BUILDING MATERIALS

BRICKS
By,
Ar. Purnima Chitale
What is Brick

“A Brick is a small
molded rectangular
block typically made of
fired or sun-dried clay.”
Composition of Good Bricks
1. ALUMINA :
 Should contain about 20% to 30% of Alumina.
 Imparts plasticity to the earth so that it can be molded.

2. SILICA :
 Should contain about 50% to 60% of Silica.
 Prevents cracking, shrinking and warping of raw bricks.
 Imparts uniform shape to the bricks.
 Excess of silica destroys the cohesion between particles

3. LIME :
 A small quantity of Lime not exceeding 5% is desirable.
 Should present in a very finely powered state otherwise cause flaking on the
bricks.
 Prevents shrinkage of raw bricks
 The excess of lime causes the brick to melt and hence it shape is lost.
Composition of Good Bricks
4. OXIDE OF IRON :
 About 5 to 6 % of Oxide of Iron is desirable.
 Imparts red color to the bricks.
 The excess of oxide of iron makes the bricks dark blue or blackish.
 The less quantity of iron oxide, the bricks will be yellowish in color.

5. MAGNESIA :
 Small quantity of magnesia imparts yellow tint and decreases shrinkage.
 But excess of magnesia leads to the decay of bricks.
Manufacturing of Bricks - by hand

Preparation of Clay Molding Drying Burning

 Manufacturing of Bricks - by machine

Preparation of Clay

Molding

Drying

Burning
 1. Preparation of Clay
1. UNSOILING
Top layer of 20cm depth is removed as it contain
impurities. Unsoiling &
2. DIGGING Digging

Clay dug out from ground is spread on level

ground about 60cm to 120cm heaps.
3. CLEANING
Stones, pebbles, vegetable matter etc removed
and converted into powder form. Screening Crushing & Grinding

4. WEATHERING
Clay is exposed to atmosphere from few weeks to
full season. Weathering
5. BLENDING
Clay is made loose and any ingredient to be added
to it is spread out at top and turning it up and
Blending &
down in vertical direction. Mixing
 1. Preparation of Clay
6. TEMPERING
Clay is brought to a proper degree of hardness,
then water is added to clay and whole mass is
kneaded or pressed under the feet of men or
cattle for large scale, tempering is usually done
in pug mill.
If tempering is properly carried out, the good Tempering - pugmill
brick earth can be rolled without breaking in
small threads of 3mm dia.

Selected Clay is Taken Crushed, Pressed & Water is added Well Mixed in a Clay is ready for
Converted into fine powder tank making Bricks

BY HAND
 2. Molding

1. HAND MOLDING 2. MACHINE MOLDING

 2. Molding – Hand Molding
 The most common method for brick
manufacture.
 Adopted where man power is cheap
and readily available.

 Molds are rectangular boxes made

from wood or steel & open at the top Wood & Steel Molds

and bottom

Mould is prepared Clay is thrown inside the mold Removing the Excess Clay Removing the Mold
 2. Molding – Hand Molding
Brick prepared from Hand molding
are of 2 types

1. GROUND MOULDING

2. TABLE MOLDING
 2. Molding – Machine Molding
 Economical when bricks are produced in huge amount.
 The machine mould bricks have regular size, shape, edges and corners.
 They are heavier and stronger than hand molded bricks.
 It is classified into two categories:
1. PLASTIC CLAY MACHINE
The machines containing regular opening of size equal
to the length and width of brick. The pugged clay is
placed in the machine and as it comes out through the
openings it is cut into strips by wires fixed into frames.
So it is known as “WIRE CUT BRICK”.

2. DRY CLAY MACHINE

In this machine , the strong clay is first converted to
powder form. A small quantity of water is added to stiff
plastic paste. Such paste is placed in mould and pressed
by machine to form well shaped hard brick. These bricks
are known as “PRESSED BRICK”.
 3. Drying
 The drying of bricks is necessary:
• to make them strong enough for rough
handling during subsequent stages.
• to save fuel during burning.

 For drying the bricks are laid to longitudinally in

stock of bricks with width equal to two bricks.

