Brick
Brick
Brick
LECTURE 01
ARCH 261:
BUILDING AND FINISH MATERIALS
NABILA FERDOUSI
Lecturer
Department of Architecture
University of Asia Pacific
What is a brick?
Brick is a regular sized rectangular unit, used in most buildings.
Size of a brick is such that it can be easily lifted with one hand.
Generally:
Length = width X2 + mortar thickness
Thickness ≤ width
Manufacturing of bricks is completed with the following processes:
1. Preparation of clay
2. Pugging or tempering of the clay
3. Moulding of bricks
4. Drying of bricks
5. Burning of bricks
Preparation of Clay:
Moulds:
Moulds are rectangular boxes without any top and bottom. They may be made
out of steel or timber.
Moulds are made in size slightly greater than the standard size of the brick. This
is done because on drying and burning the bricks shrink. Increased dimension of
the brick should not be more than 10% of actual size. Although the increased size
is determined finally by conducting actual experiment.
Drying Of Bricks:
Drying of the bricks at lower temperature is done to strengthen the bricks to have
sufficient strength.
Objectives of drying:
1.To remove as much moisture as possible so to save burning time.
2.To avoid chances of cracking.
3.To increase mechanical strength of the brick so that they do not crack or
crumble while holding and carrying them in hand.
Finally bricks are to be stacked in the kiln, but they must possess the sufficient
strength to maintain their shape while the transportation and loading operations, so
drying of the bricks is important process. Drying of the bricks can be done in two
ways:
These tunnel kilns can be periodic or continuous. In periodic kilns the bricks
are dried periodically but in the continuous they are put continuously at one
end and dried bricks are taken out at the other end.
Burning of Bricks:
Bricks are burned at high temperature to gain the strength, durability, density
and red color appearance.
Bricks are not burnt above this temperature because it will result in the
melting of the bricks and will result in a distorted shape and a very hard mass
when cooled which will not be workable while brickwork.
Burning of Bricks:
Bricks at the bottom are over-burnt while at the top are under-burnt.
This method can not employed for the manufacturing of large number of
bricks and it is costly in terms of fuel because large amount of heat is
wasted.
Kiln is a large oven used for the burning of bricks. Generally coal and other
locally available materials like wood, cow dung etc can be used as fuel. They
are of two types:
ALUMINA (CLAY): Alumina is the main constituent of every kind of clay. A good
brick earth should contain 20-30% of alumina. It provide plasticity to the earth, so
that it can be moulded. Excess amount of clay and insufficient sand can result in
shrinkage, warping and cracking in the drying process.SILICA: 50-60%. Prevents
cracking, shrinking & warping. Excess amount causes brittleness.
SILICA: It is present in the earth either in free or combined form. The amount of
silica in good brick earth should be 50-60%. Presence of silica prevents cracking,
shrinkage and warping. Excess amount destroys cohesion between particles
makes the brick brittle and weak. Durability of brick depends on proportion of
silica.
LIME: Very small portion is desirable. Should be present in powder form and not as
lumps. Acts as a flux, and fuses silica. Excess amount of lime causes the brick to
melt & lose shape. Lumps of lime converts to quick lime which creates slakes and
expands with moisture. Thus causes the brick to crack.
INGREDIENTS OF A GOOD BRICK EARTH:
OXIDE OF IRON: Required in a small quantity, only 5-6%. Allows silica to fuse in
comparatively low temperature like lime. The color of the brick largely depend
on the proportion of iron oxides. Low amount of iron oxide makes the brick
yellow in color. Colour becomes darker with the increase in amount. Iron also
increases the durability and impermeability of the bricks.
MAGNESIA: a small proportion of it, decreases the shrinkage and gives yellow
tint to the bricks. But larger amount of magnesia cause bricks to decay.
HARMFUL INGREDIENTS IN BRICK EARTH:
1. Absorption test
2. Crushing strength test
3. Hardness Test
4. Shape and size test
5. Soundness test
6. Test for presence of soluble salts.
Test for bricks
Absorption test: In this test a brick is weighed in its dry state. The brick is then kept
immersed in water for 24hrs and reweighed. The increase in weight of the brick after
immersion in water, indicates the amount of water absorbed by the brick. The
absorption is expressed in percentage. The percentage of absorption should not
exceed 20% of dry weight and 15% by weight for higher classes.
Crushing strength test: in this test, well burnt bricks are selected. The frog of the
brick is filled with 1:1 cement mortar. After the mortar has gained sufficient strength,
the brick is soaked in water and put in compression testing machine. The minimum
crushing strength should not be less than 35 kg/cm2. Brick of higher class show a
crushing strength ranging from 70-140 kg/cm2 .
Hardness Test: Hardness of the bricks can be estimated with the help of the scratch
of a finger nail. If no scratch is left on the brick, it is considered to have achieved
sufficient hardness.
Shape and size test: All faces of the brick should be truly rectangular and
conform to standard sizes.
Test for presence of soluble salts. Soluble salts, if present in brick, can cause
efflorescence. A brick is kept immersed in water for 24hours. It is then taken out
and allowed to dry. Soluble salts, if present in the brick, will get deposited as grey
/ white coating on the surface of the brick, when dried.
Broad classification of brick:
First class bricks are used in work that are permanent in nature.
They are also used at exposed brick work.
Second class brick:
These bricks are not generally used for important & permanent
works. Used for temporary works.
Over burnt or jhama brick: