Bricked Front Street along the Cane River in The Roman Constantine Basilica

historic Natchitoches, Louisiana

West face of Roskilde Cathedral in

The ancient Jetavanaramaya Roskilde, Denmark.
stupa The advantage of the BTK design is West face of Roskilde Cathedral in
a much greater energy Roskilde, Denmark.
 Chile house in Hamburg, Germany

The brickwork of Shebeli Tower in Iran

displays 12th century craftsmanship
Uses of Brick
•Structural units, bridges, dams, building frame etc
•Facades
•Acid refractory Lining
Bricks
• are one of the most extensively used
materials of construction. Their popularity
as building material lies in their
• Strength
• Durability
• Insulating property against heat/
coldness and sound
• Being handy to work with.
• Relatively cheaper prices.

Row materials
Mainly manufactured from Clay. Clays are
fine-grained soils that have resulted from
the decay of rocks. deposited of fine rock
particles transported by water or wind
Clay consist of the following chemical element
– Alumina (Al2O3)
– Silica (SiO2)
– Ferric oxide (Fe2O3)
– Lime (CaO)
– Magnesia(MgO)
– Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
– Sulphur trioxide(SO3)
– Alkalies (K2O, Na2O)
– Water (H2O)
• Clays are generally found mixed with other materials
(impurities) that influenced their properties.
• It Prepared with water (plastic), it can be molded,
dried and burnt without cracking or changing it
shape or warping
Composition
– Clay………….. 20 - 40%
– Sand………….. 30 – 50%
– Others (lime, silt, loam) ………. 20 – 35%
Functions of the constituent materials
Alumina
– A fine –grained mineral that makes the major part
of clay
– Plastic when mixed with water and is capable of being
molded to desired shape
– On drying – it loses its plasticity becomes hard,
shrinkage, warping and cracking
– When burnt, stronger and harder due to the
homogeneity created by fusion
– Brick of very high alumina content are likely to be
refractory
– 20% to 30%
Silica
• A Course grained of mineral
• It reduces shrinkage and warping in burning
• Hardness and durability introduced
• Large percentage of uncombined silica is leads to
brittleness
• Silica fuses only at very high temperature of and hence
increases refractoriness of low alumina clay and makes
bricks resistant to heat. the silica content may rise to 98%.
Lime
– It acts as a flux and lower the fusion point of silica
– Acts as a binder to the clay and silica particles leading
to greater strength
– Excess of lime may cause the bricks to melt and lose
their shape
– < 5%
Iron oxide
– Like lime lowers the fusion point of clay and silica.
– Gives color
– Depending on the percentage of iron oxide
present in the clay, the color of the bricks may
vary from light yellow to red
– A high percentage may make – dark blue
– If iron is present in the form of Pyrites(sulphide of
iron,) it can get oxidized, crystallized and split the
brick to pieces.
– 5-6%
Magnesia – (MgO)
– Gives the brick yellow shade.
– Minimizes warping of bricks in burning
 Magnesia is present in small quantity (1%)
Manufacture of brick four basic sages
1. Preparation
2. Molding
3. Drying
4. Firing
Preparation
• Digging out (winning)
• Crashing and/ or grinding and mixing until it is of a
uniform consistency.
• water is added to increases plasticity( a process
known ‘tempering’)
• Chemicals like barium carbonate that reacts with
soluble salt producing an insoluble product
therefore reducing effloresence in the final product.
• Sand and water added to produce the desired
consistency
Molding
– Suit the moisture content three kind of processes
1. Soft mud process
• Clay from shallow surface
• 30% moisture content
• Mechanically forcing wet, soft clay into molds under pressure, cuts,
of excess clay
• The inside of the mould sprayed or dipped in water to prevent the
clay from sticking
2. Stiff-mud process
– It is forced or extruded in a column through dies in a brick
making machine.
– a column of clay is forced into a wire-cutting table, where it is cut
into appropriate length by taut wires.
3. Dry pressed brick
– Relatively dry or non plastic clays
– The material is fed into the machine by hopper, where it
is compressed into mould under high pressure
– It is compact, strong, and well formed

