Bricks and its Manufacturing

Bricks
Types of Bricks

Results : Wall / Masonary Wall

Lal Khila Delhi
Stupa Sanchi
 Bharat Ratna 1955
Sir M Visveswaraya
Civil Engineer On his B- Day India
Diwan of Mysore Celebrate as Engineers
Day i.e 15 Sept
John Smeaton
 Father of Civil
Engineering

 British Civil
Engineer

 Mechanical and
Eminent
Scientist
.
 Bricks (Introduction)
◉ Rectangular shape and convenient shapes .
◉ In ancient civilization, bricks were the common material
of construction.
◉ At present also, it is most basic and favored material for
common construction because of the following factors:
1) Availability of clays: available almost universally

2) Construction method: Brick making and masonry work

have become traditional human activities.
 No experience nor qualification requires
 For stone: experienced hands are requires
 For concrete: experienced and qualified persons are required

3) Size shape and handling: ready to use size and shape

• For stone: dressing is requires
• For concrete: formwork is requires

4) Cost: cheaper as compared to stone masonry and

concrete masonry.
😉
Sequential process
Manufacture of bricks

1) Selection of suitable type of clay (brick earth)

 Different components with different proportions

Field tests
1. Consistency of soil
2. Moulding property
3. Deformation on burning
4. Strength test
😉 Manufacture of bricks

2. Preparation of mud
• Winning
• Tempering
3. Moulding of bricks
• Hand moulding
• Ground moulding
• Table moulding
• Machine moulding
😉 Contd.

4) Drying of bricks
• Natural drying
• Pre-stacking stage
• Stacking stage
• Air drying
• Artificial drying
• Chamber drying
• Tunnel drying
😉
5 ) Burning of bricks
Contd.

• Dehydration – oxidation – verification

• Methods:
• Clamp burning
• Kiln burning (Allahabad kiln, the Bull’s trench kiln,
the Hoffman’s continuous kiln, the tunnel kiln
Review of Last Class

1. Brick
2. Importance of Using Brick
3. Manufacturing Process Stages
4. Composition of Brick Earth
 Arthur Ashe,

Legendary Wimbledon player

WHY ME ? Died of AIDS which he got due to infected blood he
received during a heart surgery in 1983.
From the world over, he received letters from his fan, one of them
conveyed: "Why does God have to select you for such a bad
disease?".

To this Arthur Ashe replied:

The world over--50,000,000 children start playing tennis,
5,000,000 learn to play tennis,
500,000 learn profesional tennis,
50,000 come to the circuit,
5000 reach the grand slam,
50 reach the Wimbledon,
4 to semi finals, 2 to finals.
When I was the one holding the cup, I never asked god "Why
me?".
And today in pain, I should not be asking GOD "why me?"
Bricks Earth Composition

Chemical
Mineral %
Name
Aluminia Al2O3 20 –30
Silica SiO2 50 – 60
Iron Oxides Fe2O3 4-6
Lime CaCO3 5
Magnesia MgO 1
Stage 1: Selection of suitable type of clay (Brick earth)
Desired Brick Proportion
1) Alumina (Al2O3) (20-30 %):
• Chemically Aluminum Silicates.
• Responsible for giving the plastic character to the clays in
wet conditions.
• If it is higher than 30 % - more plastic and shrink more on
drying, which may develop cracks in on drying.
• If it is lesser than 20% - clay may be difficult to mould in
proper shape.
• So, 20 – 30% gives desired qualities of plasticity and
resistance against shrinkage on drying.
2 ) Silica SiO2 (50% to 60%)
• It exists in either free or combined form.
• For free form - mechanically mixed with clay and
Combined form - in chemical composition with
alumina.
• Excess of silica - not be mouldable easily and may not
burn easily. Such bricks, when burnt would be quite
brittle and porous.
• Imparts hardness and strength to the brick.
• Prevents the shrinkage, cracking and warping of
raw bricks, so imparts uniform shape to the bricks.
• Durability
2 ) Iron oxides (Fe2O3) (4-6%):
• Acts as flux, i.e. it lower down the softening
temperature of silica and other clay compounds during
firing.
• Red colour to the burnt bricks.
• Excess iron oxide - causes brick too soft during the
burning stage, so shape is lost.
• A deficiency may cause burning difficult and also gives
yellowish appearance.
2 ) Lime (CaCo3) (4-6%):
• It makes burning and hardening of the bricks quicker under
following conditions:
• It should not be more than 5%, because it may result in
excessive softening of clay on heating
• If lime is present as nodules, it may give rise to
slaking when brick comes in contact with moisture.
• Slaking is a harmful reaction and may cause slow
disintegration of bricks
Magnesia:
• It has similar effect like lime so total percentage should
be consider.
• It is used to provide a yellow tint to the bricks.
• Its content is only about 1% or less.
Constituents & Desirable Significance Effects if Excess quantity Effects if lesser
quantity quantity

