| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1695541 | Applied Clay Science | 2010 | 16 Pages |
A mineralogical and morphological investigation was conducted on unstabilised sun-dried adobes (UBs) taken from rural constructions in Asti (North West Italy) that date the nineteenth century.Since not all soils can be used for housing material, an evaluation and a characterization of their constituents play important roles in developing efficient and durable adobe building materials.A particle size distribution, XRD, TG–DTA, SEM–EDAX analysis and porosimetry were carried out to characterize the constituent materials of UBs and to compare them with several other soils collected in the Asti and Alba areas.More than fifty different soils have been sampled from neighbouring outcrops and quarries around the rural constructions. The most significant samples, with a granularity close to the UBs grain size distribution, were selected and their mineralogical composition compared with the adobe composition. The comparison allowed the original sites of the UB raw earth to be identified.
Research Highlights►In the present research mineralogical, morphological and technological investigation was operated on unstabilised sun-dried adobes sampled from Asti (North West Italy) rural constructions and on several soils, collected from neighbouring outcrops and quarries around the rural constructions. ►This study evidenced the characteristics of the raw earth for the production of high quality and durable non industrial bricks, despite some of their properties (mainly the grain size distribution) unfit the literature data. ►The comparison between the grain size distribution and the mineralogy of the adobes and of the natural soils has allowed to identify the original sites of the raw earth of the adobes. This allows the identification of the proper raw materials for the maintenance of the rural constructions and for restoration purposes.
