Brick Masonry

History, types, manufacturing and properties.

 History of Bricks:
 Bricks are one of the oldest types of building blocks.
 They are an ideal building material because they are relatively
cheap to make, very durable, and require little maintenance.
 A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry
construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar.
 Bricks dated 10,000 years old were found in the Middle East.
 Examples of the civilizations who used mud brick are the ancient
Egyptians and the Indus Valley Civilization, where it was used
exclusively. In particular, it is evident from the ruins of Buhen,
Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa.
 The first sun-dried bricks were made in Mesopotamia (what is
now Iraq), in the ancient city of Ur in about 4000 BC
Advantages of bricks :

* Brick will not burn, buckle or melt.

* Brick will not rot and allow Termites to invade.
* Brick will not rust and corrode.
* Brick will not dent.
* Brick will not fade from the Sun's UV Rays.
* Brick will not be damaged by high winds, rain or hail.
* Brick will not require constant maintenance.
* Brick will not devalue.
* Brick will not limit your personal expression.
* Brick will not limit your design options.
 Disadvantage
 Moisture absorber: Absorbs moisture when raining.
 Color deterioration: Extreme weather causes masonry to
degrade, materials such as wall surface decolorize due to frost
damage.
 Strength: Masonry structure has low tensile strength.
 Opening: Problem in large opening.
 Education: Lack of education in masonry.
 Needs heavy foundation: Due to heavy weight, large
foundation is required. Also cracking and settlement may
occur.
General Characteristics of Bricks
 Brick is made of clay or shale formed, dried and fired into a
durable ceramic product.
 There are three ways to form the shape and size of a brick:
extruded (stiff mud), molded (soft mud) and dry-pressed.
 The majority of brick are made by the extrusion method.
 Brick achieves its color through the minerals in the fired
clay or through coatings that are applied before or after the
firing process. This provides a durable color that never fades
or diminishes.
 Brick shrink during the manufacturing process as verification
occurs. Brick will vary in size due to the manufacturing
process.These variations are addressed by ASTM standards.
 The method used to form a brick has a major
impact on its texture.
◦ Sand-finished surfaces are typical with molded brick.
◦ A variety of textures can be achieved with extruded
brick.
 •Brick manufacturers address sustainability by
locating
 manufacturing facilities near clay sources to
reduce transportation, by recycling of process
waste, by reclaiming land where mining has
occurred, and by taking measures to reduce
plant emissions. Most brick are used within
500 miles of a brick manufacturing facility.
 Brick Masonry - Sizes and Shapes

 No standard size
 Normal coursing - 3 bricks = 9”
 Larger sizes
 Custom Shapes & Colors

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SIZES, GRADES AND TYPES OF BRICKS

 No single standard size available - Size varies

 Modular Brick: 3 1/2” x 7 1/2” x 2 1/4” (Actual size)
 Standard Brick : 3 1/2” x 8” x 2 1/4”
 Engineer Modular : 3 1/2” x 7 1/2” x 2 3/4”
 Engineer Standard : 3 1/2” x 8” x 2 3/4”
 Close Modular : 3 1/2” x 7 1/2” x 3 1/4”
 Roman : 3 1/2” x 11 1/2” x 1 5/8”
 Norman : 3 1/2” x 11 1/2” x 1 5/8”
 Brick may be solid, cored, hollow or frogged - This allows even drying of
bricks
 Custom-shaped bricks are often required for building for providing special
details
Raw material for clay:
 Clay is one of the most abundant natural
mineral materials on earth. For brick
manufacturing, clay must possess some specific
properties and characteristics.
 Such clays must have plasticity, which permits
them to be shaped or molded when mixed
with water; they must have sufficient wet and
air-dried strength to maintain their shape after
forming.
 Also, when subjected to appropriate
temperatures, the clay particles must fuse
together.
Types of Clay
 : Clays occur in three principal forms, all of which have
similar chemical compositions but different physical
characteristics.
◦ Surface Clays. Surface clays may be the upthrusts of older
deposits or of more recent sedimentary formations. As
the name implies, they are found near the surface of the
earth.
◦ Shales. Shales are clays that have been subjected to high
pressures until they have nearly hardened into slate.
◦ Fire Clays. Fire clays are usually mined at deeper levels
than other clays and have refractory qualities.
◦ Surface and fire clays have a different physical structure
from shales but are similar in chemical composition.
◦ All three types of clay are composed of silica and
alumina with varying amounts of metallic oxides.
◦ Metallic oxides act as fluxes promoting fusion of the
particles at lower temperatures. Metallic oxides
(particularly those of iron, magnesium and calcium)
influence the color of the fired brick.
◦ The manufacturer minimizes variations in chemical
composition and physical properties by mixing clays
from different sources and different locations in the
pit.
◦ Chemical composition varies within the pit, and the
differences are compensated for by varying
manufacturing processes. As a result, brick from the
same manufacturer will have slightly different
properties in subsequent production runs. Further,
brick from different manufacturers that have the same
appearance may differ in other properties.
MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS FROM CLAY

