BRICKS:DEFINITION
• Artificial building material
• Made of clay (inorganic)
• Rectangular blocks
• Uniform shape and size
Standard and nominal size of brick
Advantages:
Easy availability Durability
Light weight Strength
Economic Reliability
Ease in handling Thermal insulation
Ease in molding
Ease of laying
Unskilled labor
Properties of brick clay
Plasticity to facilitate molding
Proper mix of calcareous and non-calcareous clay
Dries without cracking or warping on burning
Retains shape, becomes hard and attains uniform color.
Ingredients of good brick earth
[Link]. Ingredient Quantity (%) Use Excess
1 Alumina 20-30 Imparts plasticity; makes bricks Causes shrinkage, warping and becomes
homogeneous too hard when burnt
2 Silica 50-60 Prevents shrinkage, cracking and Destroys cohesion making bricks brittle
warping; affects durability and weak.
3 Lime 2-5 Reduces shrinkage; binds particles Causes lime pops;
together
4 Oxide of 5-6 Helps fusion of lime with sand. Causes dark blue or blackish/
iron Imparts red color, durability,
impermeability.
5 Magnesia Small amount Reduces shrinkage and yellow tint Causes brick to decay.
Harmful ingredients
Lime: (As discussed)
Iron Pyrites:
Alkalis:
Pebbles and gravel:
Vegetation and organic matter:
Carbonaceous matter:
Sodium and Potassium:
Classification of brick earth
• Loamy, mild and sandy clay
• Marls, chalky or calcareous clay
• Plastic, strong or pure clay
Brick making machine:
Makes 2500-3000 bricks per hour.
Powered by 72 HP electric motors
Three major parts of the machine
are:
Mixer chamber: clay is fed with belt
conveyors and moisturized by spraying
water;
Extrusion chamber: clay is extruded
through a die;
Cutting table: clay are cut by wire
cutting machine.
Types of brick kilns: Bull’s Trench
Vertical shaft
brick kiln
Factors affecting strength of bricks
Composition of brick earth
Blending of ingredients
Nature of molding adopted
Care taken during drying and stacking of raw green bricks
Kiln type, type of fuel and its feeding
Burning and cooling process
Care taken during unloading
Note on strength characteristics of brick
• Average crushing strength of hand molded brick 60000 kN/mm2
• Average tensile strength of hand molded brick 2000 kN/mm2
• Average shearing strength of hand molded brick = 1/10 crushing
strength
• Strength of brick work depends mainly on mortar type and not much
on the strength of individual brick
Tests for brick
Water Absorption
Saturation Co-efficient: cold water-to-boiling water absorption
Crushing strength
Hardness : Finger nail test
Dimensional tolerance
Structure
Soundness
Presence of soluble salts: Efflorescence
Note:
• Saturation co-efficient:
• Indicator of freezing and thawing resistance of brick.
• Also indicates durability.
• Should be less than one.
• Lower the value, lesser absorptive is the brick.
• Initial rate of absorption or suction:
• Amount of water drawn by brick during first one minute.
• If suction is high, strong water-tight bonding with mortar may not be achived.
Permissible limits
[Link]. Test Values
1 Water absorption < 20% of weight
2 Crushing strength >5.0 N/mm2; 7-14 N/mm2 for Grade A;
> 14 N/mm2 for Grade AA
3 Shape and size Length 3680-3920 mm
Width 1740-1860 mm
Height 1740-1860 mm
4 Efflorescence < 10% preferred.
< 50% of surface area covered with white spots
Constituents imparting colors
[Link] Color Constituents present in clay
1 Black Manganese and large proportion of iron
2 Bluish green Alkalies
3 Bright red, dark Large amount of iron oxide
blue or purple
4 Brown Lime in excess
5 Cream Lime and little lime
6 Red Iron in excess
7 White Pure clay
8 Yellow Iron and Magnesia
Special shapes of bricks
Bullnose bricks
Channel bricks
Cownose bricks
Curved sector bricks King-closer bricks
Hollow bricks Queen-closer bricks
Paving bricks Tubular bricks
Perforated bricks Sill bricks
Splayed bricks Purpose-made bricks
Hollow Paving
Perforated
Sill brick
Miscellaneous
Classification of bricks:
• Class I
• Class II
• Class III
• Kiln rejects
Special bricks:
• Flyash bricks
• Refractory bricks
• Bricks from industrial wastes
• Autoclaved calcium Silicate bricks
• Compressed earth blocks
Applications of
Refractory
Refractory Bricks
• Classification
• Chemical
• Refractoriness
Sillimanite
• Resistance to temperature
Properties of refractory bricks
Fusion point :
Temperature at which refractory starts to soften.
Indicates the suitability for a particular application.
General range is 1600-2700°C.
It is determined by pyrometric cones.
Most commercial refractories do not have sharp melting points, as they are
composed of different crystalline and amorphous materials.