BRICK

AN IMPORTANT
BUILDING MATERIAL

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Table of Contents
Acknowledgement....................................................................................................... 1
What is Brick?.............................................................................................................. 2
Brick earth................................................................................................................... 3
Qualities of good bricks................................................................................................ 4
Manufacturing of Bricks............................................................................................... 5
Classification of bricks................................................................................................. 6
Uses of Bricks.............................................................................................................. 8

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my humble gratitude to Abhijit

Debnath Sir and Dibyendu Pal Sir without whose
continuous efforts, supports and guide, the presentation
and report would not have been possible. It was a great
scope to work on this topic and I could make myself
aware of a lot of things. I would also like to thank my
friends for their help and support.
Thanking You
Deepjoy Debnath
12UCE049
7th Sem, Sec II

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What is Brick?
Brick is a small rectangular block typically made of fire or sun-dried
clay, used as a building material. Bricks are one of the oldest types of
building blocks.
Bricks have been produced since the dawn of civilisation in the sundried form. The Great Wall of China was made of brick. Bricks have
been used all over the world in every kind of building.
Bricks are obtained by moulding clay in rectangular blocks of uniform
size and then by drying and burning these blocks. Bricks are very
popular as they are easily available, economical, strong, durable and
reliable.
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 about 4000 BC.

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Brick Earth
A good brick earth should fulfill the following requirements:

It must have proper proportions of sand, silt and clay.

It must be homogeneous.
It should have sufficient plasticity so that the bricks can be
properly moulded with sharp and well defined edges.
It must be free from nodules of kankar.
It must be free from earth containing alkaline salts.
It must be free from pebbles, grits and lumps of earth.
It must not contain vegetable and organic matter.
It should not be mixed with salty water.

A good brick earth should have the following composition:

Alumina or Clay

20-30% by weight

Silica or Sand

35-50% by weight

Silt

20-25% by weight

Remaining constituents which

include: Iron oxide,
Magnesia(MgO), Lime(CaO) etc.

1-2% by weight

Functions of constituents of brick earth:

Alumina or Clay: It is the principle constituents of every kind of brick.
It provides plasticity to the earth and makes the brick hard.
Silica or Sand: It imparts hardness to the bricks and checks its
shrinkage, cracking and warping on drying, if suitable proportionate is
added. But if added in greater proportions, makes the brick brittle.
Addition of brick also increases durability and resistivity to heat.
Silt: It increases hardness and durability of brick earth.
Iron oxide: It helps the grains of sand to melt and binds the particle of
clay together. It imparts pleasing red color to the brick.
Magnesia: Small quantity of magnesia in brick earth reduce
shrinkage. Excess of magnesia leads to decay of bricks.
Lime: It helps silica to melt at lower temperature and binds the
particle of the brick together.

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Qualities of Good Bricks

The good bricks which are to be used to the construction of important
engineering structures should possess the following qualities:
1. Size and shape: A good brick should be uniform in size and should
have rectangular and plane surfaces with parallel sides and sharp
straight right angled edges. Its surfaces should not too smooth,
otherwise the mortar will not stick to it.
According to IS specifications:
o Standard size of bricks is 19cm 9cm 9cm.
o Nominal size (with mortar) is 20cm 10cm 10cm.
o It is found that the weight of 1 m3 of brick earth is about
1800kg. Hence the average weight of a brick will be about 3
to 3.5kg.
2. Colour: The brick should be table-moulded, well burnt in kilns,
copper coloured, free from cracks. The colour should be uniform and
bright.
3. Structure: A good brick should show fine compact and uniform
structure in the broken form.
4. Soundness: A good brick should give a clear metallic ringing sound
when struck with another brick.
5. Hardness: A good brick should be so hard that finger nails should
not be able to make any impression on its surface when scratched.
6. Porosity: A good brick should not absorb more than 20% of its dry
weight of water when kept immersed for 24 hours.
7. Strength: A good brick should have minimum crushing strength of
10.5MPa. Ordinarily it should not break when dropped flat on a
ground from a height of about 1-2m.
8. Resistance to fire: A good brick should have adequate resistance
to fire. Bricks should resist temperature up to 1200C.
9. Efflorescence: A good brick should not contain much alkaline salts,
which may cause efflorescence on its surfaces and decay the brick.
10. Durability: A good brick should be able to resist the effects of
weathering agencies like temperature variations, rains, frost action
etc.

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Manufacturing of Bricks
The manufacturing of bricks is done in the following 4(four) steps:

Preparation of clay:
1. Unsoiling: The top layer of soil, about 20cm in depth, is
taken out and thrown away.
2. Digging: Clay is then dug out from the ground. It is spread
on the levelled ground.
3. Cleaning: Should be cleaned of stones, pebbles, vegetable
matter, etc.
4. Weathering: Clay is then exposed to atmosphere for
softening or mellowing. The period of exposure varies from
few weeks to full season.
5. Blending: Clay is made loose and any ingredients to be
added to it, is spread out at its top. It is carried out by
taking small portion of clay every time and turning it up
and down in vertical direction.
6. Tempering: In the process of tempering, clay is brought to
proper degree of hardness and it is made fit for moulding.