 Bricks have greater fire resistance than stone or concrete masonry - Its
size enables easy handling and placement in walls; it can be easily adapted
to small-scale and large-scale structures to give pleasing appearance and
texture
 Constituents: Brick clays are produced by blending together various
clays (surface clays, shales, and fire clays) to produce the desired chemical
composition and physical properties - Clays can be divided into calcareous
clays (containing 15% Calcium Carbonate, which gives yellow color when
burnt) or noncalcareous clays (containing silicate of alumina, feldspar, and
iron oxide) - Iron oxide gives buff, red or salmon color, when burnt
 Molding of Brick: The raw material is dug from pits, crushed, ground,
and screened to reduce it to a fine constituency - Then it is tempered with
water to produce a plastic clay for forming into brick
9.4 MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS FROM CLAY (Cont’d)

 Methods of forming : Three different processes are used for brick forming
- (i) Soft Mud Process: A relatively moist clay (containing 20% to 30% of
water) is pressed into molds, either by hand or machine - The mold may be dipped
in water (water-struck bricks) or dusted with fine sand (sand-struck bricks) before
filling it with clay - (ii) Dry press bricks are formed with clays that shrink
excessively during drying - Is mixed with minimum amount of water(10%) - (iii)
Stiff mud Process: Most widely used process nowadays - contains 12 % to
15% of water - passed through vacuum to remove any pocket of air, and then
extruded through a rectangular die to form bricks
 The rectangular column of moist clay extruded through the die is cut by automatic
wire cutters to form individual bricks - After molding and cutting, the bricks are
dried for one or two days in low-temperature kilns - Then they are ready for firing
or burning
9.4 MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS FROM CLAY (Cont’d)

 Firing of Bricks: Bricks are burnt either in a periodic kiln or a continuous tunnel kiln
- In a periodic kiln bricks are loaded in after initial drying, fired, cooled, and unloaded;
and the process is repeated after a certain period (say a month) - In a continuous
tunnel kiln the bricks are loaded onto special railcars that pass continuously through
various processes to emerge at the other end fully burned
 Stages of burning: Water-smoking and dehydration (drives off the remaining water
from clay at 40o to 150o C) - Oxidation and Vitrification: Temperature of furnace
rises to 1000o to 1300o C - Clay transformed to a ceramic material - Flashing: Fire is
regulated to create a reducing atmosphere in the kiln that develops a color variation in
the bricks - Cooling: Bricks are cooled under controlled conditions to achieve the
desired color and to avoid any thermal cracking - The entire process of firing takes from
40 to 150 hours
 Color of a brick: Depends on the chemical composition of clay, temperature, and
chemistry of fire - Iron in clay turns to red in oxidizing fire and to purple in reducing fire -
Calcium oxides gives creamy/white color - For bright colors, all faces of bricks can be
glazed like pottery during normal firing or during subsequent firing
 Bricks
 Manufacture - 4 stages
◦ Material preparation
◦ Manufacturing
◦ drying
◦ Firing
 Preparation: material (clay)
washed and grinding
(fineness)
Sample of grinding machine
for clay

Sample of crushing machine

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 Brick
 Manufacturing : Clay will
grinded with 15% of water.
The clay will be pushed
through the mould base on
the shape. After that, Clay will
cut to get a standard size of
brick using wire.
 Sometimes, bricks will
produced using big mould
that clay will be press that
using hydraulic machine (This
method, clay will grind 10% of
water) or without hydraulic
press (with 30% of water)

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 After bricks in form,
identification or
perforation to the
bricks.
 Drying : Wet unit
bricks will be drying in
space or room with
control temperature to
make sure the bricks in
complete dry.