Drying
– Brick contain from 7 - 30% moisture
– Conventionally they stacked in open sheds for 7 days to 6
weeks
– Under controlled condition, heat, moisture, and air velocity
for 2 to 4 days
– Drying enables the bricks to be stacked higher in the kiln
and increase firing temperature more rapidly with out
problem such as bloating ( when gases or vapor are
trapped within the brick).
Drying of bricks by natural methods
Firing
– Localize melting (sintering)of clay
– Increases strength and decreases the soluble salt
content without loss of shape of the clay unit.
– Silica and alumina do not melt, since their melting
point are very high; they are fused by lower
melting point mineral such as metallic oxides and
lime.
Stage of firing are:
100 0C Evaporation of free water
400 0C Burning of carbonaceous matter
700 0C Dehydration
900 0C Oxidation
900 - 1000 0C Sintering of clay
 Control rate of increase of temperature
Maximum temperature give rise to
– Having satisfactory strength
– quality
• Too rapid firing will cause bloating and over burning of
external layers
• Too low a temperature impairs strength and durability
• Firing of ordinary quality or common bricks is at 9000C
and for Engineering brick is greater than 1000oC
Drawing is the process of unloading a kiln after the
bricks are cool. Then they are sorted, graded,
packaged and then to storage
Vitrification is changing in to glass like substance by
fusion due to heat.
Brick Kilns (burning process) - two type
1. Intermittent (periodic)
• Temperature is varied periodical until the burning is complete and
the bricks are removed new pile of green brick is fired
2. continuous (tunnel)
– Dried bricks pass through various temperature zones on special cars
and pulled through the preheating, firing, and cooling at a constant
rate of speed
– Several compartment fired by single oven
– The heat is regulated in each section so that while the remaining
water is being removed from the brick in one compartment, bricks are
being fired in a second compartment and cooled in a third
compartment.
– The tunnel may be straight or a curved.
– The tunnel kiln is very efficient ,heat is carefully controlled and
produced a more uniform product
Types of bricks
A. Common bricks
– Ordinary red brick , not designed to provide good finish
appearance or high strength.
– The cheapest brick available and most widely used for walls.
– No special color, shape, and texture
B. Facing bricks
– Designed to give attractive appearance,
– Hence they are free from imperfection e.g. cracks
– May be derived from common bricks to which a sand facing
and/ or pigment has been applied prior to firing.
C. Engineering brick
– Design for extra strength and durability
– They are usually highly dense and well fired
Method of giving attractive appearance
a) Texture
• When column of clay leaves the die in the stiff mud process
• Applied by attachments which cut , scratch, brush, roll or roughen the surface
(molding stage)
b) Glaze
• Shiny or glossy surface finish
• Glazes are sprayed on the brick before or after burning
Type of glazes
1. Ceramic glaze
– Spraying a coating of a mixture of mineral ingredients on one or more facing of
the brick
– Available on any color
– Glass like coating
2. Salt glazed (transparent)
– A solution of sodium silicate
– Transparent and the color of the brick is presented under a glass
3. Flashing
– At the end of the burning stage
– By inject natural gas
According to the Ethiopian Standard, solid bricks
are of the following three types.
1. Brick without holes or depression (type TS)
2. Brick with holes up to 20 mm in diameter each and
having a total cross sectional area not exceeding 25% of
the base area of the brick (type TH)
3. Brick with depression not exceeding 25 percent of the
base area having a maximum depth of the depression
not more than 10mm (type TD).
According to the Ethiopian Standard, hollow
and beam tiles bricks are of the following
three types.
1. With two faces keyed for plastering or rendering
(type kk)
2. With two faces smooth and suitable for use with
out plastering or rendering on either side. (type
ss) and
3. With one face smooth and another face keyed
for plastering (type sk)
 Firebricks or Refractory bricks
These bricks are capable of withstanding very
high temperatures without melting or becoming
soft.
• Firebricks are manufactured in exactly the
same manner as the ordinary bricks burnt in
kilns at temperatures ranging from 13500c to
19000c.
• Firebricks are the white or yellowish white color
and are used for lining the interiors of
fireplaces, ovens, kilns, chimneys and furnaces
Properties of Bricks

The essential properties of bricks are:

Physical properties,
Chemical characteristics,
Thermal characteristics and
Durability.
1.Physical properties
 a.Shape- rectangular
 b.Size – 60 mmx120mmx250mm
 c.Color – red
 d.Density- density varies from 1600
kg/cubic meter to 1900 kg/cubic meter. A
single bricks (60x120x250) will weigh
between 3.2kg to 3.5kg depending upon
its density.
2. Mechanical properties

Compressive strength is the most

important property of bricks especially
because they are to be used in load
bearing walls. The compressive
strength of a brick depends on the
composition of the clay and degree of
burning.
 
3.Thermal properties
The heat and sound conductivity of
bricks varies greatly with their density
and porosity. Very dense and heavy
bricks conduct heat and sound at a
great rate. They have therefore poor
thermal and acoustic (sound) insulation
qualities. For this reason, bricks should
be so designed that they are light and
strong and give adequate insulation.
4. Durability
By durability of bricks is understood the
length of time for which they remain
unaltered and strong when used in
construction.
The durability of bricks depends on a
number of factors such as: absorption
value, frost resistance and efflorescence.
Tests for Clay Bricks
Two types of tests are used to determine
the quality of building bricks.
  A.   Field test
B. Laboratory test
A) Field tests:
such as appearance, hammer and hardness  
 Appearance test is that: shape, plainness, color etc.
 When stroked with hammer, a properly burnt dry brick
free from cracks emits a highly metallic ring.
 The hardness of a brick sample can be checked by
scratching its surface or broken section with a knife or
fingernail. A well-burnt brick will be scratched with
difficulty.
 A rough test for the strength of the brick is to let it fall
freely from a height of about one meter on to a hard
floor. It should not break.
B. Laboratory tests
1. Compressive strength test
2. Water absorption test
3. Efflorescence test and
4. Saturation coefficient test =
(absorption after 24 hrs in cold water)
absorption after boiling for 5hrs
Minimum Compressive Strength

Minimum Compressive Strength

Class
Average of 5 bricks Individual bricks
(N/mm2) (N/mm2)
A 20 17.5

B 15 12.5

C 10 7.5

D 7.5 5.0
Qualities of good brick
1.It should have a regular shape, surface and red colored
appearance.
2.It should confirm in size to the specific dimensions
(60mmx120mmx250mm)
3. It should be properly burnt.
4. Absorption should not exceed 25% in any case even after
soaking for 24hrs ( white substance on the surface).
5. A good building brick should posses requisite compressive
strength, which in no case should be less than 35kg/cm2.
6. Bricks should be hard enough so that it is not scratched
by fingernail.
7. A good brick has a uniform color and structure through its
body.
8. Dropped from 1m height, it should not be broken to
pieces.
Non-Clay bricks
• Concrete Blocks
• Fly-ash Brick
• Sand-lime or calcium silicate Bricks
Thank You!!