Bricks: Subject - Building Materials and Construction Techniques Made by - Anu Kumari Rahul Nawani
Bricks: Subject - Building Materials and Construction Techniques Made by - Anu Kumari Rahul Nawani
Bricks: Subject - Building Materials and Construction Techniques Made by - Anu Kumari Rahul Nawani
Additives - Additives are generally added to improve the certain qualities of bricks. And it’s of
various types, some gives strength, some helps to control the drying property, etc… some of the
examples are mentioned below.
• Fly ash - It helps towards the strength of the bricks due to its silicate constituent. Fly ash is
available as a waste from thermal power plants.
• Sandy loam - This additive helps in controlling the drying property of the highly plastic soil
mass containing expanding group of clay minerals.
• Basalt stone dust -Its layer of cottony soil obtained from the covering of the basalt stone. It
helps us to properly shape the bricks.
CLASIFICATION OF BRICKS
Bricks are classified as first class, second class, third class and fourth class based on their
physical and mechanical properties.
• First class bricks
1. These are thoroughly burnt and are of deep red, cherry or copper colour.
2. The surface should be smooth and rectangular, with parallel, sharp and straight edges
and square corners.
3. They are free from flaws, cracks and stones.
4. These should have uniform texture.
5. No impression should be left on the bricks when a scratch is made by a finger nail.
6. The fractured surface of the bricks should not show lumps of lime.
7. A metallic or ringing sound should come when two bricks are struck against each other.
8. Water absorption should be 12-15% of its dry weight when immersed in cold water for
24 hours.
9. The crushing strength of the bricks should not be less than 10 N/mm2.
Uses: First class bricks are recommended for pointing, exposed face work in masonry structures,
flooring and reinforcement brick work.
Machine made
Hand-made
On the basis of burning
• Pale bricks: are under burnt bricks obtained from outer portion of the kiln.
• Body bricks: are well burnt bricks occupying central portion of kiln.
• Arch bricks: are over burnt also known as clinker bricks obtained from inner portions of the
kiln.
On the basis of types
• Solid: small holes not exceeding 25 per cent of the volume of the bricks are permitted;
alternatively, frogs not exceeding 20 per cent of the total volume are permitted.
• Perforated: small holes may exceed 25 per cent of the total volume of the bricks.
• Hollow: the total of holes, which need not be small, may exceed 25 percent of the volume of
bricks.
• Cellular: holes closed at one end exceed 20 per cent of the volume.
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD BRICKS
The essential requirement for building bricks are sufficient strength in crushing, regularity in size,
a proper suction rate, and a pleasing appearance when exposed to view.
• Size and shape: The bricks should have uniform size and plane, rectangular surface with
parallel sides and sharp straight edges.
• Colour: The bricks should have a uniform deep red or cheery colour as indicative of
uniformity in chemical composition and thoroughness in the burning of the bricks.
• Texture and Compactness: The surface should not be too smooth to cause slipping of mortar.
The brick should have precompact and uniform texture. A fractured surface should not show
fissures, holes grits or lumps of lime.
• Hardness and Soundness: The bricks should be so hard that when scratched by a finger nail no
impression is made. When two bricks are struck together, a metallic sound should be
produces.
• Water absorption: should not exceed 20 per cent of its dry weight when kept immersed in
water for 24 hours.
• Crushing strength: should not be less than 10 N/mm2 .
• Brick earth: Should be free from stones, kankars, organic matters, saltpeter, etc.
DEFECTS OF CLAY BRICKS
• Over-burning of bricks: Bricks should be burned at temperature at which incipient, complete
and viscous vitrification occur. However, if the bricks are over burnt, a soft molten mass is
produced and the bricks lose their shape. Such bricks are not used for construction works.
• Under-burning bricks: When bricks are not burnt to cause complete vitrification, the clay is
not softened because of insufficient heat and the pores are not closed. This results in higher
degree of water absorption and less compressive strength. Such bricks are not recommended
for construction works.
• Bloating: this defect observed as spongy swollen mass over the surface of burned bricks is
caused due to the presence of excess carbonaceous matter and sulphur in brick-clay.
• Black core: When brick-clay contains bituminous matter or carbon and they are not
completely removed by oxidation, the brick results in black core mainly because of improper
burning.
• Chuffs: The deformation of the shape of bricks
caused by the rain water falling on hot bricks is
known as chuffs.
• Spots: Iron sulphide, if present in the bricks
clay, results in dark surface spots on the bricks
surface. Such bricks though not harmful are
unsuitable for exposed masonry work.
