Italian/English (upon request either of students or CCdS)
Course Content
The course illustrates the main petrographic, petro-physical and -chemical characteristics of the rocks used as: stone in construction, aggregates for construction and for road and rail ballast, and as raw materials for the production of binders, bricks, ceramics and glass. Professional issues will be dealt with regarding the prospecting and definition of stone deposits, their degradation once in place and the main recovery and restoration techniques.
Manning D.A.C. – Introduction to Industrial Minerals – Chapman & Hall (Cambridge, 1995).
Primavori P. – Pianeta Pietra – Giorgio Zusi Editore (Verona, 1999).
- Handouts and other didactic materials available through Moodle.
Learning Objectives
Knowledge of the main petrographic and geochemical methods for the definitions of the geomaterials used in architecture, industry and related to cultural heritage
Prerequisites
Principle of Chemistry and inorganic chemistry; Mineralogy; Petrography and Geochemistry.
Teaching Methods
Theory will be furnished in classes, and it is supplemented by optical microscope training and geochemical laboratories.
Type of Assessment
The cultural skill will be checked through a colloquium.
Course program
The course illustrates the main petrographic, petro-physical and - chemical characteristics of the rocks used as: stone in construction, building aggregates for road foundations and as raw materials for the production of binders, bricks, ceramics and glass. In addition, professional topics will be treated regarding the prospecting and definition of stone deposits, their degradation once in place and the main recovery and recovery techniques.
In detail, the course will provide a brief introduction to the characteristics and classification of natural materials (minerals and rocks) both scientific and commercial and regulated according to the criteria of the European Commission (CEN), as well as providing the basic references useful for understanding phase equilibria through binary and ternary diagrams, the main sintering materials used in modern building (eg, bricks, ceramics, refractories, binders, concretes), and the mineralogical and crystallographic characteristics of clay minerals relevant for the characterization of raw materials for industrial use which of the characterization of the land in the building and road design.
The following topics will be covered.
1) petrographic and normed classification (CEN) of rocks used as ornamental and structural stone materials and as aggregates, rocks and excavated earth, and argillitic rocks;
2) petrographic (textural and micro-structural) properties of ornamental and structural stone materials of merchandise value: blocks and surfaces, color, design, average size of the crystals, cut on the reverse and counter-cutting, defects, fracturing;
3) technical properties of building and ornamental stone materials: density, specific weight, weight of volume and weight in a pile, compactness, real porosity and apparent porosity, imbibition coefficient, permeability; capacity, expansion and thermal conductivity, refractoriness; resistance to simple compression, indirect traction and impact shock, Young's modulus; knoop hardness and microhardness, wear due to friction and rolling, durability;
4) deterioration of stone materials: petrographic investigations prior to treatments; chemical and biological analyzes;
5) technological, petrographic and mineralogical characteristics of the aggregates, both from quarry and from grinding, for the adaptation to the CEN standards for their use in road works, roads and railways foundations, mortars and concretes;
6) petro-technical characteristics and definition of the argillitic rocks and of the main clay minerals used for industrial purposes and of interest for building and road works: the kaolin deposits; bentonite deposits;
7) industrial transformation of natural materials at high temperature: prediction and effects of the process, interpretation of the main phase diagrams in the production of ceramics, glasses, cements, bricks and refractories; the phase rule; two and three component systems: the MgO-SiO2 system; the Al2O3-SiO2 system; the CaO-MgO-SiO2 system; the MgO-Al2O3-SiO2 system; the CaO-Na2O-SiO2 system;
8) natural raw materials and transformation processes in the production of glass; composition of the main marketed glasses; petrography and petrochemistry of the raw materials used;
9) rocks and minerals and transformation process in the production of bricks and refractories; petrography and petrochemistry of the raw materials used;
10) petrography of raw materials used in the production of binders: air and hydraulic binders, technological and qualitative characteristics of the setting plaster, limes and mortars, concretes.