Vermiculite

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Verrnlculate

9 s a hydrated complex

aluminum-iron-

magnesium

silicate,

f o l i a t e d in n a t u r e ,

It

I s

the alteration

p r o d u c t

of b f o t i t e ,

phPogopPte and o t h e r v a ~ f e t l e s of'

mica,

and

i t s

conpos%tTon varies wfdely depend1n.g

on

t h e o r f g l n a l mjtneral

and

degree

of alteratfon,

T h e most

unusual

charaoterist5c of

vermiculite

I s the extraordinary expansion

which

takes

p l a c e

when

i t I s heated,

r e s u l t f n g

in

a m ~ t e r f a l which p o s s e s s e s

excel-

l e n t

heat and

sound

insulation

properties,

No

c o m e r c f a l

d e p o s i t s

of aerm%culfte

occur

Sn

Canada,

In

the Unbted S t a t e s of

America it

has

been

r e p o r t e d in

comer-

cia1

q u a n t S t i e s

fn

sixty

d i f f e r e n t

l o c a l f t i e s , The

oldest

and b e s t

b o r n

d e p o s i t is at Libby,

Montana,

and

it

is f r o m here t h a t the practical p o s s i b l l f t l e s of

v e r m i c u l f t e

have

become

known,

D e p o s E t s

a r e

repozlted a t

Buldafn

( U r a l

Mountains

of

U S S R ) , Young Rfver

In A u a t r a l f

a, and N o r t h East-ern Transvaal

In

South Africa.

..

The methods of mining verrnf

c u l i t e

v g ~ y c o n s l d s r a b l y

depending

on

the n a t u r e of

the d e p o s i t , Both

open-cut

and

u n d e r g ~ o u n d

tunnelling

methods

a r e u s e d ,

The

deposf

t at

Efbby, Montana, 9 s described as a mountain one

thousand f e e t

hrgh

and

one square nfle in e x t e n t , whfle o t h e r

d e p o s i t s a r e in

v e i n s

t h a t

vary from three to

thirty

feet

wide and f i f t y

to one

hundred and

f i f t y

f e e t

long,

The ope

as

St

1s mfned

u s u a l l y

c o n t a i n s gangue m f n e r a l s

such a s

serpentfne,

t a l c

and pyroximite

and

mst

be s e p a r a t e d p r e v f o u s

to

exfo%fatLon,

This

i s

done

at

the mine

s P t e b y hand pfck.rlng,

Free

water f s sometimes p r e s e n t

in

the crude o r e

fn

amounts

up to

twenty

p e r cant

I n

a d d f t f o n

to chemically

combined water o f

hydration, It

1s necessapy to

reduce this free w a t e r

content

to f i v e or

SEX

per

cent efther

by

a f r d r y i n g o r by

means

of wood f-ed r o t a r y k l l n s

in

o r d e r

to

obtafn a u n i f o r m

end product,

A f t e r drying, the crude

material 1 s c r u s h e d , screened, and s e p a r a t e d

i n t o

the

v a r i o u s

sizes

d e s i r e d , .

The graded

material is then

expanded

fn

a

vertical

stack

furnace,

The materiak I s f e d

Sn

a t the t o p and

f a l l s

over

staggered b a f f l e s and comes 5n contact w i t h t h e ascending

heat from

an

oil ffred burner

at a

temperature of

2 0 0 0 ' ~ -

The vermEcubfts becomes e x f o l i a t e d

or

opened

up

i n t o the

c h w a c t e r f stic

accordion-lfke porous grantales as a

r e s u l t

of

t ~ a n a % o ~ m % n g

i t s comblned water into steam,

ExpansSon

t a k e s

p l a c e at

right

a n g l e s

to cleavage when t h e material

I s heated above 300'~. The degree of expansion ranges u p to t h l r t y times the o r l g f n a l

size with

i t s specifec

gravity

chmgfng

f r o m 2,80

to

as

l o w

as 0,087.

QuPck eoolfng

a % t e ~

eflolfatloa

y f s l d s a tough

and

p l S a b l e

material,

It

is

then

bagged

for

shipment,

each bag

c o n t a i n i n g foul° cubic feet of materPaE,

wef ghlng about twenty-five pounds,

In

Canada much of

the

rnatsraal

1 s e x f o l e a t e d

in l o c a l p l a n t s a f t e r % m p o ~ t a t % o n

to

avoid

I t s ballchess

In

shlpplng,

The sizes of the expanded material a v a f l a b l e

f o r

var5ous u s e s are as f o l l o ~ v s :

No,

1

.