Alumina (Al2O3) (20-30 plastic character to the clays in wet conditions and more plastic and shrink more on clay may be difficult to
%): resistance against shrinkage on drying drying, which may develop mould in proper shape
cracks in on drying.

Silica (SiO2) (50-60 %) Impart hardness and strength to the brick. Prevents not be mouldable easily and may -
free or combined form the shrinkage, cracking and warping of raw bricks, not burn easily. If burnt, would
so imparts uniform shape to the bricks. Durability - be quite brittle and porous.
depends upon proper composition of silica.

Iron oxides (Fe2O3) (4- Acts as flux. Red colour to the burnt bricks causes brick too soft during the cause burning difficult
6%) burning stage, so shape is lost and also gives
yellowish appearance

Lime (CaCO3) (4-6%): Makes burning and hardening of the bricks quicker. not be more than 5%, because it -
It must be present only in powdered and thoroughly may result in excessive softening
dispersed form. If lime is present as nodules, it may of clay on heating
give rise to slaking when brick comes in contact with
moisture.

Magnesia (1% or less) Similar effect like lime so total percentage should be - -
• Undesirable components

1) The lime nodules:

• Obstruct the proper burning, when we place bricks in kiln.
• If it present, then burnt bricks are likely to cause disintegration of bricks by their slaking action.
2) The organic matter:
• Roots of grasses, leaves and other organic matter, which produces carbon on burning within the body of
brick.
• Brick darker in appearance and too porous in nature, remove in preparation stage.
3) Sulphides and sulphates:
• Iron sulphide in form of pyrite and alkalkies in form of potash and soda are often present in some clays.
• Iron sulphide causes disintegration of the brick during burning stage itself.
4) The alkali salts:
• Act as fluxes during burning and create additional softening.
• If it is present in burnt bricks, it absorbs the moisture from the atmosphere and form the solution within
the body of brick.
• On evaporation, these solution form white patches. This effect is called efflorescence.
• Field tests for brick earth
• For large scale,
• Survey
• Analysis of chemical composition
• Testing the engineering properties
• Such survey assure the total quantity and quality of the clay.

• For small scale industry,

• So, simple field tests are considered such as:

1) Test for consistency
2) Test for moulding properties
3) Test to determine deformation on burning
4) strength
Field tests for brick earth
1. Test for consistency
• Small sized balls are made from the soils by mixing it with appropriate
quantities of soil and water.
• Balls are allowed to air dry under a shaded place.
• When they are completely dry, each ball is observed for its shape, size and
appearance of any cracks.
• If soil is of suitable type, it will not show any deformation or crack in them.
• If some shrinkage is there, we may vary the mutual proportions of soil, sand
and water and observed again.
• By varying these proportion, a right proportion is found for making good
quality bricks.
• If negative results are obtained in all the trials, it means the brick clay is not
suitable.
2) Test for moulding properties

