SUBJECT: BMC - BRICK

FACULTY NAME: RAJASREE VISHNU

CONSTITUENTS OF GOOD BRICK EARTH
• Alumina
• Silica
• Lime
• Iron oxide
• Magnesia
1.) Alumina
• Chief ingredient
• Composition – 20 to 30%
• Imparts plasticity
• If in excess, it leads to shrinkage, cracking and warping during
burning
• Becomes too hard when burnt
2) Silica
• Composition – 50 to 60%
• Imparts uniform shape to bricks
• Prevents cracking, shrinking and warping
• Burning temperature of silica – 1730 oC
• If in excess, loss of cohesion b/w particles occur and makes
the brick brittle
3. Lime
• It act as a flux
• The burning temperature of lime 1100oC
• It should not be greater than 5%
• If in excess, it leads to flaking of bricks
4. Iron Oxide
• Imparts red colour to bricks
• Composition – 5 to 6%
• It improves the impermeability and durability of bricks
• If in excess, brick becomes dark blue or blackish
5.) Magnesia
• Composition – 2 to 3%
• It provides yellow colour
• Decreases shrinkage
• If in excess, it leads to decay of bricks
 Harmful ingredients of brick earth
Lime – already discussed
Iron pyrites – bricks are crystallised and disintegrated during
burning because of the oxidation of pyrites
Alkalies – these are mainly in the form of soda and pottash
- causing efflorescence
Pebbles – if present, leads to irregular shape during cutting of
bricks
Vegetation and organic matter – if such matter is not completely
burnt, brick becomes porous
• Gases evolved during the burning of carbonaceous matter and it will result
in the formation of small pores.
• Leads to loss of strength – bloating of brick earth ( colour of the brick
changes to black)

• Manufacture of bricks
• 1.) Preparation of clay
• 2.) Mouldig
• 3) Drying
• 4) Burning
PREPARATION OF CLAY
1.) Unsoiling
2) Digging
3) Cleaning
4) Weathering
5) Blending
6) Tempering
• 1.) Unsoiling
• Top layer of soil (20cm depth) is removed
• 2) Digging
• Clay is then dug out from the ground
• Spread on the ground as heap
• Height of heap – 60 to 120 cm
• 3) cleaning
• Removal of harmful ingredients
• Lumps are powdered while cleaning
• 4) Weathering
• Clay is then exposed to atmosphere for softening
• Mostly done in monsoon season
• 5) Blending
• Blending indicates intimate or harmonius mixing
• During this process, ingredients which are in shortage are adedd
• 6) Tempering
• Adding of water – makes clay fit for moulding
• 2 methods of tempering
• - a) kneeding – using legs
• - small scale production
• b) Pugging – using pugg mill
• _ large scale production
• - height of pugg mill is 2m (60 to 80cm is below the ground)
• -Top diametre 1 m
• -Bottom dia 80 cm
MOULDING
• Mould size should be greater than the brick size by 8 to 12%
• 2 types of moulding
• 1) Hand moulding
• 2) Machine moulding

• 1.) Hand moulding

• a) Ground moulding
• b) Machine moulding
• Frogs
• A frog is a mark of depth about 10 to 20 mm which is placed on raw
bricks during moulding
• It indicates trade name of the manufacturer
• Act as a key for holding mortar when next brick is placed over it
• Wooden or steel mould are used for moulding
• The brick prepared by dipping mould in water every time are known as slop
moulded bricks
• The bricks prepared by sprinkling Ash or sand inside the mould surface is
called sand moulded bricks
• Frogs are placed on the top of the mould (sand moulded)
• Frogs are provided using stock board or moulding block
• In table moulding, size of table is 2m x 1m
• Height 1.2 m to 1.5m
• A brick moulder can mould about 750 bricks per day with working period of 8
hrs
• 2) Machine moulding
• Machine moulded bricks have smooth external surfaces, regular shape,
sharp edges and corners
• Heavier and stronger than hand moulded bricks

• Bricks prepared in dry clay machine is called pressed bricks

• Bricks prepared in plastic clay machine is called wire cut bricks
• DRYING
• The damp bricks are likely to be cracked and distorted. Hence they are
dried before burning
• Natural drying
• Sun is the agent
• Dried under shade
• Take 3-7 days or 3 to 10 days
• Artifcial drying
• Quick method – take 1 to 3 days
• Temp provided less than 120 0C
• Free moistre
• Moisture present on the particle surface
• Removed by drying
• Bound moisture
• Moisture present inside the particle surface
• Removed by burning
• BURNING
• Burning temperature - 1100 oC
• Overburnt - brittle, break
• Under burnt – soft, cannot carry loads
Clamp burning (Pazawah bricks)
• Clamp is a temporary structure
• Gradual heating and gradual cooling
• No skilled labours are reqd
• Cheap and economical
• Quality is not uniform
Kiln burnt bricks (Bhatta bricks)
• Kiln is a large oven which is used to burn bricks
• Kiln may be intermittent or continious kilns
• Intermittent kiln
• These kilns are circular or rectangular in plan
• Intermittent in operation(seasonal)
• Supply not uniform
• Continious kiln
• These kilns are continious in operation ( loading, firing, cooling and
unloading are carried out simultaneously)
• 3 types
• Bulls trench kiln
• Hoffmans kiln /Flame kiln
• Tunnel kiln
Bulls trench kiln
• Most widely used kiln in india
• This kiln may be of rectangular, Circular or oval in shape
• Partly or fully underground
• Movable chimney is used
Hoffmans kiln/Flame kiln
• Fully above the ground
Tunnel kiln
• Kiln is in the form of a tunnel
• The raw bricks placed on trolleys are allowed to move from one to the other end
of a tunnel
• Chimney immovable
CLASSIFICATION OF BRICKS

