Ceramic built in bathroom in Dome ?
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Ok Let's go to fantasyland for this post. In an old architecture book from the 70s I read about an architect who fired a room with built in fixtures. I think it was inside a clay mound and he glazed the interior and closed it up and used diesel fuel in a barrel to fire it.
Do you think I could create a "bath dome" with all ceramic interior by firing a clay coated interior ? -
This is a great vision. I want one too.
This process would require making your structural components with refractory grade materials such as firebrick and refractory cement. It should be possible to make aircrete using refractory cement, however that would be very expensive compared to portland cement. McMaster sells a one gallon bucket of refractory cement for $40.
SoulCeramics.com says the average firing temperature at which clay becomes ceramic is 1940℉ (1060℃).
ConcreteConstruction.net says:
" Portland cement concrete cannot withstand exposure to 1500°F without undergoing severe strength loss and cracking." -
@zander would a layer of thermal insulation, under a coating of clay, allow for enough protection for the dome for the time it takes to fire ? In the example I recall, our Architect left the room firing overnight, but conventional kilns have a shorter cycle.
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Perhaps a layer (2-3 inces?) of refractory grade aircrete could be applied over the portland aircrete structure. Refractory grade aircrete is the most insulative heat-tolerant material I can imagine.
This is quite speculative on my part.
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@zander That sounds orders of magnitude lower in cost to making the whole dome from refractory aircrete. I would have loved to have seen photos of the original ceramic room.
Those guys in Nevada City are making ceramic panels to build domes out of triangle shaped, they "grow" the panels the way a shellfish creates a shell.
We just gotta get the Shrimp to give us the secrets
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Wouldn't the 3 layers of different materials have problems staying bonded to each other after the heat treatment? I would think each layer would expand and contract differently, causing separation. But I've been wrong before LOL
