‫صناعات انشائية‬

‫المرحلة الثانية‬
‫قسم هندسة تقنيات البناء واالنشاءات ‪ /‬الكلية التقنية الهندسية ‪ /‬الموصل‬
‫اعداد محمد حازم ياسين‬
 Calcium Silicate Bricks or Sand Lime Bricks

Calcium silicate bricks are made of sand and lime and popularly
known as sand lime bricks. These bricks are used for several
purposes in construction industries such as ornamental works in
buildings, masonry works.. etc.

Sand lime bricks are popularly used in European countries,

Australia and African countries. In India, these bricks are widely
used in Kerala state and its usage is regularly growing.
 Calcium Silicate Bricks or Sand Lime Bricks

Materials Used for Sand Lime Bricks

The materials listed below are used for the production of calcium
silicate bricks.
 Sand
 Lime
 Water
 Pigment
 Calcium Silicate Bricks or Sand Lime Bricks

Sand
Calcium silicate bricks contains high amount of silica
sand (is about 88 – 92%). It means the properties of these bricks
depends upon the characteristics of sand used.
So, the sand used shall be well graded ,being rich in silica , clean,
granular , and should not contain any impurities like organic
matter, soluble salts etc. the finely divided clay may be present
but it is up to 4% only which helps the brick in pressing and
provides smoother texture. Different colored sands effect the
final color of the natural brick, with red sand creating a brick with
a slight ping finish and a white sand producing a near white brick.
 Calcium Silicate Bricks or Sand Lime Bricks

Lime
Lime content in calcium silicate bricks varies from( 8 to
12%). The lime used shall be of good quality free from
any impurities and it must completely hydrated
Ca(OH)2 before the brick goes through the hardening
process. Sometimes fly ash or rice husk used instead of
lime.
 Calcium Silicate Bricks or Sand Lime Bricks

Water
Clean water should be used for preparing calcium
silicate bricks. Sea water or water containing soluble
salts or organic matter more than 0.25% are not
suitable.
 Calcium Silicate Bricks or Sand Lime Bricks

Pigment
Pigments are generally used to give color to the bricks. They are added to the sand and lime while mixing.
Total weight of brick contains 0.2 to 3 % of pigment quantity. Different pigments used to get different colors
are tabulated below:

Pigment Color

Carbon black Black, grey

Iron oxide Red, brown

Chromium oxide Green

Ochre Yellow
 Calcium Silicate Bricks or Sand Lime Bricks

Manufacturing of Calcium Silicate Bricks

In the first step, suitable proportions of sand, lime and pigment
are taken and mixed thoroughly with 3 to 5 % of water. Then
paste with moldable density obtains.
The mixture is molded into bricks using rotary table press which
uses mechanical pressure to press the bricks. The pressure of
pressing varies from 31.5 to 63 N/mm2..
As each brick is produced it is normally automatically stacked to
a wait transfer to the hardening chamber known as autoclave.
 Calcium Silicate Bricks or Sand Lime Bricks

In the final stage, bricks are placed in autoclave.

 Autoclave is long steel cylinder chamber with diameter of bout 2m and length of
about 20m. with tightly sealed ends and each holding 20000 bricks. Essentially the
autoclave is a large pressure cooker into which the uncured bricks are conveyed
on trucks running on rails. After placing bricks in this closed chamber saturated
steam pressure is released and steadily raised for about an hour and maintained
at pressure (0.85 to 1.6 N/mm2).. The temperature inside the chamber is
raised up to approximately 200 C and the reaction process begins. Silica content
in sand and calcium content in lime reacts and forms crystal like compound called
calcium hypo silicate. This process is done for 6 to 12 hours , then the steam is
shut off through valve in autoclave , this allows the bricks to cool steadily. After
this point the bricks are cured and have developed their final properties,
especially the strength.
Finally, the obtained bricks are transported to work place.
Calcium Silicate Bricks or Sand Lime Bricks