• 1) Burnt bricks/Pucca bricks

• 2) Unburnt bricks/Kuccha bricks/Sundried bricks
• 3) Overburnt bricks/jump bricks/ Jhamma bricks
CLASSIFICATION BASED ON QUALITY

1) First class bricks

• Kiln burnt
• Table moulded
• Compressive strength >14N/mm2
• Water absorption <20%
• Sharp and straight edge bricks
• No plastering is reqd
• Superior quality bricks
• 2) Second class bricks
• Kiln burnt
• Ground moulded
• Compressive strength 7.5 to 14 N/mm2
• Water absorption < 22%
• Used for permanent works and requires plastering
• 3) Third class bricks
• Clamp burnt
• Ground moulding
• Compressive strength 3.5 to 7.5 N/mm2
• Water absorption >23% or =25%
• Used for temporary works
• Fourth class bricks
• Over burnt or jhamma bricks
• Not directly used for construction
• Used as aggregates, usually for lime mortar (surkhi)

• For general purpose, min compressive strength should be

3.5N/mm2 (BIS)
CLASSIFICATION BASED ON SHAPE

Bull nose brick

• Brick moulded with a rounded angle
Cow nose brick
• Brick moulded with a double bullnose on end

Paving bricks
• Used for pavements
• Iron oxide content is higher
Coping bricks
• Made to suit the thickness of walls on which coping is to be
provided
Drainage or channel bricks
• Used for the construction of drains

Hollow bricks/Cavity bricks/Cellular bricks

• Used for heat and sound insulation
• Wall thickness is 20 to 25 mm
Perforated bricks
• Pores are present on the surface of the bricks
• Light in weight
• Used in framed structures as partition walls
• Compressive strength > 7N/mm2
• Water absorption should not be greater than 15%
• Bricks with perforations of about 30 to 45% of the total area
• Distance b/w successive perforations should not < 10mm
• Provides max amount of ventilation
TEST FOR BRICKS

• Absorption
• Crushing strength
• Hardness
• Presence of soluble salts
• Shape and size
• Soundness
• Structure
Compressive strength
• As per BIS 1077-1957 min crushing str of brick is 3.5N/mm2.
• The bricks with crushing strength of 7 to 14N/mm2 are graded as class
A and those having above 14 N/mm2 are graded as class AA
Length test
• Total length of 20 bricks arranged in a bed should be equal to 3800+/-
120 mm
Height / width test
• 20 bricks arranged one above the other. Total height of brick is 1800+/-
60 mm
Size and weight of bricks

Non modular brick/Traditional brick/Commercial brick/indian brick

• 230 x 70 x 30 mm
• 230 x 110 x 70 mm
• 230 x 110 x 30 mm
Modular brick/std bricks/actual size of bricks
• 19 x 9 x 9 cm
Nominal size of modular bricks
• 20 x 10 x 10 cm ( including mortar thickness)
• Specific gravity of brick earth 1.8 to 2
• Unit weight of brick earth - 18 kN/m3 to 24 kN/m3
• Weight of one brick - 3 to 3.5 kg (30 to 35 N)

• For modular bricks - 500 bricks in 1 m3

• For non modular bricks – 450 bricks in 1 m3
REFRACTORY BRICKS/ FIRE BRICKS

• It can withstand large amount of heat or temperature. So it is used in the

construction of chimneys and gas tanks
• Low coefficient of thermal expansion
• Water absorption 5 to 10%
• White or yellowish white in color
• Compressive str 20 to 22 N/mm^2
• 3 types
Acidic bricks ( eg: ordinary bricks, silica bricks)
• Silica content in silica bricks is 90 to 97% ( 2-3%Lime)
Basic fire bricks (eg: Dolomite bricks, magnesia bricks)
Neutral fire bricks (eg: chromite bricks, High alumina bricks)
Defect in bricks
• 1.) Black core

• Due to improper burning

• Bricks which contain bituminous matter or carbon, and they are not
completely removed by oxidation will commonly experiences such
problem
• 2) Bloating of bricks
• Spongy swollen mass over the surface of bricks
• 3.) Chuffs
• The deformation of the shape of bricks due to rainwater falling on
hot bricks is called chuffs
• 4) efflorescence
• 5) Brick cracking (rapid drying)
• 6) brick spalling
THANKU