 The important facts to be remembered while drying bricks are as follow:

 Generally dried by natural Process, but for rapidly drying the artificial drying is
adopted.
 In artificial drying, bricks are made to pass through driers in the form of tunnels
or hot channels or floors.
 The brick in stocks should be arranged in such a way that sufficient air space is
left between them for circulation air.
 Drying period 3 to 10 days, also depend on weather condition.
 4. Burning
 Essential to develop the desired
properties like hardness, strength,
durability, less absorption and No Item Clamp burning Kiln burning
resistance to decay. 1. structure temporary Permanent
2. Initial cost Very low- no Very high-
 Dry bricks, compile in kiln to start the structure to be
built
permanent structure
to be built
firing process with 600ºC (temperature). 3. Cost of fuel Low - gas, cow High - coal dust used
This is to burn the carbon and sulfur that dung, etc used
4. Quality of bricks % of good brick % of good brick is
have remain. After that, temperature is low app 60% more app 90%
will increase to 900ºC to get a 5. Supervision Not necessary Skilled supervision is
verification process. Normally, throughout the
process
required

verification process occurred around 6. Wastage of heat more Less

800ºC. 7. Capacity About 20000- 25000 bricks per day
100000 bricks
at a time
 Burning is done either in CLAMPS or 8. Suitability For small scale. For large scale
KILNS. 9. Time for burning 2-6 months 24hrs for burning &
& cooling 12 days for cooling.
Qualities of Good Building Bricks
1. Shape & Size
 Should be uniform in shape, table molded, free from cracks
& with sharp edges.
 Bricks should be of standard size as prescribed by the
standard code. In India, standard brick size is 190 mm x 90
mm x 90 mm as per the recommendation of BIS(Bureau of
Indian standards). With mortar thickness, the dimension of
the brick becomes 200 mm x 100 mm x 100 mm which is
also known as the nominal size of the modular brick.
2. Color
 Should be well burnt in kiln, copper colored.
 Color should be uniform and bright
3. Hardness & Strength
 Should be sufficiently hard.
 No impression should be left on bricks surface, when it is scratched with finger nail.
 Should not break into pieces when dropped flat on hard ground from a height of about one meter.
 No brick should have the crushing strength below 5.50N/mm2.
Qualities of Good Building Bricks
4. Structure
 When broken or fractured should show a bright homogeneous & uniform compact
structure free from voids.

5. Soundness
 Should give a clear metallic ringing sound when struck with each other.

6. Water absorption
 Should not absorb water more than 20% by weight for first class bricks & 22% by
weight for second class bricks, when soaked in cold water for a period of 24hrs.
 When soaked in water for 24hrs should not show deposits of white salts when
allowed to dry in shade.

7. Thermal conductivity
 Bricks should have low thermal conductivity & should be sound-proof.
Tests For Bricks
1. Absorption
2. Crushing strength
3. Hardness
4. Shape & size
5. Structure
6. Presence of soluble salts
7. Soundness

1. ABSORPTION
 Brick is taken and weighed dry.

 Then immersed in water for 16 hrs.

 Weighed again and the diff is in wt. indicates the

amount of water absorbed by Bricks. It should not in
any case exceed 20% of wt. of dry Bricks.
Tests For Bricks
2. CRUSHING STRENGTH
 Crushing strength of a brick is found out by placing it in
a compression testing machine.

 It is pressed till it breaks.

 The min. crushing strength of bricks is 3.5N/mm2.

 7 to 14N/mm2 are graded as A bricks & >14N/mm2 are

graded as AA bricks.

3. HARDNESS
 In this test, a scratch is made on brick surface with the help of finger nail.

 If no impression is left on the surface, the brick is treated to be sufficiently

hard.
Tests For Bricks
4. SHAPE & SIZE
 In this test, a brick is closely inspected.

 It should be of std. size & its shape should be truly rectangular with sharp edges.

 20 bricks of standard size (190mm X 90mm X 90mm) are taken & are stacked
lengthwise, along the width & along the height.
 For good quality bricks, the result should be within the following permissible
limits.
length : 368 – 392 mm
width : 174 – 186 mm
height : 174 – 186 mm
5. STRUCTURE
 A brick is broken and its structure is examined.