, ,

. . .

-18

to +36 mesh

The

structure

and Ifghtneas

In

wefmt

of the

e x f o -

Tfated

verm%cu%5te,

t o g e t h e r w i t h Sts peymanenoe and fncom- buatfbtlfty,

have

l e d t o a number of

IndustrSaX

u a e z ,

Untfl

1940,

the ehfef

u s e of

verrn1culft.e

was as a "loose r ' f l l P '

insu-

Zat9on rnaterfal for

houses, S l n c e t h f a

time much

work has been done

to determine

f

ts

p r o p e r t 3 e s

as a

P l g h t w e l g h t aggregate for

c o n c r e t e , DurSng

1947

a very c o q r e h e n s f v e program

was

sponsored

by

the

Housing

and Home FPnance

Agency, Washington,

DOC,

to

determine

the p r o p e r t i e s

of

e x f o l i a t e d

vsrrnioulilte

and

the other

l i g h t w e i g h t a g g r e g a t e s which

were

befng

marketed at that time,

Thee

study was made wlth

the

c o - o p e r a t i a n of

t h e

S a b o r a t o r f e a

of

the

Bureau

of

Reclamation at

Denver,

C o l o ~ a d o , and

the

N a t i o n a l Bureau of Standards at Tiashington,

DOC,

Extremely l f g h t concm~ete

can

be obtained m f t h v e ~ r n l -

c u l f t e

which can b e used where s t r e n g t h I s

of

secondary Impor-

t a n c e ,

S u b s t a n t f a l reductdon

I n

dead lo#&$ by

the

u s e of t h f a

t y p e

of

aggregate r e f l e c t s

fn

the amount of a t e e l wh2ch must be used %n the l a r g e r buildings, S t r e n g t h 8 en compresaPon up

of

f f f t y pounds

eublc foot have been

r e g o r ~ s d ,

A s with

other lrghtwefght

a g g ~ e g a t e s t h e

campresskve s t r e n g t h

i s

dependent uspm

the s t r e n g t h of the

a g g ~ e g a t e

and the

rlehness

of

the mixture,

Imreased

d e n s i t f e s of

the

con-

crete

mixes show e o ~ r e s p o n d l n g

f n c r e a s e s

in

the t h e m a 1

.

.-,I

conduct5vlty of t h e

c o n e ~ e t e ,

Good

f n s u l a t f n g

e o n e r e t e a

have been peportea fop use

fn

radiant

heating

installatfuns

(1

p a r t

of P o r t l a n d cement

to 4 p a r t s

o r

ve~miculfte)

nhich

has a

thermal eonduotivity, ona

"Kt'

f a a t o r of

%,O

b D 5 0 u o / ~ o

x hrs,

x a q , f t , p e r

In,

and a eosnpreasiva

strength of

240 p ~ u n d s per square

Inch,

As can

b e

imagined,

there f a

not yet

aaaflable

very

much fmfo~mat%on

w f t h r e g a r d

t o

the use of verrniculfte as an

aggregate f o p

t z o n a ~ e t e

I n Canadfan p ~ a a t f c e ,

Due

$ 6 Canadfan

~ E i m a t f c

conditfona t h e r e are obviously

a

number of

I m p o r t a n t problems

in

conneetion

Prrfth %$a u s 0

In

the Domfnfon which

r e q u f ~ e

fnvestigation

b e f o r e

i t can

be

reoommended for

thf

s

p u ~ p o s e wil

t h o u t rsservatf

on,

The

DivSsPon

of

BuiEdSag

R e

search looks f

arward to

c a r r y i n g

out research investigatf

ons

f n

connectfon wtth

these problems and

to asaemblfng data

on t h e

performanae sf vermTculPte

concrete under GmadLan

conditions,

Until

f m t h e r

infornation

is

a v a f l a b l e , it

should

n o t be

used as

an

a g e a g a t e

In

c o n c r e t e without c o h s u l t l n g a

p ~ o p e r

author5 ty.

