Grog (clay)

Grog, also known as firesand and chamotte, is a ceramic raw material. It has high percentage of silica and alumina. It can be produced by firing selected fire clays to high temperature before grinding and screening to specific particle sizes. It can also be produced from pitchers. The particle size distribution is generally coarser in size than the other raw materials used to prepare clay bodies. It tends to be porous and have low density. It is available as a powder, mortar, or in the form of fire bricks.

Properties

Grog is composed of: 40% minimum alumina (Al₂O₃), 30% minimum silica (SiO₂), 4% maximum Iron(III) oxide (Fe₂O₃), and 2% maximum of calcium oxide (CaO) and magnesium oxide (MgO) combined.^[1]

Its melting point is approximately 1,780 °C (3,240 °F). Its water absorption is 7% maximum. Its thermal expansion coefficient is 5.2 mm/m and thermal conductivity is 0,8 W/(m·K) at 100°C and 1,0 W/(m·K) at 1000°C. It is also not easily wetted by steel.^[1]

Applications

Grog is used in pottery and sculpture to add a gritty, rustic texture called "tooth"; it also reduces shrinkage and aids even drying. This prevents defects such as cracking, crow feet patterning, and lamination. The coarse particles open the green clay body to allow gases to escape. It also adds structural strength to hand-built and thrown pottery during shaping although it can diminish fired strength.

The finer the grog particles are, the closer the clay bond, and the denser and stronger the resulting fired product. "The strength in the dry state increases with grog down as fine as that passing the 100-mesh sieve, but decreases with material passing the 200-mesh sieve. " ^[2]

Other uses for grog is processing ZnO Metal Oxide Varistor (MOV). It is put at the base of the "blocks" on the topside of the bottom of a refractory sagger to keep the blocks from sticking to the sagger. This is because ZnO MOV has a polymer binder that upon drying acts as a glue. The grog at the base prevents gluing and acts as a vent for carbon gases while drying and sintering. The grog is a gritty form of ZnO to prevent contamination.

In archaeology

In archaeological terminology, 'grog' is crushed fired pottery of any type that is added as a temper to unfired clay. Several pottery types from the European Bronze Age are typologised on the basis of their grog inclusions.

See also

• Grogg

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Jain, P. L. (2003), Principles of Foundry Technology (4th, revised ed.), Tata McGraw-Hill, ISBN 9780070447608, http://books.google.com/?id=k1slD5MmhUMC .

• Lidell, Macy Liddell (1922), Handbook of chemical engineering, Volume 1 (unknown, revised ed.), McGraw-Hill Book Company, ISBN B000UFRYQI, http://books.google.com/books?id=yd3QAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Handbook+of+chemical+engineering+liddell&hl=en&ei=ibitTqmgDMXmiALS59CtCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false .