• Homogenous Mix .
• Thin threads, about 3-4 mm thick are made by rolling between the palms of
two hands from small amount of mud paste.
• Length of such threads indicates good plastic nature of the soil.
• Longer and thinner the threads, the soil is of good plasticity and threads break
quickly on rolling in non-plastic type of clays.
• If the corners, edges and surface shape remain intact even after drying, then
clay is described as satisfactory.
3) Test to determine deformation on burning
• Test helps in finding out approximate ratio of fluxes in the clays.
• Bricks Prepared and Air Dried
• Burnt in a potter’s kiln for three to five days and cooled in air
• The clays are of satisfactory quality when bricks show
• Typical red colour
• Have maintained their dimensions at corners and edges
• Have burnt uniformly
• If burnt bricks shows defects like warping of surfaces, twisting at edges and
swelling at places, the brick clay is considered defective and unsuitable for
making good bricks.
4. Strength tests:
• Dropping the properly burnt bricks, one by one, from a height of
2-3 meters on hard dry ground below.
• If brick is of good quality, then it should easily withstand this
shock without breaking.
• If brick is of poor quality, then it break easily on falling from
such heights.
 Stage 2: Preparation of Mud

Winning
 Obtain the Brick earth
 Clear off the vegetation and Pebbles & other organic matter
 Season the clay by spreading and exposing to atmosphere
 Remove the lumps and further cleaned up
 Seasoned clay is ready to get mud
 Stage 2: Preparation of Mud
Tempering: Converting the brick earth to mud of proper consistency by
thoroughly mixing with desired quantities of water.

• Manual tempering: Clay is spread on a platform and thoroughly mixed under

feet of either man or cattle.
• Water is added gradually in small quantities till desired homogeneity and plasticity
are obtained.
• Pug mill tempering (pugging): mechanical device called pug mill.
Paddle Mixer / Pug Mill
Stage 3: Moulding of bricks
Moulding: Process of making proper size and shape

Hand Moulding and Machine Moulding

Hand Moulding:
• Using skilled manpower.
• Most common method in India.
• The quality of tempered clay is kept soft.
• More water content (18-25% by weight).

Ground moulding: bricks are shaped from such a soft mud by hand on a specially
prepared ground.

Table moulding: bricks are shaped from such a soft mud by hand on a specially
designed table.
 • Common method of moulding bricks in India
Ground moulding • A stretch of land is first flattened, levelling and cleaned
and made smooth by mud plastering.
• Some sand is sprinkled uniformly over it to make it non-
sticky.
Table moulding

Initial cost is slightly higher than ground moulding but more efficient and economical in the
long run because production is better in quality and quantity.
Machine moulding
• Essential process in all mechanized brick making plants.
• Cheaper in longer run and gives uniform quality brick.
• Main two methods: Stiff mud method and Dry process method.
• Stiff mud method: Small quantity of water (8-12 % by volume) is
added to the clay to create plasticity.
• This stiff mix is made to pass out under pressure from moulding
machine.
• Two versions of machines can be used such as:
• Worm gear moulding machine
• A vacuum press for brick moulding.
Worm gear moulding machine
• Worm gear moulding machine: consists of
• A feeding chamber provided with a worm gear to
apply pressure
• A hopper at the top to receive the clay mix from the
pug mill
• A fixed die provided at the front narrow end
• A conveyor belt on a set of rollers
• Cutting wire device adjusted in front of the die
• The operation steps on machine consist of
• Feeding the properly mixed stiff mud into the
chamber through the hopper
• Forcing forward the mud charge using the worm
gear.
• Capacity of machine: 1000 – 2000 units per
hour or more depending upon the machine.
Dry press process: a very small quantity of water is added to finely crushed
and thoroughly cleaned batch of clay.
• Mix is almost dry, at best damp.
• Such damp clay is fed through hoppers to special brick moulds.
• Pressure - 50-150 Kg/cm2 through hydraulic presses.
• This pressure is sufficient enough to convert the loose damp clay
mass into dense and very compact brick unit.
• Brick is removed from the mould.
• These bricks are having perfect shapes on all the sides, edges and
corners.
• Such bricks are also called as pressed bricks.
💣 Exam Time
🎃 😂
◉ Who is the father of Civil Engineering
◉ Why Bricks preferred in construction
◉ Define Shrinkage
◉ What is slaking
◉ List out the Composition of Brick Earth?
◉ What happens if organic matter present in clay