The

h e a t f n s u l a t f n g p r o p e r t f e s of vermFculfts

aggse- g a t e

have been of p a r t i c u l a r

v a l u e

In

t h e pmparatfow

of

vermiculite

p l a s t e r s for t h e

f i p e

p r o t e o t l o a of s

t e e 1

columns,

s t e e l

eefllngs and f l o o r s ,

In

the

BfbLiog~aphy

of th9s Note

reSerenee

Pa

made

to

r e p o r t s of

t e s t s

which

have

be89

conducted

by

the U n d a r m i t e r a

Gabmatorfes, Inaorpmeted, Chfcago,

Illfaofso

A % i r e r a t i n g

i a

also

given

when

ve~mfculfte

p l a s t e r f a

used

on

metal.

lath-wood

s t u d

p a ~ t f t i o n a ,

Some of the

athey

uses

which m e made

of

ve~m%oulfte

are as

fal%oaag r e f r a c t o r y

brf eks, aooustilc p l a s t e r s ,

t l l e s

and w a l l b o a ~ d a , The f i n e l y g ~ o u n d

vermfcu8ites

a r e

used

as

f a l l e r s

9n

rubber goods,

extendera

or paints,

enamels and

prfnting inks due

to

t h e

thinness

of

the

f %&eu =d t h e large s p e d f i z surface,

The p ~ o p e r t t e s of some

vermf@u%ite ppoducts and

PZOPERTTES

OF'

SOP!< VZHE?ICUI;ITE PRODUCTS

AND

VARIOUS I N S U L A T I N G

--

UZJDIA

-

f r o m

Vermiculite

and

the

!YorBins

of

the P a l a b o r a D e p o s i t by

9. E , Laschinger, B m S c , ( % . y o ) ,

Government

1 , I e t a l l u r g i c a l

Lab-

o r a t o r y ,

University of

Yjit:vate~srand, Unlon of S e u t k A f r i c a ,

Mean

K O

2 Apgarent

Refractoriness

Tsmq. I3,'f . I ~ ~ / P ~ . Density O F , and

other

O r t z i n and

Gradin?

"vO

ner

h o u r f o r lbs./cub.ft.

data l Q ? J U / i n c h

Montana

,

-sf'

10m 70 0,363 7,1 500 0,56 900 O O 7 6 1 1 1 P a l a b o r a ,

-&"

-

a 30

0,38

3,8

180 0,575 P a l a b o r a ,

*'

5m

30 0,40 5.75

180

0,58 P a l a b o r a ,

-10

18m 30 0,48 11.4 180 Q a 66

Light

-a~ight 24-oz,,b,~,

insulating b r i c k

-

0,7 b r i c k = 39 lb,/c,f,

Hizh-st?ength

Tnsu-

~~-sz,/u,s,

;at l n g b r i c k

-

0,8 b r i c k = 54 I~,/c,P, P l a s t e r ;

1

VermS- c i l l i t e : 3 G y p s u m 7 5 0.90

29,1

Insulating cement, C o l a ~ a d o V e ~ i n i c u l i t e

-

0,40 20 Insulatinz bbrrck, 80 0-47 22.5 1,850 (Colorado ~ e r m i c r l l i t e )l j 0 9 0 1,15 175-290 p, s - 5 , crushing s tren;;th

Tnsulatin:: b r i c k

199

0,76 20-oz,/~,S, For u s e up to

(Korm5an:a I-; > ~ - L c u l % t g ) B79 1.05 b r i c k = 33 , 2 , 200QF. unloaded.

1

,$92 2 , 5 5 13~/c,ft, T r a n s v e r s e s t r e n . y t h ,

30 p . s , i , ( r o o m

> . I

-

Mean

K.

_{Apparent Refractoriness}

T e m p .

B.T.u./F~.~

Density

O F , and other

O r i g i n and Grading

OFo

p e r h o u r

f o r

ibs./cub.ft. _{d a t a}

1 ° ~ , / i n c k

-

-

(Continued

-

2 )

Ysrmiculite (one

ex-

a m $ l e ) ,

+ " / 1 0 r n , ~

10/30nc a g g r e g a t e

-

-

Concrete Concrete Baked G ~ a n u l a t e d Cork 32

0,24

6.5 68 0,26

176

0,3L

Baked S l a b Cork 32 0.26 L0,O

68 0,28 176 0,35 ' V ~ o a ~ ~ l ~ s ' ~ blocks 70 0,45 10-11

Fit

t

s b r r r ~ ? ~ - C o m Z ; ~ - . ,-T

-

-TL:ZBS C D t 300 0 - 7 0 Aluminium-Fo

11.