Moulding: A clay which is prepared as above is sent for the next

operation of moulding. There are two types of moulding:
1. Hand moulding &
2. Machine moulding.
Hand moulding: In hand moulding the bricks are moulded by
hand i.e. manually. It is adopted where manpower is cheap
and is readily available for the manufacturing process of
bricks on a small scale. There are two types of hand mouldingGround moulded bricks and Table moulded bricks. In ground
moulded bricks the bricks are moulded in level ground and in
table moulded bricks, the moulder moulds the brick on the top
of a table of size of about 2m 1m.
Machine moulding: The moulding of bricks may also be
achieved by machines. It process to be economical when
bricks in huge quantity are to be manufactured at the same
spot in a short time. These are broadly classified in two
categories: Plastic clay machine, Dry clay machine.

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Drying: Drying is done to bring down the moisture content to

3% for burning operation. The damp bricks, if burnt, are likely to
be cracked and distorted. Bricks are generally dried by natural
process. When bricks are to be rapidly dried on a large scale,
Artificial drying may be adopted. In such a case the moulded
bricks are allowed to pass through special dryers which are in the
form of tunnels or hot channels.
Burning: Burning of bricks is done in Clamps or Kilns. The
Clamps is temporary structure and used for small scale
production of bricks. Kilns are permanent structures and they are
adopted to manufacture bricks in large scale. Burning imparts
hardness and strength to bricks and makes them dense and
durable. Bricks should be burnt properly. If bricks are over-burnt
they will be brittle and hence break easily. If they are underburnt, they will be soft and cannot carry loads.

Classification of Bricks
Bricks are generally classified in the following two types:
1. Sun dried bricks or katcha bricks: The bricks are which are
dried with the help of heat received from the sun after the
process of moulding are known as Sun-dried bricks. These bricks
are only used in the construction of temporary and cheap
structures.
2. Burnt bricks or pacca bricks: The bricks are burned in a clamp
or kilns after moulding and drying are called Burnt bricks or
pacca bricks. These are hard, strong and durable and are used in
permanent structures.
These bricks are further classified into following 4(four) types:
I. First class bricks.
II.
Second class bricks
III.
Third class bricks
IV.
Fourth class bricks

First class bricks: These bricks are table-moulded and they are
burned in kilns. The characteristics of first class bricks are:

A first class brick is well burnt and regular in shape.

Edges are sharp and well defined.
Its surface is smooth clean and free from cracks.

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Water absorption shall not be more than 20% of its dry weight
when kept immersed for 24 hours.
When two bricks are struck against each other a metallic ringing
sound is produced.
When soaked in water for 24 hours and dried in shade doesnt
show efflorescence.
It doesnt break when dropped from a height of 1-2m.
It has specific gravity of 1.8.
It has a minimum crushing strength of 10.5 MPa.
Uses: They are used for flooring and walling purpose. Also used
as ballast for RC work. The shaped bricks are used in curving and
arches.

Second class bricks: These bricks are ground-moulded and they are
burned in kilns. The characteristics of second class bricks are:

A second class brick is well burnt but irregular in shape and size.
It has a rough surface.
Its edges are neither straight nor well defined.
It doesnt have a uniform colour.
It has fine compact and uniform texture.
It is not free from cracks.
It shall produce a ringing sound when struck with one another.
It shall have a minimum crushing strength of 7MPa.
Uses: these bricks are used for internal walls, where the bricks
are generally hidden from view.

Third class bricks: These bricks are ground-moulded and burned in

clamps. The bricks which are under burnt and are not uniform in shape
and size are called Third class bricks. The characteristics of third class
bricks are:

A third class brick has a yellowish colour.

It is not well burnt.
It is soft and associated with cracks.
Its edges are irregular and surface quite rough.
When two bricks are struck a dull sound is emitted.
Uses: Third class bricks are used in inferior and temporary
buildings.

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Fourth class bricks: These bricks are table-moulded and burned in

clamps. The characteristics of fourth class bricks are:

These bricks are irregular in shape and dark coloured.

They are hard and strong.
They produce metallic ringing sound when struck with one
another.
Uses: These bricks are used as aggregates for making concrete
to be used in foundations, floors and as a road metal.

Uses of Bricks
Bricks are extensively used as a leading material of construction.
Bricks are used for construction of load-bearing walls and partition
walls. A fire brick is used for lining the interiors of oven, chimneys and
furnaces. Bricks are used as coarse aggregate for concrete work in
foundations, floors, roofs, etc. Broken bricks are used as a ballast
material for railway tracks, and also as a road metal. Bricks are also
used for face-work when artistic effect is required.

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