Brick was compile

before bring to the
kiln
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 Firing : Dry bricks, was
compile in kiln to firing
process with 600oC
(temperature). This is for
burn the carbon and sulfur
that have remain. After
that, temperature will
increase to 900oC to get a
verification process.
 Normally, verification
process occurred around
800oC.
 Bricks become hard/strong
after verification process.
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 Bricks

Bricks manufacturing process

flow
MATERIAL PREPARATION
Manufacturing
Manufacturing
Setting
Firing Process
Packaging
PROPOERTIES OF BRICKS
 The most important properties of brick are
1) durability, 2) color, 3) texture, 4) size variation,
5) compressive strength and 6) absorption.
 Durability:
The durability of brick depends upon achieving incipient
fusion and partial verification during firing. Because
compressive strength and absorption values are also
related to the firing temperatures, these properties,
together with saturation coefficient, are currently taken
as predictors of durability in brick specifications.
However, because of differences in raw materials and
manufacturing methods, a single set of values of
compressive strength and absorption will not reliably
indicate the degree of firing.
 Texture:
◦ Coatings and Glazes : Many brick have smooth or sand-
finished textures produced by the dies or molds used in
forming.
◦ A smooth texture, commonly referred to as a die skin
results from pressure exerted by the steel die as the clay
passes through it in the extrusion process. Most extruded
brick have the die skin removed and the surface further
treated to produce other textures using devices that cut,
scratch, roll, brush or otherwise roughen the surface as the
clay column leaves the die Brick may be tumbled before or
after firing to achieve an antique appearance.
 Color:
◦ The color of fired clay depends upon its chemical
composition, the firing temperatures and the method of
firing control.
◦ Of all the oxides commonly found in clays, iron probably has
the greatest effect on color. Regardless of its natural color,
clay containing iron in practically any form will exhibit a
shade of red when exposed to an oxidizing fire because of
the formation of ferrous oxide. When fired in a reducing
atmosphere, the same clay will assume a dark (or black) hue.
Creating a reducing atmosphere in the kiln is known as
flashing or reduction firing.
◦ Given the same raw material and manufacturing method,
darker colors are associated with higher firing temperatures,
lower absorption values and higher compressive strength
values. However, for products made from different raw
materials, there is no direct relationship between strength
and color or absorption and color.
 Size Variation
◦ Because clays shrink during both drying and firing,
allowances are made in the forming process to achieve
the desired size of the finished brick. Both drying
shrinkage and firing shrinkage vary for different clays,
usually falling within the following ranges:
 Drying shrinkage: 2 to 4 percent
 Firing shrinkage: 2.5 to 4 percent
◦ Firing shrinkage increases with higher temperatures,
which produce darker shades. When a wide range of
colors is desired, some variation between the sizes of the
dark and light units is inevitable.
◦ To obtain products of uniform size, manufacturers control
factors contributing to shrinkage. Because of normal
variations in raw materials and temperature variations
within kilns, absolute uniformity is impossible.
Consequently, specifications for brick allow size
variations.
 Compressive Strength and Absorption
 Both compressive strength and absorption
are affected by properties of the clay, method
of manufacture and degree of firing.
 For a given clay and method of manufacture,
higher compressive strength values and lower
absorption values are associated with higher
firing temperatures. Although absorption and
compressive strength can be controlled by
manufacturing and firing methods, these
properties depend largely upon the
properties of the raw materials.
Tests on bricks:
 Clay Masonry Units -ASTM C 67, Standard
Test Methods for Sampling and Testing Brick
and Structural Clay Tile
◦ These test methods cover
◦ Procedures for the sampling and testing of brick
and structural clay tile.
◦ Tests include modulus of rupture, compressive
strength, absorption, saturation coefficient, effect
of freezing and thawing, efflorescence, initial rate
of absorption and determination of weight, size,
length change, and void area.
 Basic Brickwork Terminology