Insu- lstlon 212 Diatouite

BrLcks,

212 Porous 7 5 0 I n s u l a t i n g F i r e b r i c k 212 750 Ordinary F i r e b r i c k 1,100 Gormon B r i c k

-

Modulus of

rupture,

111 p , s . i , Comp, s t r e n g t k , 297 p . s , i , Crushing strength,

150

? , s o i n k o d u l u s m p t u r e , 90 p , s , i . Permeability, n i l , For hot-side t e c p s , to 1,000~", Tmical Concrete

-

12,0

The

3mount

of

vermiculEte

used

annually

h a s been

in-

c r s a s i n g s t e a d T l g

o v e r the

g a s t f i f t e e n y e a r s ,

It

is cornpara- t i v e l g

new

a s a

c o m ~ o d i t y

and a s

its properties

become b e t t e r Inown, t h e r e a r e t n d l c a t i o m s that new u s e s w i l l b e d e v e l o p e d , For further

information

ths following

a r t i c l e s

a r e

~ecommended:

Vermiculite and the i?iorkfng or t h e Palsbora Deposit, by

J,

E , Laschinge~, B,Sc, ( ~ n g ~ ) , Government k e t a l -

lurgical L a b o r s t o r y , University of

the

Witsatersrand,

Union

or" S o u t h

A f r i c a ,

The Develapriient of L5&t Z e i g h t

Concrete

f r o m

1Vort;h

Carolina Ve~miculites, b y William

A,

Scholes, hibI,S,,

A,

P o Greaves Y a l k e r , D o S c . ,

E o

H m Todd, I L , S , , and

D o

F ,

Cox,

B,S, Bulletin XO,

24

Sngineerlng Experi-

ment S t a t z o n , State C o l l e g e S t a t i o n , R a l e i g h , i t a r t h GaroLfna,

T h e Ve~niculite D e p o s i t s of North CsrolTna,

by

Thomss G o Xiurdock and C h a r l e s Z , Huntsr, Bulletin

No,

50, N o r t h Carolina Department of Zonservation and Develop- ment,, z a 122

;;h,

North C a r o l i n a ,

L i g h t Tisight Aggregate Concpe te s , Housing and H o m e

Finance Agency, Washfngton, D O C ,

L i g h t l:'ei&t A g g r e g a t e s f o r Concrete, A Surveyo

Of

f l c e of the FIousfng Expedftor, !f!ashPngtan, D O C , Vermiculite I n s u l a t i n g C o n c r e t e f o r Sad5 a n t H e a t e d

P~.:,QFs, The "" :;l~sconsS_n ?.:aster Pluraber , January,

l9k8,

V e r m i c u l i t s P l a s t e r F f r e p r o ~ P i n g , Vermiculite R e s e a r c h I n s t i t u t e , 208

5,

L a S a l l e S t . , C h i c n ~ o ,

I11SnoEs0

S p e c i I i c a t i o n s S o r V ~ r f i i c u l i t e C o n c r e t e Hoaf Decks,

VerricuLite R e s e a r c h Institute,

Re j o r t s of

the

Underwriters L a b o r a t o r i e s , I n c ,

,

Chicsgo,

Illinois,

( a 1 V e r m f

culite

P l a s t e r on iqietal Lath-Wood Stud

P a r t i t i o n ,

( b ) S t e e l

Floor

construction V i t h Vermiculf ts

P l a s t e r Ceiling and V e ~ n i c u l i t e Concrete Top F l o o r ,

(c j S t e e l Ceiling Construction w i t h Vermiculite

(d) S t e e l C o l m P r o t e c t e d

by

Metal L a t h and Vermiculite

Plaster,

F u r t h e r i n f o r m a t i o n

can

be o b t a i n e d f r o m t h e Verml- c u l i t e R e s e a ~ c h Institute at 208 LaSaLle S t r e e t , Chicago,

Illinois, The Division of Building He

s e a r c h

is very i n t e r e s t e d

fn the 7otentialities of vermiculite

In

Canadian building

practice and p l a n s to c a r r y

o u t

r e s e a r c h investigations a s soon

a s y o s s i b l e , In t h e meantjilie, 'che Division w i l l =elcome f r o m

r e n d e r s

of

t h i s Note any

information

regarding the

use

of