UNIT 2nd

MASONRY MATERIALS

Masonry Units - Manufacturing Process

1. Clay Masonry Units
 Raw materials
Surface clays: Up thrusts of older deposits, recent sedimentary formations or shale (formed from
clay under high pressure)
Fire clay: Refractory qualities; mined at deeper levels; more uniform chemical / physical
properties, fewer impurities
 Chemical compositions
Silica and Alumina compounds
Metallic oxides (impurities): (Flux to promote fusion at lower temperatures, impart colour (e.g.
Ca, Mg, K, Ti, Na)
 Manufacture
Different processes differ in the moisture content of the clay material after conversion into a
homogeneous plastic material.
 Stiff-mud process:
 Extrusion of brick/tile units
 Moisture content - 12-15% of dry weight of material
 Entrapped air removed in a vacuum chamber
 Rectangular die (reduction in cross-section: high pressure, denser mat.)
 Holes (cores/shells) - metal cores suspended (bridges)
 Extruded "slugs" sliced into units - sent to kiln
 Fire bricks (930-1320°C)
 Soft-mud process
 Pressed brick (moulds - lubricated), hand moulding
 Moisture content - 20-30% of dry weight of material
 Sun-dried and fired (kilns)
 Dry-press process
 For clays with poor plastic qualities (very stiff)
 Moisture content - less than 10% of dry weight of material
 Pressed into steel moulds under pressure (3.5-10 MPa)
 Firing Phase:
 Brick is dried to remove excess water before firing (24-48 hours)
 Peak temperatures in kiln: 930-1320°C (depends on properties of plastic clay)
 Ceramic fusion process - "vitrification" (strong and durable)
 Under-fired or over fired-bricks - problems of durability
 Cooling Phase:
 Bricks emerge at 90-100°C - bone dry
 Exposure to humidity - "moisture expansion"
 Physical characteristics:
 Form, texture, colour, size, dimensional tolerances
 Engineering properties
 Weight, density, volume and area
 Compressive strength, Modulus of elasticity (stress-strain relationship)
 Flexural or tensile strength
 Moisture content and absorption properties
 Volumetric changes
 Efflorescence
 Durability
 Fire resistance
 Acoustic properties