ALTERNATE

BUILDING BLOCKS

By:
Nagendra S
 Contents
 Introduction.
 Building blocks.
 Why alternatives ?
 Mud – As an alternative.
 Stabilized mud blocks.
 Stone masonry blocks.
 Hollow clay blocks.
 Concrete blocks.
 Conclusions.
 References.
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 Introduction
 The removal of fertile top soil for brick
manufacture, mining and quarrying activities for
stones causing significant damage to the
environment.
 Production of conventional building material are
energy consumptive.
 Alternative building blocks are replacing the
conventional building material in the construction
industry.
 The varies commonly used alternate building
blocks, their characteristics are discussed in this
presentation.
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 Building blocks
Block is a masonry unit.
Conventional building blocks
Sun dried mud
Stone blocks
Burnt bricks
Laterite blocks

Alternate building blocks

Stabilized mud blocks
Stone masonry blocks
Concrete blocks
Hollow clay blocks
Steam cured lime stabilized blocks
Mud concrete blocks
Fine concrete blocks
Fly ash blocks

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 Why alternatives ?
 4 to 5 million houses have to be built every year
in India to wipe out the housing shortage.
 majority of these houses would have to be build
either in rural areas or for the rehabilitation of
slum dwellers.
 For instance a brick house of 50sq-m plinth area
will consumes 5 to 6tons of firewood for the
burning operation.
 The gradual increase in the fuel prices, the area
of what may be considerd as local shrinks
rapidly.

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 MUD – As an alternative.
A good construction material would display the following characteristics.
 Be cheap.
 Be strong enough for the required purpose.
 Tolerable in appearance.
 Be locally available.
 Be durable.
 Have a long life.
 Be easily manufactured (require little skill ) and sophisticated machinery.
 Be easy to use.
 Be energy efficient.
 Be environment friendly.
 Be thermally efficient.
 Be resistant to moisture.
 Provide security.

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 Mud satisfy the above
condition admirably.
 With the addition of a
stabilize and with
adequate ‘tests’ the
percentage of its
effective use
increases
dramatically.

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STABILIZED MUD BLOCKS
 Problems with non stabilization
 Erosion of the soil due to rain.
 Impact and losses of strength on saturation.
 Requirement of bigger walls.

 Raw materials
• Soil (consists 10 to 15% clay,65 to 70% sand)
• Cement (6 to 8%)
• Quarry dust or sand (in case of high clay content)

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 The process
 Dry mixing: Sieve the soil(4mm), add sand or
quarry dust to correct the clay-sand percentage
and add appropriate cement.
 Add optimum water and make the mix
homogeneous.
 Pressing: Weigh the moist soil (to achieve
density 2.05gm/cc) and pore into mardini and
press the toggle leaver.
 Curing: Stocked in a six block high stake and
cured by sprinkling water for 21 days.

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Staking and curing

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Factors influence the performance
Density
It influence on
the wet
compressive
strength.
Type of soil
should be 65%
sand and 5-
15%clay for
good strength.

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 Cement content
6 to 7% is normally advisable for two storey
building.
Compressive
Dry density
strength ,
Cement content gm/cc MPa Wet strength
by weight , % Dry strength
Dry Wet

2.5 1.87 4.54 0.77 0.17

5.0 1.89 9.20 2.91 0.32

7.5 1.88 11.6 4.63 0.40

10.0 1.91 15.0 5.82 0.39

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 Typical sizes and Walling
Sizes
 230×190×100mm
 305×143×100mm
 230×190×75 mm (for
filler slab).
Walling
 Header bond or
stretcher bond are
used.
 Wall thickness vary
between 143-190-
230mm
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 Cost analysis
Analysis for 1000 SMB’s (block size
230×190×100)
Soil cost :Rs. 796.48
Cement cost :Rs. 1904
Labour cost :Rs. 1400
Machine cost :Rs. 200
Total cost :Rs. 4300.48
The production cost for blocks is hence
Rs.4.30/block
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 Comparisons between SMB and
burnt bricks
SMB MASONRY
Cost BURNT BRICK MASONRY
Assume a 230mm wall in 1:2:6 stabilized
Assuming 230 mm thick wall with a Cost
mud mortar with a joint thickness of
mortar(1:6) joint thickness of
20mm.
20mm .

No of blocks per cum. = 165 @ Rs. Rs.742.5

No. of bricks per cum = 382 @ Rs. Rs. 955
4.5/block
2.5

Volume of mortar = 0.28cum. Rs. 294.30

Volume of mortar per cum.= 0.35 Rs.414.75

Labour cost of masonry construction per Rs. 375.75

Labour cost of masonry Rs. 375.75
cum.
construction per cum.

