast results. These results could
then be used to predict clay plasticity in the industrial plant. In this approach it is essential to
review the correlation between direct and indirect methods each time there is a significant
modification introduced in the process (i.e. new clay raw materials, new additives, different clay
particle size, etc).

The use of biopolymers can help to harmonize clay behavior when production processes are
changed, or even when raw materials are presenting variations on its properties.