 It should be homogeneous, compact and free from any defects such as holes,
lumps etc.
 Tests For Bricks
6. PRESENCE OF SALTS
 Brick is immersed in water for 24 hrs. Then taken out and allowed to dry in shed.

 The absence of grey or white deposits in its surface indicates absence of soluble
salts.

 If the white deposit cover about 10% surface, the efflorescence are said to be as
moderate; when deposits are more than 50%, the efflorescence become heavy &
it is treated as serious when such deposits are converted into powdery mass.

7. SOUNDNESS
 two bricks are taken and then struck together with
each other.

 The bricks should not break and a clear ringing

sound should be produced.
 Classification For Bricks

__________________________________________________

Unburnt or sun dried Burnt bricks

Dried in the sun after molding Used for permanent construction

Commonly known as kuchha brick
________________________________
Used for temporary construction
Used at places exposed to heavy rain
First class Second class Third class Fourth class
bricks bricks bricks bricks
Classification For Bricks
1. First Class Bricks
 These are table molded & of standard shape.
 Surfaces & edges are sharp, square, smooth, straight.
 Well burnt in kiln & have uniform texture, metallic
ringing when struck against each other.
 Used for superior work.

2. Second Class Bricks

 These are ground molded brick, burnt in kilns.
 Surface are rough& shape slightly irregular.
 May have hair cracks & edges are not sharp & uniform
 Used where brickwork to be provided with coat of
plaster.
Classification For Bricks
3. Third Class Bricks
 These are ground molded brick, burnt in kilns.
 Not hard, have rough surfaces with irregular &
distorted edges.
 Give dull sound when struck together.
 Used for temporary & unimportant structures at
places with not heavy rainfall.

4. Fourth Class Bricks

 These are over burnt.
 Irregular shape & dark color.
 Used in floor, foundation, roads.
Advantages of Bricks
 Brick will not burn, buckle or melt.
 Brick will not rot and allow Termites to invade
 Brick will not rust and corrode.
 Brick will not dent.
 Brick will not fade from the Sun's UV Rays.
 Brick will not be damaged by high winds, rain or hail.
 Brick will not require constant maintenance.
 Brick will not devalue.
 Brick will not limit your personal expression.
 Brick will not limit your design options.
Application of Bricks
Application of Bricks
Quick Review
Identify the types of Bricks used
Identify the types of Bricks
 Handmade Brick production & Automatic Factory Brick
production

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGpSEsXEFxI
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDiUoiDLK6E
HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE TERMS FOR DIFFERENT ORIENTATIONS OF A
BRICK
 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE TERMS FOR DIFFERENT ORIENTATIONS OF A
BRICK
BAT: This is a piece of a brick, usually considered in the relation of the length of the brick and
accordingly known as half bat, three quarter bat, quarter bat & bevelled bat as shown in the images
below.

FULL BRICK HALF BAT THREE QUARTER BAT

QUARTER BAT BEVELLED BAT (LARGE) BEVELLED BAT (SMALL)

 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE TERMS FOR DIFFERENT ORIENTATIONS OF A
BRICK
CLOSER- A piece of brick which is used to close up the bond at the end of the brick courses is known
as a closer and it helps in preventing the joints of successive courses to come in a vertical line.
Generally the closer is not specially moulded. But it is prepared by the mason with the edge of the
towel. Following are the types of closures:

APPLICATIONS-
1. Queen Closure- It is generally placed
near the qoin header to obtain the
necessary lap.
2. King Closure- It is used near door and
window openings to get satisfactory
arrangement of the mortar joints.
QUEEN CLOSER KING CLOSER 3. Bevelled Closure- It is used for the
splayed brickwork.
4. Mitred Closure- It is used at the
corners, junctions. Etc.

BEVELLED CLOSER MITRED CLOSER

There Are Few More Special Bricks Which Are Used In The Conditions Where
Design Requires To Bring Special Feature.
Any doubt?...
 Questions

1. What is the composition of a Good Brick?

2. What is the process of manufacturing of Bricks (by Hand)?
3. What are the qualities of Good Building Bricks?
4. Write Short Note on:-
a. Types of Tests for Bricks
b. Types of Bricks & their Applications.

5. Write short note on Types of Bricks

6. Draw and explain the special bricks and their applications.