Clays: construction applications

The document is divided in two parts. Clay has been used as a building material since ancient times. 1 - Projected Stabilized Earth. The need for eco sustainable buildings is pushing architects to seek innovative solutions and the projected stabilized earth is an answer. Stabilization and projection technique improve the mechanical properties of this material. It is a material that has excellent properties and low cost. The material has good compressive strength but is not as performing if it is subjected to bending. An example of calculation has been showed. 2- Rheology of Geopolymers (union of an alkaline solution and metacaolinite ) for 3D printing. The purpose of this work is to determine a formulation that has the right consistency to be used in a 3D printing process (3DP). To pursue this aim four formulations have been studied (2 of which have been heat treated) and their printability is determined. Each of these can be used for a 3DP but for a limited period of time as the geopolymerization reaction is very rapid and the pasta does not have the right properties of extrudability and long workability. Furthermore, it has been seen that the temperature greatly influences the speed of the reaction and therefore has a key role in this complex process regulated in addition to this factor by other variables such as: chemical composition, time and print settings.