• Blisters: Broken blisters are generally caused on
the surface of sewer pipes and drain tiles due to
air imprisoned during their moulding.
Over burnt bricks
SPECIAL FORMS OF BRICKS AND THEIR USES
Purpose-made Bricks are those which are specially moulded to shapes suited for particular
situations There are several advantages in having the bricks thus purpose-moulded: cutting is
saved, and the surface-skin of the brick is left intact, which enables the brick to resist the weather
far better than if the surface were removed by cutting.
• Bull Nosed Bricks: A brick moulded with a rounded angle is termed as a bullnose. It is used
for a rounded quoin. A connection which is formed when a wall takes a turn is known as a
quoin. . The centre of the curved portion is situated on the long centre-line of brick. A brick
moulded with a double bullnose on end is known as a cownose. Uses: Bull nosed bricks are
used to create soft and attractive curved edges to steps, sills, or in capping walls
• Perforated Bricks: have cylindrical holes through their thickness, which makes them easier to
burn (because the fire can penetrate them more thoroughly), and lighter to handle. Such bricks
are often made from the denser and heavier clays. Drawbacks of using Perforated Brick is that
they transmit sound readily. Uses: Perforated Bricks are used for constructing load bearing
walls of low buildings, panel walls for multistoried buildings and for providing partition walls.
• Hollow Bricks: These are also known as the cellular or cavity bricks. Such bricks have wall
thickness of about 20 mm to 25 mm. They are prepared from special homogeneous clay. They
are light in weight about one-third the weight of the ordinary brick of the same size. These
bricks can be laid almost about four times as fast as the ordinary bricks and thus the use of
such bricks leads to speedy construction. They also reduce the transmission of heat, sound and
damp. Uses: They are used for the construction of non-load bearing walls, partition walls or
panel walls to multistoried buildings.
• Circular Bricks: These bricks are used for constructing wells, towers etc
• Paving Bricks: These types of bricks are prepared from clay containing higher percentage of
iron. The excess iron vitrifies the bricks at a low temperature. Such bricks resist better the
abrasive action of traffic. The paving bricks may be plain or chequered. Uses: These bricks are
extensively used for garden walks, street pavements, stable floors, etc. These bricks also
render the brick floor less slippery.
• Cant bricks: A cant brick is type of brick manufactured with a slight taper on one brick face.
Uses: used to soften the edges of windows and door openings.
• Squint Bricks: Are used to continue the line of brickwork around a 45 degree corner, such as
that required for a bay window.
MANUFACTURING OF BRICKS
Water absorption does not necessarily indicate the behavior of a bricks in weathering. Low
absorption (<7%) usually indicates a high resistance to damage by freezing, although some types
of bricks of much higher absorption may also be frost resistance. Simple immersion of bricks in
water, for the water absorption test, without boiling the bricks in water leads to incomplete
saturation because air trapped in pores is not evacuated completely. Since expansive force of
water freezing in the pores of a clay product depends upon the proportion of pores space
occupied, the ratio of the absorption after 24 hours submersion to the absorption after boiling for
5 hours (C24/B5) appears to be a better criterion of resistance to freezing than the percentage of
absorption.
The durability of a brick may be tested by frost action, i.e., by alternate wetting and drying. The
absorption test has long been considered a measure of durability, although the basis for this
assumption is questionable. The suction rate of the brick at the time it is laid exercises a marked
influence on the mortar bond. Too rapid withdrawal of water from the mortar by the brick
produces a weak bond. The rate at which a brick absorbs water, frequently called its suction rate,
may be measured by immersing one face of the bricks in water. The one minute water uptake
(initial rate of absorption) is taken as the suction rate. Bricks having a suction rate between 10 to
35 g per brick per minute are preferred for their superior bonding properties. For long periods of
immersion in this test, the total weight of water absorbed per unit area,
w = A√t
The standard methods of finding the absorption value of the brick are discussed below. If the
absorption by volume is desired it can be obtained by multiplying the weight percentage by the
apparent specific gravity
24 hours Immersion Cold Water Test: Dry bricks are put in an oven at a temperature of 150˚ to
155˚C till these attain constant mass. The weight (W1) of the bricks is recorded after cooling
them to room temperature. The bricks are then immersed in water at a temperature of 27˚ ± 2˚C
for 24 hours. The specimens are then taken out of water and wiped with a damp cloth. Three
minutes, thereafter it is weighed again and recorded as W2.
