Preliminary Study of the Characteristics of Injana Formation Clay Stone for Brick and Ceramic Industry

The big problem that face the brick and ceramic industry in Northern Iraq is the lack of raw materials (washed clay) at the river banks. Many studies concluded to the high percent of carbonate in the clay stone of the geological formations in the area. The main attempt of the study was to find some treatment methods for clay stone belongs to beds among rock exposures in Northern Iraq to be used for brick and ceramic industry. This is depending primarily on the percent of CaCO3 in the rocks. It is found that some clay stone beds within Injana Formation show Low Percent of CaCO3 Clay stone (L.P.C.C.) compared with clay stone beds from Gercus and Fat’ha formations. Therefore, the work trend is shifted towards the study of their engineering properties and the effects of additives (crushed glass and sand) to its characteristics. Consequently, the study revealed that all the additives in general worsen some characteristics and improves others; otherwise, the natural sample without additives gives the best results. The natural samples have average values of 19 M Pa, which referring that the uniaxial compressive strength above the lowest value 16 M Pa according to Iraqi standards. The burned sample also shows 6.6% volume shrinkage without cracking or bloating, while the 21.6% low value of water absorption that falls within the Iraqi standards. The fluorescence is low; bulk density is 1.63 gm./cm3 and the tensile strength is 1.2 M Pa