Construction Materials

and Specification

Brickwork

Brickwork

Introduction

Bricks hand moulded, moist clay

Sun dried

Firing of bricks

5000 years
 Now sophisticated process
 Convert from natural plastic state
 Low maintenance ceramic material
 Dimensionally stable
 durable

Brickwork

Clay Bricks

Main constituents

Silica (sand)

Alumina

Minor constituents
 Chalk
 Lime
 Iron oxide

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Clay bricks

Fletton lower
Oxfordshire clays

Largest manufacturer

Characteristic clays

Staffordshire Blues -
high iron content

Accrington Reds
high iron content

London Stocks
yellow low iron
content

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Clay bricks

Size

BS EN 771-1: 2003

215 x 102.5 x 65 mm

Weight 2 4 kg

Co-ordinating size
225 x 112.5 x 75
 Nominal 10 mm
joint

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Clay bricks Manufacturing Process

5 main processes

Extraction of raw material

Forming Process

Drying

Firing

Packing and Distribution

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Extraction

Raw material quarried

Transported to works
 Conveyor close by
 Road

Topsoil removed, kept
 Site reclaimation

Screen material
 Remove rocks

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Extraction

Raw material quarried

Crushed fine powder
 Crushers and rollers
 Screen for large particles
 Blend other clays
 Pigments colour effect
 Manganese dioxide black
 Fireclay teak brown

Water added for plasticity
 Up to 25%

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Forming Process

Homemade Bricks

Throw wet clay into
wooden mould

Surplus struck off with
wire
 Green brick
removed
 Irregular shape
and soft edges
 Pallet Moulding
 Produces frog
 Slop Moulding
 Faces smooth

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Forming Process

Soft Mud

Mechanical version of hand made process
 Individual moulds
 Lower Cost

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Forming Process

Pressed Brick

Semi dry process
 4 pressings in steel moulds
 Deep Frog 1 face ( e.g. Fletton)
 Texturing applied by rollers
 Water spray / sand blast sand finish

Stiff Plastic Process
 Higher water content for moulding
 Engineering bricks

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Forming Process

Extruded Wire
Process

Clay Water content
up to 25%

Screw Extruder
 Consolidates clay
 Extracts air

Clay forced through
die
 Continuous column
 Texture surface
 Wire cut to size

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Drying Process

Green bricks laid out chequerboard

Uniform loss of moisture

Passed through drying chamber
 Waste heat from firing process

Shrinkage 10% each dimension

Prevent Cracking and Distortion while Firing

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Firing Process

Intermittent

batch process
 Single kiln
 Loaded, fired,
cooled,
unloaded

Continuous kilns

Firing process always
active
 Bricks move
tunnel kiln
 fire moves
Hoffman Kiln
 Interconnecting
chambers

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Packaging and Distribution

Damaged bricks removed before packing

Banded and shrink wrapped

Packs 300 500
 Easy moving by fork lift

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Clay Brick
Properties

Appearance

Clay

Firing conditions

Pigments

Quality of bricklaying
 Reference panel
 100+ random
selected bricks

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Clay Brick Properties

Durability

- 3 classes
 F 2= frost resistant
 F1= moderate frost resistant
 Not for repeated freeze thaw conditions
 Not for saturation
 FO= not frost resistant
 Internal use only

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Clay Brick
Properties

Durability

Soluble salt 3 categories
 S2 Na /K 0.06% Mg 0.03%
 S1 Na / K 0.17% Mg 0.08%
 S0 no requirement

Efflorescence
 White deposit
 Defined by %age cover
 Nil, slight (0-10%),
 moderate (10-50%)
 Heavy (+50%)

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Clay Brick Properties

Compressive strength

Range 5 100+ N/mm2

Water Absorption

1 35%

Crucial if used for DPC

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Clay Brick Properties

Moisture /Thermal Movement

Irreversible expansion after firing
 Up to 0.1%
 Dont use for 2 weeks

Subsequent expansion reversible
 Movement joints
 1mm per 1m brick

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Clay Brick Properties

Thermal Conductivity

Depends on density and moisture content

Poor thermal insulators

Fire Resistance

Excellent

Retains loadbearing capacity

Integrity

Insulation properties

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Calcium Silicate
Bricks

Durable for
foundations

3% of uk market

More accurate than
clay bricks

Form, size

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Calcium Silicate Bricks Manufacture

Main Constituents

Silica (sand)

Hydrated lime

Crushed flint

Pigments

Silica and lime mixed with water

Add other constituents as required.

Blend pressed into units

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Calcium Silicate Bricks Manufacture

Brick units

Stacked on bogies (trolleys)

Autoclave
 Subjected to steam pressure
 0.8 1.3 N/mm2 for 4 15 hours at180oC
 Lime chemically reacts with surface of sand
 Envelope sand with calcium silicates
 Fill voids
 Calcium silicate +CO2 Calcium carbonate
 Increased strength of bricks

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Calcium Silicate Bricks Properties

Durability

Good frost resistance

Dont expose to
 Salt solutions
 Acids
 Industrial effluent
 Magnesium Sulphate
 Ammonia Sulphate

Resistant to efflorescence and sulphate attack

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Calcium Silicate Bricks Properties

Compressive Strength to BS EN 771-2

Table D.1 Classification of calcium silicate masonry units

5 5.0

7.5 7.5

10 10.0

15 15.0

20 20.0

25 25.0

30 30.0

35 35.0

40 40.0

45 45.0

50 50.0

60 60.0

75 75.0

NOTE When a strength class is declared, the mean normalised

compressive strength shall be not less than the value for the strength class

Water absorption

8 15% by weight

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Calcium Silicate Bricks Properties

Moisture and Thermal Movement

Contract after manufacture

Shrinkage Wet before use

Reversible movement greater than for clay

Expansion joints every 7.5 9m

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Calcium Silicate Bricks Properties

Thermal Conductivity

Equivalent to clay bricks

Fire Resistance

100mm 120 minutes

200mm 6 hours

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Deterioration

Efflorescence

Under fired clay bricks

sulphates

Frost

Exposed parapet

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Tutorial

1. Explain in your own words the 5 processes
of clay brick manufacture

2. Explain in your own words the processes of

calcium silicate brick manufacture

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