The average water absorption shall not be more than 20 per cent by weight up to class 12.5 and
15 per cent by weight for higher classes
Five Hours Boiling Water Test: The weight of the oven dried bricks (W1) is recorded as above.
Then the specimen is immersed in the water and boiled for five hours, followed by cooling down
to 27˚ ± 2˚C by natural loss of heat within 16-19 hours. The specimen is taken out of water and
wiped with a damp cloth and weight is recorded as W3.
The crushing affords a basis for comparing the quality of bricks but is of little value in
determining the strength of a masonry wall, since the latter depends primarily on the strength of
mortar. Six bricks are taken for the compressive strength test although it may be found that an
individual brick varies by 20% or more from the average, the permissible stresses allowed for
load bearing walls take account of this, being based on an average strength if six bricks. It is,
therefore, both unnecessary and uneconomical to insist that every brick is above certain strength.
As a criterion of structural strength for brick, the transverse failure in a wall or pavement is likely
to occur on account of improper bedment. For testing bricks for compressive strength from a
sample the two bed faces of bricks are ground to provide smooth, even and parallel faces with
frogs filled with hardened mortar. The bricks are then immersed in water at room temperature for
24 hours. These are then taken out of water and surplus water on the surface is wiped off with
cotton or a moist cloth. The frogs of bricks are flushed level with cement mortar and the brick is
stored under damp jute bags for 24 hours followed by its immersion in water at room temperature
for three days. The specimen is placed in the compression testing machine with flat faces
horizontal and mortar filled face being upwards. Load is applied at a uniform rate of 14 N/m2 Per
minute till failure. The maximum load at failure divided by the average area of bed faces gives
the compressive strength.
Compressive strength (N/mm2 ) = Maximum Load at failure / Average area of bed faces
The average of results shall be reported. The compressive strength of any individual brick tested
in the sample should not fall below the minimum average compressive strength specified for the
corresponding class of brick by more than 20 per cent.
Efflorescence test [IS:3495 (Part III)]
The ends of bricks are kept in a 150 mm diameter porcelain dish and immersed in 25 mm depth
of water at room temperature. After all water is gone, either through absorption or evaporation it
is again filled till 25 mm and made to be absorbed or evaporated. Presence of efflorescence is
classified as follows:
Orientation – A brick is given a classification based on how it is laid, and how the exposed face is
oriented relative to the face of the finished wall.
• Stretcher or Stretching brick - A brick laid flat with its long narrow side exposed.
• Header or Heading brick - A brick laid flat with its width exposed.
• Soldier - A brick laid vertically with its long narrow side exposed.
• Sailor - A brick laid vertically with the broad face of the brick exposed.
• Rowlock - A brick laid on the long narrow side with the short end of the brick exposed.
• Shiner or Rowlock Stretcher - A brick laid on the long narrow side with the broad face of the
brick exposed.
Cut – The practice of laying uncut full-sized bricks wherever possible gives brickwork its
maximum possible strength.
Occasionally though a brick must be cut to fit a given space, or to be the right shape for fulfilling
some particular purpose such as generating an offset—called a lap—at the beginning of a course.
In some cases these special shapes or sizes are manufactured. In the diagrams below, some of the
cuts most commonly used for generating a lap are coloured as follows:
• Three-quarter bat – stretching: A brick cut to three-quarters of its length, and laid flat with its
long, narrow side exposed.
• Three-quarter bat – heading: A brick cut to three-quarters of its length, and laid flat with its
short side exposed.
• Half bat: A brick cut in half across its length, and laid flat.
• Queen closer: A brick cut in half down its width, and laid with its smallest face exposed and
standing vertically. A queen closer is often used for the purpose of creating a lap.
Half bat
Queen closer
King closer
Quarter bat Three-quarter queen closer
Thickness -
• Brickwork is said to be one brick thick if it has a total width equal to the length of one of its
regular component bricks.
• Accordingly, a wall of a single leaf is a wall of one half brick thickness; a wall with the
simplest possible masonry transverse bond is said to be one brick thick, and so on.
• The thickness specified for a wall is determined by such factors as damp proofing
considerations, whether or not the wall has a cavity, load-bearing requirements, expense, and
the era during which the architect was or is working.
• Wall thickness specification has proven considerably various, and while some non-load-
bearing brick walls may be as little as half a brick thick, others brick walls are much thicker.
• The Monadnock Building in Chicago—for example—is a very tall masonry building, and has
load-bearing brick walls nearly two metres thick at the base.
• The majority of brick walls are however usually between one and three bricks thick.
• At these more modest wall thicknesses, distinct patterns have emerged allowing for a
structurally sound layout of bricks internal to each particular specified thickness of wall.
Bonding -
• A nearly universal rule in brickwork is that perpends should not vertically align in any two
successive courses.
• A second practice particularly observed in older examples of brickwork is that of building
brickwork thicker than the width of any of its individual bricks. In such cases, some of the
bricks may well be tied together into the depth of the wall.
• If, for example, a wall describing an east-west line is under construction, then bricks oriented
to point north-south may be built into the width of the wall, their length spanning two widths
of brick and tying the brickwork on the transverse plane. Historically, this was the dominant
method for consolidating the transverse strength of walls.
• Brickwork observing either or both of these two conventions is described as being laid in one
or another bond.
Load-bearing bonds
Flemish bond
This bond has one stretcher between headers, with the headers centred over the stretchers in the
course below.
Where a course begins with a quoin stretcher, the course will ordinarily terminate with a quoin
stretcher at the other end. The next course up will begin with a quoin header. For the course's
second brick, a queen closer is laid, generating the lap of the bond. The third brick along is a
stretcher, and is—on account of the lap—centred above the header below. This second course
then resumes its paired run of stretcher and header, until the final pair is reached, whereupon a
second and final queen closer is inserted as the penultimate brick, mirroring the arrangement at
the beginning of the course, and duly closing the bond.
Some examples of Flemish bond incorporate stretchers of one colour and headers of another. This
effect is commonly a product of treating the header face of the heading bricks while the bricks are
being baked as part of the manufacturing process. Some of the header faces are exposed to wood
smoke, generating a grey-blue colour, while other simply vitrified until they reach a deeper blue
colour. Some headers have a glazed face, caused by using salt in the firing. Sometimes
Staffordshire Blue bricks are used for the heading bricks.
Brickwork that appears as Flemish bond from both the front and the rear is Double Flemish bond,
so called on account of the front and rear duplication of the pattern. If the wall is arranged such
that the bricks at the rear do not have this pattern, then the brickwork is said to be Single Flemish
bond.
Flemish bond
Monk bond
This bond has two stretchers between every header with the headers centred over the perpend
between the two stretchers in the course below in the bond's most symmetric form.
The great variety of Monk bond patterns allow for many possible layouts at the quoins, and many
possible arrangements for generating a lap. A quoin brick may be a stretcher, a three-quarter bat,
or a header. Queen closers may be used next to the quoins, but the practice is not mandatory.
Monk bond
English bond
This bond has alternating stretching and heading courses, with the headers centred over the
midpoint of the stretchers, and perpends in each alternate course aligned. Queen closers appear as
the second brick, and the penultimate brick in heading courses. A muted colour scheme for
occasional headers is sometimes used in English bond to lend a subtle texture to the brickwork.
Examples of such schemes include blue-grey headers among otherwise red bricks—seen in the
south of England—and light brown headers in a dark brown wall, more often found in parts of
the north of England.
English Cross bond
This bond has three courses of stretchers between every course of headers.
For the standard English Garden Wall bond, headers are used as quoins for the middle stretching
course in order to generate the lap, with queen closers as the penultimate brick at either end of the
heading courses. A more complex set of quoins and queen closers is necessary to achieve the lap
for a raking English Garden Wall bond.
The heading course in English Garden Wall bond sometimes features bricks of a different colour
to its surrounding stretchers. In English chalk districts, flint is substituted for the stretchers, and
the headers constitute a lacing course.
Header bond
All bricks in this bond are headers, but for the lap-generating quoin three-quarter bat which
offsets each successive course by half a header.
Header bond is often used on curving walls with a small radius of curvature. In Lewes, Sussex,
England UK many small buildings are constructed in this bond, using blue coloured bricks and
vitrified surfaces.
Stretcher, or running bond
All bricks in this bond are stretchers, with the bricks in each successive course staggered by half
a stretcher. Headers are used as quoins on alternating stretching courses in order to achieve the
necessary off-set.
It is the simplest repeating pattern, and will create a wall only one-half brick thick. Such a thin
wall is not stable enough to stand alone, and must be tied to a supporting structure. This practice
is common in modern buildings, where stretcher bonded brickwork may be the outer face of a
cavity wall, or the facing to a timber or steel-framed structure.
Flemish Stretcher bond
Flemish Stretcher bond separates courses of alternately laid stretchers and headers, with a number
of courses of stretchers alone. Brickwork in this bond may have between one and four courses of
stretchers to one course after the Flemish manner. The courses of stretchers are often but not
always staggered in a raking pattern.
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