Total cost of SMB masonry / cum Rs. 1412.55 Total cost of brick masonry / cum Rs. 1745.50

burnt brick masonry is about 19 % costlier

than SMB masonry. 15
 Other comparisons
Stabilized mud blocks Burnt bricks

Very less fuel consumption Utilization of fuel is more

Production in small quantity is possible Production should be in large quantity

Utililization of locally available soil is more Utililization of locally available soil is less

Pressing machine is needed No need of machine

Less quantity of water required Consumption of water is more

The process can be carried out in rainy season also Production process stops in rainy season

Technology has not been known to common people Majority of people knows this technology

The performance is known since 50 years The performance is known since 10,000 years
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The surface finishing is better than bricks Poor compared to SMB
 Filler slabs using SMB
 Size of block used : 230×190×50-100 mm
 By using SMB 25% of the concrete can
be replaced (15% to 20% of the cost of
concrete can be saved )

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Filler slab SMB

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 Miscellaneous
 ASTRA as lead to maturing the block since 1974.
 frog on the top and bottom surface of the blocks
 possibility to make block thickness less than 100mm
 possibility of making fibre reinforced SMB
 It can also be use in rainy region
 Stabilization of block cotton soil is difficult.
 Durability of SMB constructed structures are around
50 years
 This technology well distributed throughout the india

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Contd…
 Depending on the performance and strength
SMB’s are graded as,
Grade 20-compressive strength >2.0N/sq m but <3.0 N/sq m
Grade 30-compressive strength >3.0 N/sq m but < 4.0 N/sq m
Grade 40 –compressive strength >4.0N/sq m
 Block testing facility may not exit, field tests
are
• Flexural strength test
• Expansion due to stabilization saturation test

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Frogs in SMB fibre reinforced blocks

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Spread of stabilized mud blocks
technologies in India.

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Stabilized mud block residential
building, Himachal Pradesh.

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CONCEPT OF SMB IN MYSORE –
AN OVERVIEW
 Using of SMB started in the early 80’s
 More than 1500 houses are being
constructed
 Recommended soils are imported from
Gommatagiri (if proper soil not in site )
 The rate per block of SMB is Rs. 4.5/-
 Training given in Nirmithi Kendra

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 Cntd…

 Typical examples for SMB constructed

structures :
Maharshi vidyashala
Mahabodhi school .
Koutilya junior college. . . . .

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3 floor building with load bearing walls

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 Stone masonry blocks
 Raw materials : stone pieces and concrete
 Process: One or two stone pieces 250 to
120mm size are kept inside each
compartment of the mould
Concrete with a slump of 0 to 10mm is poured
The concrete is compacted with plate vibrator
The blocks are demoulded 5 to 10 min after casting
The blocks are water cured for two weeks and
allowed to dry for another two weeks

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 Block size : The commonly available size is
290×190×140mm.
 Compressive strength : between 7 N/sq mm
to 12.5 N/sq mm

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Battery mould Vibrator

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Advantages
 Block can be precast at construction site or in small
factories where stones available in plenty.
 The external wall with exposed stone texture gives
esthetically pleasing appearance.
 Heavy capital investment or sophisticated equipments
are not required.
 Production is labour intensive.

Miscellaneous
 The BIS specification IS : 12440 gives details of the
technique of stone masonry block.
 Plastering of external wall is necessary in the highly
rainfall areas.
 Cutting of the block is not recommended, the building
should planned to suit the block dimensions.
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 Wetting of block is neither necessary nor desirable.
 Burnt clay hollow blocks
 The wall thickness of the hollow blocks is often
as low as 1.5 to 2.0 cms.
 It can be seen that these blocks give a relatively
high strength when tested with load parallel to
the holes
 Mangalore block of size 310×160×200 mm
Parallel to holes gives compressive strength of
9.91MPa.
 The block cost is comparatively high.
 useful at place close to the factories
manufacturing them.

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 Concrete blocks
 blocks are of two types hollow and solid
concrete blocks
 Low mortar consumption, higher masonry
efficiency, better shape, size and flexibility of
production.
 sizes 400×200×200mm,400×200×150mm and
400×200×100mm are commonly available in the
market.
 strength is in the range of 2.8 MPa to 5.4 MPa
 Specifications for hollow and solid concrete
blocks can be found in IS:2185 (part-1)-1979

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 Conclusions
 To meet the demand with out environmental
degradation and over-exploitation of natural
resources, alternate building blocks are needed.
 SMB, stone masonry blocks, hollow clay blocks,
concrete blocks etc. are the alternative blocks
which substitute for the conventional blocks.
 Adoption of the alternate building blocks walling
technology of construction results in
considerable amount of saving in walling cost of
any type of building against conventional blocks.
 This technology is best suited for developing
countries.
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 References
 Mohan raj and jaisingh. ,“Advances building materials &
construction”,CBR institute,Roorkee.
 A.G. Madhav Rao and D.S.Ramachandra Murty ,
“Appropriate technology for low cost housing”, Oxford
and IBH Publishers, New Delhi.
 Coarse resource on “Alternate construction
technologies” , By Gramavidya , Bangalore.
 G.C. Mathur, “Low cost housing in developing countries”.
 “Stabilized Mud Blocks”, By Gramavidya, Bangalore.
 Lecture notes on alternative building methodologies for
engineers edited by: K S Jagadeesh and B
V Venkatarama Reddy ; IISc Bangalore .
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