Masonry

UNIT – fired
clay brick

By
DR. IZWAN BIN JOHARI
 Program outcome
 Able to understand what is masonry unit – fired clay brick

 Understand the process of producing masonry unit –

fired clay brick

 Able to identify the properties of masonry unit – fired clay

brick

 Able to relate the knowledge with standard of practice

available in the country
Contents
 Brick
 Fired-clay brick
 Brick making process
 Fired-clay brick properties
Brick
 Brick is the oldest building material. It start with
adobe brick which ‘unburned brick’ or ‘green
brick’ and then fired as fired-clay brick
 Other type of brick such as cinder brick,
cement sand brick, calcium silicate brick,
concrete brick
 By definition brick has the following
measurement
 Length not exceeding 300mm
 Width not exceeding 250mm
 Height or depth not exceeding its width
Height

Width < 250 mm

Bed

Header
BS EN 771-4:2001
 Fired-Clay Bricks
 Fired-clay
bricks are made by forming the unit from
moist clay by pressing, extrusion or hand throwing
technique followed by drying and firing (burning) to
a temperature usually in the range of 850-1300⁰C.

 During firing process, complex chemical changes

occur and clay particles are bonded together by
heating or sintering process. (diffusion between
particles at certain points of temperature).

 Most important properties of fired-clay bricks are fire

resistance. A good fired-clay brick can withstand
heat more than 1000⁰C.
 Solid brick

Hollow brick
 Brick making process

Diagrammatic representation of manufacturing process (Brick Industry

Association, 2006)
1. Mining and storage of raw material,
2. Preparation of raw material by crushing and
screening to obtain the desired particle size.
3. Forming the brick using a standard method, such
as the extrusion process, and cutting into the
desired size and shape.
4. Drying process where green bricks are oven dried
to reduce water content before the firing or
sintering process at certain temperatures, and are
then left to cool inside the kiln.
5. Storage- brick products are stored in a proper
place while awaiting shipping.
Drying of green brick
 Drying is the process of removing water
from the unfired-clay brick or raw material
in the green or as formed state or in the
received state.
 However, the term drying in brick
processing is restricted to the process of
reducing moisture content of as formed
brick or powders using the application of
energy
Drying defect in green brick
 The drying process is the major source of
defects in most brick products. These
defects range from visible defects to a
reduction in physical properties in fired
products in areas such as strength or
elastic modulus. Defects also include
those related to colour and appearance,
such as discolouration due to salt
efflorescence.
Shrinkage of clay in brick
 Shrinkage is a dimensional change due to loss of water in the clay
brick.
 Can be divided into two categories.
- Drying shrinkage: happens after the unit has been formed but
before it is kiln dried.
- Firing shrinkage: occurs during the burning process.
Either of these, if in excess may cause cracking or warping.
 Building bricks are manufactured in a wide variety of sizes and
shapes to permit their selection for proper scale within a wall. In
general, most clay would shrink between 4 to 15% during the
drying and burning cycles, so a dimensional allowance must be
made for this shrinkage when the units are formed in order to
obtain the final dimension.
 Factors affecting actual amount of shrinkage; the compositions of
the clay, the fineness to which it is ground, the amount of water
mixed with it, and the firing temperature.
Firing process for fired clay
brick
 Unfired brick or ‘green brick’ is most likely non-
durable and can be deteriorated by climate
change because of its unstable condition.
 Therefore, clay bricks need to be fired in order
to make them hard, strong and fire resistant.
Their production needs a considerable
consumption of firewood to raise the
temperature in traditional furnace during
firing.
 According to the standard of developed
countries, the firing temperature is higher than
900oC .
 Temperature (oC) (1) Sintering
(2) Cooling down
Soaking
1000+

(1) (2)

0 Time
(Hour)

Typical firing schedule for brick manufacturing process

Firing stage

Firing: significant temperatures

•~100°C loss of free moisture
•100-200°C loss of adsorbed water
•200-600°C removal of OH- groups
•400-700°C organic matter burnt off
•573°C low quartz to high quartz transformation
•700-1000°C further phase changes and
reactions – SiO2,
•1100-1200°C feldspar melts; vitrification; porosity
diminishes; shrinkage
•>1200°C full vitrification; only fully-closed pores
Sintering process
• The basic process for consolidating brick is called, solid
state sintering. A multitude of modifications to this process
such as pressure assisted sintering, liquid phase sintering
and reaction bonding, have been developed to
accelerate the densification process.

