Sushant School of Art and Architecture, AU

Semester 2, 2020
Prof. Bhawna Dandona

ARCHITECTURAL CERAMICS

Capillary Action in Brick and Related Porous Materials

1.0 Purpose

To measure the movement of water in bricks of various manufacture, composition, and

age as a function of capillary or rising damp.

2.0 Principles

One of the sources of water infiltration into a building is “rising damp,” or water from
saturated soils in contact with the building materials. Water rises into the materials by
capillary action. Capillary action is a type of suction, occurring because the forces of
attraction of the water particles to the material’s particles are greater than the
gravitational force. It has been proven that the smaller the diameter of the capillaries, or
pores, the greater the capillary force. For architectural ceramics, these physical
properties largely determine durability and are dependent on composition, firing
temperature, and production method.

3.0 Methodology

3.1 Equipment

• Tray
• Ruler

2.2 Reagents/Samples

• Hand-made Brick
• Machine-made Brick
• Lakhori Brick
• Deionized water
 Capillary Action
Experiment 10, page 2

2.3 Procedure

1. Place each brick upright in a container. Add water to the container until 1 cm of
the base of the brick is immersed.

2. Measure the height (H) of the rising damp every minute for the first 5 minutes,
then every 5 minutes for the next 25 minutes, then every 30 minutes until the
elapsed time is 180 minutes. Place the ruler next to the brick and record the height
on all four faces of the brick in pencil. If necessary, replenish the water in the
container so that the entirety of the bottom of the brick is always in contact with
the water.

3. Record the results for each brick sample in a table similar to this example:

Height of damp line (cm)

Time (min) Face 1 Face 2 Face 3 Face 4

4.0 Data and Observations

Graph the results as height (H) versus time (t).

Graph the result height (H) versus the square root of time (√t).
 Capillary Action
Experiment 10, page 3

5.0 Conclusions

• Are the absorption rates for each brick the same or different? Why?

As per the experiment, the absorption rate for the machine made brick was the highest
followed by hand made and then lakhori. The material gone into the making of the
machine made brick could be sub-standard, resulting in the same.

• What might account for the damp profile pattern?

6.0 References

NORMAL 11/85 Capillary Water Absorption and Capillary Absorption Coefficient

RILEM Test No. II 6 Water Absorption Coefficient (Capillarity)

 Capillary Action
Experiment 10, page 4

Observations:

Hand Made Brick (Size: 10.5X7X22cm)

Figure 2: Weight Before Experiment Figure 1: Weight After Experiment

Time Height of damp Lines

Elapsed
(min) √t (min) Face-1 Face-2 Face-3 Face-4
10 3.16 6 6 6 6
30 5.47 6 6 6 6
60 7.74 7 7 7 7

• Texture was observed in the brick.

• Can be scratched with fingernail.
• Can be scratched with penny and brown colored layer underneath.
• First layer has come off with steel keys.

Machine Made Brick (Size: 7X10X22cm)

Figure 4: Weight Before Experiment Figure 3: Weight After Experiment

Time Height of damp Lines

Elapsed
(min) √t (min) Face-1 Face-2 Face-3 Face-4
10 3.16 7 7 7 7
30 5.47 11 11 11 11
60 7.74 15 15 15 15

• Heaviest brick of the three.

• No texture was observed.
• Can be used on exposed facades due to its uniform finish and dark color.
• The brick can be compacted nicely.
• Cannot be scratched with a fingernail.
 Capillary Action
Experiment 10, page 5

• Could not be scratched with steel keys.

Lakhori Brick (Fragment Size: 1.3X9X1.5cm)

Figure 6: Weight Before Experiment Figure 5: Weight After Experiment

Time Height of damp Lines
Elapsed
(min) √t (min) Face-1 Face-2 Face-3 Face-4
10 3.16 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5
30 5.47 5 5 5 5
60 7.74 6 6 6 6

• Shows the least absorption of water due to capillary action.

• Cannot be scratched with fingernail.
• Can be scratched with penny and pink colored layer observed underneath.
• Could not be scratched with steel keys.

Water Absorption in Handmade Brick
15
14
13
Height  of damp Lines (cm)

12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Time Elapsed (min)

Face 1 Face 2 Face 3 Face 4

 Capillary Action
Experiment 10, page 6

Water Absorption in machinemade Brick
15
14
13
Height  of damp Lines (cm)

12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Time Elapsed (min)

Face 1 Face 2 Face 3 Face 4

Water Absorption in Lakhori Brick
15
14
13
Height  of damp Lines (cm)

12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Time Elapsed (min)

Face 1 Face 2 Face 3 Face 4

 Capillary Action
Experiment 10, page 7

Pictures from the experiment: