BRICKS

GENERAL
1. Brick is a small block of burnt clay of such size that it
can be conveniently held in one hand .
2. Standard Modular size is 190mmx90mmx90mm
3. FPS Units 230mmx110mmx 70mm specified in
IS 1077.
4.Bricks have a frog 100mm in lengh 40mm inwidth and
10 to 20mm deep on of it s flat side with
manufacturer’s identification mark in frog.
5.Weight of brick is about 3.0 Kg.
6. Strength of bricks in India varies from region to region
depending upon nature of soil and technique adoped
for moulding.
• North India and West Bengal-7-20 N/MM2
• Rajasthan,AP,Assam,MP, Maharashra and
Gujratas 3-5 N/mm2
• In Metro cities like Calcutta, Chennai and
Delhi machine made bricks being produced
giving compressive stregths as 17.5-25
N/mm2 also.
 Manufactring process
• Burnt clay bricks in India has been produced from
pre-historic times.
• Annual production is in excess of 5000 crore.
• Bulk of bricks is produced by medium size brick
kilns using age old process which is not energy
efficient and environmental friendly.
• Only about 60% of brick produced are of first
class having compressive strength more than
7N/mm2
• Most popular method of making bricks is by
ground moulding employing soft mud process,
drying the bricks in the open utilising solar
heat.
• Burning the dried bricks in Bull’s trench kiln
using coal or other locally available
combustible material as fuel such as firewood,
mustard seed husk etc.
• The brick industry as a whole is one of the
highest consumers of coal in India.
• Burnt clay brick production from traditional
bull’s kilns and clamps is highly fuel inefficient
and large quantity of energy is wasted.
• Burning of coal causes emission of green
house gases ina major way.
New Tech of manufacturing bricks
• There are alternative cost-competitive
technologies now available for making brikcks
that donot have the same negative enviornmental
and social impact.
• Fal-G(Fly ash lime gypsum bricks which donot
require any sintering, auclaving or steam curing.
• Mechnaized Fly ash sand lime brick followed by
steam curing or auto clave at temp. 200degree c.
 Brick tiles
• Brick tiles are generally of 40mm thickness in
modular size.
 Classification
• Based on sizes (IS 1077)
• Based on compressive strength (IS 1077)
• As per raw material used for manufacturing.
 Classification based on sizes
• As per para 6.1.1. &6.1.2 of IS 1077

Type of Length L Width W Height H

Brick/Tile (mm) (mm) (mm)
Modular 190 90 90
bricks
Modular tlies 190 90 40
Non Modular 230 110 70
bricks
Non modular 230 110 44
tile bricks
Classification based on Table 1 of
IS 1077

Class designation Average compressive

strenth not less than
N/mm2
12.5 12.5
10 10
7.5 7.5
5 5
3.5 3.5
 Common types of bricks
• Common burnt clay bricks
• Sand lime bricks
• Fly ash bricks
• Concrete bricks
• Hollow concrete bricks
• Fire clay bricks
• Machine moulded
• Perforated bricks
 Common burnt clay bricks
• Most common bricks used in building construction.

• Common burnt clay bricks : They shall conform to

IS:1077 shall be hand moulded or machine
moulded. They shall be free from nodules of free
lime, visible cracks, flaws, warpage and organic
matter, have a frog 100 mm in length 40 mm in
width and 10 mm to 20 mm deep on one of its flat
sides
• . Bricks made by extrusion process and brick
tiles may not be provided with frogs. Each
brick shall be marked (in the frog where
provided) with the manufacturer‟s
identification mark or initials.
 Fly ash lime bricks
• Fly Ash Lime Bricks : The Fly Ash Lime Bricks (FALG
Bricks) shall conform to IS.12894. Visually the bricks
shall be sound, compact and uniform in shape free from
visible cracks, warpage, flaws and organic matter. The
bricks shall be solid and with or without frog on one of
its flat side.
• Fly Ash : Fly ash shall conform to grade 1 or
grade 2 of IS. 3812. Note : This item will be
operated only for load bearing structure up to
2 storeys and for non-load bearing walls 23 cms
thick for multistoreyed building. Fly ash used as
replacement of sand shall not have more than
12% loss on ignition when tested. Sand :
Deleterious materials, such as clay and silt in
the sand shall preferably be less than 5%.
• Lime : Lime shall conform to class „C‟
hydrated lime of IS:712. Additives : Any
suitable additive considered not detrimental
to the durability of bricks may be used.
 Clay Fly ash bricks
• (c) Clay fly Ash Bricks : The clay fly ash bricks
shall conform to IS.13757. The bricks shall be
sound, compact and uniform in shape and
colour. Bricks shall have smooth rectangular
faces with sharp and square corners. The
bricks shall be free from visible cracks, flaws,
warpage, nodules of free lime and organic
matter. The bricks shall be hand or machine
moulded. The bricks shall have frog of 100 mm
in length 40 mm width and 10 to 20 mm deep
on one of its flat sides.
 Tile bricks
• Tile Brick : The bricks of 4 cm height shall be
moulded without frogs. Where modular tiles
are not freely available in the market, the tile
bricks of F.P.S. thickness 44 mm (1.¾ “) shall
be used unless otherwise specified.
 Brick bats
• Brick Bats : Bricks bats shall be obtained from
well burnt bricks. The bats shall be stacked in
rectangular heaps, not less than one metre
height. One cubic metre of bats shall be
considered as equal to 265 Non modular
bricks of size 230 x 110 x 70mm. On stack
measurement shrinkage shall be deducted at
20% of the gross quantity.
 Jhama Bricks
• Jhama Bricks : These are over burnt bricks and
as a result discoloured and distorted in shape.
They are, therefore, normally unfit for good
brick work. 5
 Concrete bricks
• Concrete bricks are made from solid concrete.
Concrete bricks are usually placed in facades,
fences, and provide an excellent aesthetic
presence. These bricks can be manufactured
to provide different colors as pigmented
during its production.
 Hollow concrete blocks
• Hollow concrete blocks are substitutes for
conventional bricks and stones in building
construction.
• They are lighter than bricks, easier to place
and also confer economics in foundation cost
and consumption of cement.
•
• In comparision to conventional bricks, they
offer the advantages of uniform quality, faster
speed of construction, lower labour
involvement and longer durability.
• In view of these advantages, hollow concrete
blocks are being increasingly used in
construction
 Fire clay bricks
• fireclay bricks are produced from Fireclay is used
for manufacturing of all sorts of refractory
materials and due to its alumina and silica content,
it leads to the formation of highly heat resistant
fireclay bricks. Normally, fireclay is clay that has
higher content of Alumina. Normally, alumina
content in fire clay is 24 or 34% while the silica
content is 50 or 60%.
• Fireclay bricks are used for building
construction including fireplace construction
and huge industrial furnace construction.
 Machine moulded bricks
• Instead of hand moulding machnines are used
for moulding bricks.
• MACHINE MOULDING  the moulding can also
be achieved by using machines. it is quiet
economical when bricks are produced in huge
amount. this moulding is classified into two
categories.  1 plastic clay machine  2 dry
clay machine
• PLASTIC CLAY MACHINE - the machines
containing regular opening of size equal to the
length and width of brick. the pugged clay is
placed in th machine and as it comes out
through the openings it is cut into strips by
wires fixed into frames. so it is known as "
WIRE CUT BRICK. "
• DRY CLAY MACHINE In this machine , the
strong clay is first converted to powder form. a
small quantity of water is added to stiff plastic
paste. such paste is placed in mould and
pressed by machine to form well shaped hard
brick. this bricks are known as " PRESSED
BRICK" this machine mould bricks have regular
size , shape , edges and corners ; they are
heavier and stronger than hand moulded bricks.
 Perforated bricks
• The perforated bricks are used in roadways in
order to drain of the rain water from the
streets. These bricks have a perforated holes
in the middle of brick. The thickenss of the
brick is less when compared to an ordinary
brick.
 Bricks
1. Visual properties

2. Dimensional tolerances

3. Water absorption

4. Compressive strength

5. efflorescence
• Visual inspection-
1. Manufactures identification mark.

2. Reddish and uniform in color.

3. It should have Sharpe edges and corners and free

from cracks chips warp age.

4. Should give clear metallic ringing sound when two

bricks stuck together.
5. Should not be over burnt or under burnt.

6. %age of broken bricks should not be more then 5%in

a load of truck.
 Dimensional property

• Arrange twenty bricks in row length wise it should

be +/- 80mm+theoretical length.

• Arrange twenty bricks in row width wise it should

be +/- 40mm+ theoretical width.

• Arrange twenty bricks in row height wise it should

be +/- 40mm + theoretical height.
 Compressive Strength
• TEST FOR COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF
BRICKS (Refer IS 3495 (Part 1)
• B.1. Specimen : Five whole bricks shall be
taken from the samples as specimens for this
test. Length and width of each specimen shall
be measured correct to 1 mm.
• B.2. Apparatus The apparatus consists of
compression testing machine, the
compression plate of which shall have a ball
seating in the form of portion of a sphere the
center of which shall coincide with the center
of the plate.
 Procedure of Compressive testing
• (a) Pre-conditioning : Unevenness observed in the bed faces should be
removed by grinding to provide two smooth and parallel faces. The specimen
shall be immersed in the water for 24 hours at 25o to 29o (b) Any surplus
moisture shall then be allowed to drain at room temperature.
• The frog of the bricks if it exists should be
filled flush with mortar 1:3 (1 Cement: 3 clean
coarse sand of grade 3 mm and down) and
shall be kept under damp jute bags for 24
hours and after that these shall be immersed
in clean water for three days. After removal
from water, the bricks shall be wiped out of
any traces of moisture.
• (b) Actual Testing: Specimen shall be placed with
flat faces horizontal and mortar filled face upward
between three 3 ply plywood sheets each of
thickness 3 mm and carefully centered between
plates of the testing machine. Plaster of Paris can
also be used in place of plywood sheets to ensure
a uniform surface. Load shall be applied carefully
axially at uniform rate of 14 N/mm2 per minute
till the failure of the specimen occurs.
 Reporting the Test Results
B-4 : The compressive strength of each
specimen shall be calculated in N/ mm2 as
under:- Compressive Strength :
Maximum load at failure (in N) =
-------------------------------------- Area of
Specimen (in sq. mm)
• For the purpose of calculating the average
compressive strength, Compressive strength of
all the individual bricks comprising the sample
shall be averaged and reported. In terms of
Para C 3.1.3 of Annexure C on Clause 2.3 of
Part 2 Brick work and Block work of Chapter 4
of BIS Hand Book on Building Construction
practices, if the compressive strength of any
brick tested exceeds the specified value (refer
Para 5.1.3), that result may be taken into
account in reporting the results.
 Criteria for conformity
• B-5 : A lot shall be considered having satisfies
the requirements of average compressive
strength if it satisfied the minimum average
compressive strength specified in Para 5.1.3 for
the corresponding class of brick tested. The
compressive strength of any individual brick
tested shall not fall below the minimum
compressive strength specified for the
corresponding class of bricks by more than 20%.
Test for water absorption of bricks
• C-1 No. of Specimen : Five whole bricks shall
be taken from samples as specimen for this
test.
• C.2. Apparatus : A balance required for this
test shall be sensitive to weigh 0.1 per cent of
the weight of the specimen.
Procedure for water absorption of
bricks
• (a) Pre-conditioning : The specimen shall be
allowed to dry in a ventilated oven at a 110o C
to 115o C till it attains a substantially constant
weight. If the specimen is known to be
relatively dry, this would be accomplished in
48 hours, if the specimen is wet, several
additional hours may be required to attain
constant weight.
• It shall be allowed to cool at room
temperature. In a ventilated room, properly
separated bricks will require four hours for
cooling, unless electric fan passes air over
them continuously in which case two hours
may suffice. The cooled specimen shall be
weight and marked as W1. A warm specimen
shall not be used for this purpose.
 Actual testing
• Specimen shall be completely dried before
immersion in the water
• It shall be kept in clean water at a temperature
27o C + 2o C for 24 hours.
• Specimen shall be wiped out of the traces of
water with a damp cloth after removing from
the water and then shall be weighed within
three minutes after removing from water
Weight is marked as W2
 Reporting of test result
• Reporting the Test Results : The water absorption of
each specimen shall be calculated as follows and the
average of five tests shall be reported. Water
Absorption = (W2-W1) x 100
---------- W1

•
 Criteria for Conformity
• C-5 Criteria for Conformity : A lot shall be
considered having satisfied the requirements
of water absorption if the average water
absorption is as stipulated in Para 5.1.4.6.
 Water absorption and compressive strength
Classification of Compressive strength %age of
bricks in kg/cm2 should be water
more than absorption
should be
less than
1st class
A++ 140 20
A+ 110 20
Second class 70 22
Third class 25 25