Desired microstructures for optimizing properties:

Property Desired microstructure

High strength Small grain size, uniform microstructure, and flaw

free
High creep resistance Large grains and absence of an amorphous phase
Formation of crack in clay brick
 Cracks and other defects which are first seen when
bricks are drawn from the kiln may not have happened
during the burning process, but at earlier stage of
manufacturing .
 The formation of crack may occur at different stages in
the process of brick manufacturing. They are:
Material preparation
Shaping process
Early stage of drying
Firing process
Cooling period
 Fired clay brick properties
Classification of Bricks by compressive strength and water absorption
(BS 3921: 1985)

Compressive strength Water absorption

Class
(N/mm2) (% by mass)
Engineering A ≥ 70 ≤ 4.5
Engineering B ≥ 50 ≤ 7.0
Damp-proof course 1 ≥5 ≤ 4.5

Damp-proof course 2 ≥5 ≤ 7.0

All others ≥5 No limits

Physical properties
 Colour
 The true colour and texture of burned clay
depend on its chemical composition, the
intensity of burning and the method of burning
control.
 Colour can be either integral or superficial. The
integral colours are obtained directly from the
characteristics of the various clays from which
common brick and facing brick are made.
 The natural colours of fired-clay bricks include
red, white, yellow, and brown. Light coloured
bricks may be due to inadequate firing, and is
associated with low strength and durability.
 Texture
 Texture is a surface effect or appearance of the unit
apart from its colour, resulting from the way the unit is
made.
 The natural brick texture produced in the soft mud or
dry press process of manufacturing is due to the
pressing of the clay against the sides of the mould,
commonly referred to as a die skin.
 A good brick should have plane faces, parallel sides
and sharp edges and angles. The texture should be
uniform and bricks should give a clear ringing sound
when struck with a sharp blow with hard object.
 Size
 Bricks are manufactured in a wide variety of sizes
and shapes to permit their selection for proper
scale within a wall.
 The size of bricks should be uniform because if the
bricks vary too much, they produce very uneven
work.
 British Standard gives one standard coordinating
size to be implemented, 225 x 112.5 x 75 mm, which
includes 10 mm in each direction for joints and
tolerances
 Density
 The density or weight of a clay unit depends on the
specific gravity of the green (unfired) clay, the
method of manufacturing and the degree of burning.
 The specific gravity of clays and shales range from 2.6
to 2.8. The density of the burned material exceeds
1600 kg/m3, averaging 2000 kg/m3
 Microstructure
 The understanding of factors affecting microstructure
development have provided a more complete
picture of what the structure is actually like and
better interpretations can be made.
 The use of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) can
serve to identify and characterize phases just as they
are seen in the microstructure.
- During this process, the reduction of pores
becomes more significant as the internal
structure start to compact.
- The internal surface of pores in bricks sintered has
a "glazed" view
Mechanical properties
 Compressive strength
 The compressive strength of a brick is a measure
of its ability to resist crushing.
 Depending on the type of clay and method of
manufacture, the compressive strength
characteristics of clay bricks vary significantly,
ranging from as low as 5 N/mm2 to more than
100 N/mm2.
 The compressive strength of a brick is important
in structural design but has no significance in
non-load bearing situations such as traditional
house construction
 Water absorption
 All clay bricks are porous to varying degrees and will
therefore absorb water when in use.
 As with compressive strength, depending on the
type of clay and method of manufacture, the water
absorption property of bricks varies significantly.
 Initial rate of suction
 When laying bricks with a very low initial suction, there
is a tendency for the bricks to ‘float’ on the mortar
bed, which restricts the number of courses that can be
laid until the mortar begins to stiffen.
 In contrast, when laying bricks with a very high initial
rate of suction, water is rapidly absorbed from the
mortar and starts to stiffen.
 A very high rate of initial suction can reduce the
strength of the mortar and weaken the bond between
the mortar and the brick and hence, reduce the
flexural strength of the brickwork.
 Porosity
 The major effect of the structure in most brick is
the result of porosity. Pores obviously decrease
the cross-sectional area on which the load is
applied but also act as stress concentrators.
 Experimentally, it is found that the strength of
porous ceramics is decreased in a way that is
nearly exponential with porosity
THE
END