Head
Joint

Bed
Joint

Course - horizontal layer of brick

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Basic Brickwork Terminology

Header - Bonds two wythes together

Wythe: vertical layer 1 unit thick

Rowlock -
laid on face,
end visible

Stretcher - long dimension horizontal

& face parallel to the wall

Soldier - Laid on its end, face parallel

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 Brick Bonds
 Structural Bonds
 Cavity (Veneer) Walls
– Running bond
– Stacked bond

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 Brick Work
 Brick shape in
brick work
◦ To produce
the variety of
arrangement
or special
purpose in
brick work

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 Brick Work
 Brick shape in
brick work

Angle
Brick

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 Brick Work
 Brick shape in
brick work

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 Brick Work
 Brick
arrangement in
brick work

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 Brick work
 Brick
arrangement in
brick work

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 Brick Work
 Brick
arrangement in
brick work

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 Brick Work
 Brick
arrangement in
brick work

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 Brick work
Brick arrangement in
brickwork
 Some of the popular brick
arrangement is:
◦ Brick edge Arrangement
◦ Brick head Arrangement
◦ American Arrangement
◦ English Arrangement
◦ Flemish Arrangement

American
Arrangment
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 Types of Bond
 Stretcher bond  Brick on edge
 Header bond bond
 English bond
 Raking bond
 Dutch bond
 Flemish bond
 Zigzag bond
 Facing bond
 Garden wall bond
 Rat-trap bond
 Types of Bond

Fig: Flemish Bond Fig: English

Bond
S.N. English bond
1 Headers and stretchers are laid in
alternate courses.
2 Strongest of the types of bonds.
3 Provides rough appearance.
4 Absence of vertical joints in the
structure.
5 Special attention is not required for
this bond.
6 Progress of work is more.
7 Costly, no brick bats are used.
8 Skilled labor is not required for its
construction
9 9
Less mortar is used.
S.N. Flemish bond
1 Headers and stretchers are laid
alternately in each course.
2 Comparatively less strong for walls
more than 30cm thick.
3 Provide good appearance.
4 Partly continuous vertical joints
appear in the structure.
5 Special attention is required for this
bond.
6 Progress of work is less.
7 Economical, as brick bats are used.
8 Skilled labor required for its
construction.
More mortar is used due to use of
bats.
 Rat-trap bond
 Shiner and rowlock are visible on the face of
masonry; this gives the wall with an internal cavity
bridged by the Rowlock.
 Economic use of brick.
 The cavity provides thermal comfort inside the wall.
 Used in load bearing as well as thick partition wall.
 The structural strength increased by inserting steel.
 Due to cavity, the weight of the building is reduced.
 Aesthetically pleasing wall.
Rat-trap bond
 Brick Work
 Brick laying
◦ Material that was used in
mortar (mix of cement
or lime with sand or both
◦ Ratio; binder : sand = 1:3
◦ Thickness or mortar
normally in range 6.5mm
- 9mm

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 Brick Work
 Brick lying finishing: Normally, brick lying will followed by
brick lying finishing. The objective is to get good
appearance or good finishing to brick lying joint.
 It can be make slowly without fully complete or after it
complete

Mortar lebihan
dikeruk & di buang
sedalam 15mm

Mortar 55
dikemaskan
 Brick Work
 Plastering
◦ These have been done after brick lying finishing.
The purpose is to get a smooth surface and
uniformity in color. The wall should scratch to
get a rough surface that will easy when
plastering work
◦ Materials that was used : lime, cement Portland,
gypsum
◦ Plastering work should be in two layers, which
one base layer and finishing layer.
◦ Base layer ; cement :Lime : sand = 1:2:8-9 @ 1:1:
5-6 @ cement : sand = 1:3 @ gypsum : sand =
1:1-3 @ gypsum : lime : sand = 1:3:7-9
◦ Finishing layer; lime : gypsum = 1: 0.25 - 0.5
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Photo advantages of brick

Walk way

Decorative of brick work

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Photo advantages of brick

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The End

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