Abstract
The Weibull statistics are extensively used in the last years to estimate the reliability of fracture data of brittle construction materials such as ceramics, which tend to present a large scatter in mechanical strength. In the present research, clay-based building ceramics incorporating industrial solid by-products were fabricated employing a pilot-plant simulation of industrial brick manufacturing and their flexural strength was evaluated by three-point bend testing, before and after subjecting the bricks to 25-cycle frost resistance testing. Then, the modulus of rupture was calculated and analyzed using Weibull distribution. Industrial powders including different fly ash samples and steel making dust were utilized as substitute secondary resources, mixed with standard brick clays and water, and extruded into rectangular brick specimens, which were sintered in a controlled furnace. Weibull plots of the results allow the prediction of the stress, at which the probability of survival of the ceramic bodies is kept to a certain value. The relative clay/by-product mixture composition, sintering temperature and residual porosity are proved to affect the brick bending strength and reliability. Porosity depends on the specific pore-forming agent used as well as on the sintering temperature. In conclusion, Weibull analysis appears to be of particular importance to assess the quality of ceramics incorporating industrial solid by-products.
Highlights
Ceramics have been widely used as construction materials for their excellent properties
: Fly ash derived from conventional burner (FA): Fly ashes are annually produced in huge amounts from lignite/coal combustion in power units (Adamidou et al, 2007; Karakasi & Moutsatsou, 2010; Karayannis & Moutsatsou, 2012)
A better bending strength reliability results for brick specimens containing FA in the range of 0-6 wt.%, while it deteriorates for higher FA percentages
Summary
Ceramics have been widely used as construction materials for their excellent properties. Strength reliability is one of the critical factors restricting wider use of brittle materials in various structural applications This leads to the necessity of employing statistical analysis in view of their utilization in design and manufacturing. In order to evaluate flexural strength of ceramics using Weibull analysis, a simple uniaxial three-point or four-point bending test on rectangular specimens is usually preferred, as the bending strength can be calculated from the measurement geometry and the breaking load. Another consideration is the increased number of test specimens that might be needed to characterize an entire Weibull strength data distribution rather than estimate a mean strength value. - The beneficial utilization of industrial powders in the manufacturing of value-added construction materials can contribute to both production cost reduction and environmental management and protection
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