Jhama bricks Over burned bricks

 Effloresce

• On moist and on drying if there is heavy deposit

and covering up to 50%of area of brick
accompanied by powdering or flaking of the
surface.
• I. S.3495(pt 3)-1992.
 Test for Efforescence of bricks
• No. of Specimen : Five whole bricks shall be
taken as specimen for this test.
• Apparatus : Apparatus required for this test
shall be a shallow flat bottom dish containing
distilled water of size 180X180X40 mm deep if
of square shape or 200 mm dia X 40mm deep
if circular. (As per IS-3495)
 Procedure Actual testing
• Procedure (actual testing) : The brick shall be
placed vertically in the dish with 2.5 cm
immersed in the water. The room shall be
warm (20o C to 30o C) and well ventilated.
• The bricks should not be removed until it
absorbs whole water. When the whole water is
absorbed and the brick appears to be dry, place
a similar quantity of water in that dish and allow
it to evaporate as before. The brick shall be
examined after the second evaporation.
 D-4 Reporting the Test Results
• : The rating to efforescence in ascending order shall be
reported as „NIL‟, (SLIGHT‟, MODERATE‟, „HEAVY‟ or
„SERIOUS‟ in accordance with the following:-
• (a) NIL : When there is no perceptible deposit of
efforescence.
• (b) SLIGHT: When not more than 10 per cent of the area
of the brick is covered with a thin deposit of salts.
• (c) MODERATE: When there is heavier deposit and
covering up to 50% of the area of the brick surface but
unaccompanied by powdering or flaking of the surface.
• (d)HEAVY: When there is a heavy deposit of salts
covering 50% or more of the brick surface but
unaccompanied by powdering or flaking of the surface.
• (e) SERIOUS: When there is heavy deposit of
salts, accompanied powdering and/or flaking
of the exposed surface and tending to
increase in the repeated wetting of the
specimen.
 Criteria for Conformity
• A lot may be considered having satisfied the
requirements of efflorescence if the
permissible number of defectives depending
on lot size is not more than that specified in
Table 5.4 and the efflorescence is not beyond
“moderate” for bricks upto Class 12.5 and not
beyond “slight” for higher classes of bricks.
•
 Field test

• In regard of strength of the brick a simple test is

done by dropping a brick flat on its face on farm
ground from a height of 60cm and the brick
should not break.
Prescribed sample to be tested and
permissible defectives
Size of visual dimensional W/A strength &
sample properties properties
efflorescence
properties

Size of Defective Size of Defective Size of Defective

sample permitted sample permitted sample permitted

2001-10000 20 1 2x20 0 5 0

10001- 32 2 3x20 0 10 0
35000

35000- 50 3 4x20 0 15 1
150000
 Ref to ussr
• Item no. 051010 :- Brick work with non Modular
(FPS) bricks of class designation 7.5in foundation
and plinth.
• Item no.051020:- Brick work with modular bricks
of class designation 7.5 in foundation and plinth.
• Item no. 051030 :- Brick work with machine
moulded perforated bricks of class designation
12.5 conforming to IS 2222-1991 in superst.
• Item no.052010:- Tile brick masonry with tile
bricks of class designation 10 in foundation and
plinth
• Item no. 052020:-tile brick masonry with
machine moulded tile bricks of class designation
12.5 conforming to IS 2690(part I) -1992 in
foundation and plinth
• Item no. 053010:- Honey comb brick work
10/11.4 cm thick with bricks of class 7.5
• Item no. 55010 :- Brick work with selected non
modular (FPS) bricks of class designation 7.5 in
exposed brickwork
• Item no.55070:- Brickwork with clay fly ash FPS
bricks of class designation 75 in superstructure .
• Item no.055090:- Brickwork with modular fly
ash lime bricks (FLAG Bricks)conforming to IS
12894-1989 class designation 10
• Item no 55100:- Brick work with modular
calcium silicate bricks machine moulded
conforming to IS:41398-1989, class
designation 10 in superstructure.
• Item no.55110:- Brick work with modular
extruded burnt fly ash clay sewer bricks
(Conforming to IS:4885-1988) in foundation
and plinth.
Thanks