DIYALA UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

BUILDING MATERIALS

Lecture 4 

By

Dr. Zainab Hataf

2020-2021

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One of the oldest building material brick continues to be a most popular and leading
construction material because of being cheap, durable and easy to handle and work with

 Characteristics of good brick

The essential requirements for building bricks are sufficient strength in crushing, regularity in
size, a proper suction rate, and a pleasing appearance when exposed to view.

• Size and Shape: The bricks should have uniform size and plane, rectangular surfaces with
parallel sides and sharp straight edges.

• Color: The brick should have a uniform color as indicative of uniformity in chemical
composition and attention to detail in the burning of the brick.

• Texture and Compactness: The surfaces should not be too smooth to cause slipping of
mortar. The brick should have pre-compact and uniform texture. A fractured surface should
not show cracks, holes or lumps of lime.

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• Hardness and Soundness: The brick should be so hard that when scratched by a finger nail
no impression is made. When two bricks are struck together, a metallic sound should be
produced. Brick should be free from stones, organic matter, saltpeter, etc.

Classification of bricks according to constituent raw material:

1. Clay bricks

2. Lime – sand bricks

3. Concrete bricks

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1. Clay bricks:

1.1 Raw materials:

a. Alumina: is main constituent of every clay. Loam soil (adhesive soil) form a good clay. In
absence of sand, pure clay will develop cracks due to shrinkage on drying and burning. A
good clay bricks should contain about 20% of alumina.

b. Silica : Free silica (sand), if added to clay in suitable proportion makes hard and prevents
it from warping and shrinkage on drying. Silica, if present in greater proportion, makes a
brick brittle. Both silica and alumina should be in free form.

c. Lime : Lime should be present in small quantities in the brick. Lime prevents shrinkage
of raw bricks. It helps fusion of sand at the kiln temperature. This fused sand will bind
the bricks particles fast.

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d. Iron oxide : A small quantity of oxide of iron (5-6%) is desirable. It helps the fusion of
sand like lime. It gives red colure to burn bricks. Excess of iron oxide imparts dark blue or
blackish colure to brick, while, a lower percentage of iron oxide makes the brick yellow in
colure. Iron oxide makes the bricks hard and strong.

e. Magnesia : A small amount of magnesia helps to decrease the shrinkage of bricks. This
gives a yellow tint to the bricks. But excess of magnesia is not desirable as it tends to
produce the decay of bricks.

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1.2 Composition of good clay brick:

• A good clay brick should contain the following:

1. Clay or alumina – Al2O3 – 20%

2. Sand or silica – SiO2 – 60%

3- Remaining ingredients, such as:

• - Lime

• - Iron oxide

• - Magnesia 20%

• - Manganese

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1-3 Harmful ingredients in clay bricks:

a. Excess of lime: Excess of lime makes the colure of the brick yellow instead of red and
when the brick contact with water, lime will begin to slake generates heat and expands.
Due to this, stresses will be produced, which will result in producing cracks in bricks.

b. Iron pyrites: These will decompose and oxide the clay during the burning of bricks. After
oxidation a black discoloration will be produced on the bricks, making it look ugly.

c. Pebbles: The presence of pebbles, girt, gravel etc. will be undesirable because they prevent
the clay from being mixed well. They prevent the manufacture of smooth and regular,
standard bricks. They also spoil the appearance of the bricks.

d. Organic matter: This includes leaves, twigs, roots, grass, bones of animals, etc. These if
present and burnt along with bricks, produced empty pockets or pores and will produce
porous bricks.

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e. Alkalis (MgO, K2O):

• It lowers the fusion temperature and molts bricks.

• Changes the shape of bricks or get twisted.

• These salts have hygroscopic action, they absorb moisture, present in the atmosphere
and keep brick damp which is harmful for health and decays the structure.

f. Salts: Salts such as sodium sulphate cause efflorescence.

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1.4 Manufacture of bricks: Manufacture of clay bricks involves the following operation:

1.4.1. Preparation of clay:

a. Removal of loose soil: The top layer of loose disintegrated soil up to about 20 cm
depth has to be removed as this contains a lot of impurities.

b. Digging, spreading and cleaning: Next, the earth has to be dug up. For small quantity,
digging may be done manually. For large scale work, it may be done by machine.

c. Weathering: The earth is left to weather for a few weeks, this is necessary to increase
the plasticity of soil and improves its quantity.

d. Blending: This refers to mixing the clay, after making it loose and adding any required
ingredients to the top of the heap.

e. Tempering: This is necessary to make the clay fully consistent, and fit for molding
into raw bricks, by adding the required amount of water to make it plastic.

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1.4.2 Molding:

• Molds required for making a brick are made of rectangular blocks slightly large in size
(10% larger than the burnt bricks). It is done to allow for the shrinkage of the molded brick
on drying and burning. The molding is improved by the following process:

a. Dry press process:

In this method, a small amount of water is mixed with clay as to form a damp powder. With
plunger machines, this powder is compressed in the mold, in the form of bricks.

Such bricks are directly burned, no drying is needed, but care is to be taken during burning
where the temperature should be raised gradually.

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b. Stiff mud process:

 In this process the clay is only sufficiently moist to process the required coherence under
moderate pressure, which results in economy of time in drying and fuel in burning.
 Such clay is forced to come out of any opening having dimensions equal to length of
bricks, by means of a wire. Hence these are also known as wire cut bricks.

c. Soft mud process:

 This process is used where the clay is too wet, there for, it must be dried before molding.
 Bricks are molded under pressure in a soft mud brick machine, which tempers the clay in
its pigging chamber, sands or wets the molds
 Presses the clay into 4 to 9 molds at a time, strikes off the excess clay, bumps the molds
uniformly and dumps the bricks into a pallet.
 The pallets of bricks are carried away to the dryer as fast as made.

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• 1.4.3 Drying:

• As wet clay bricks come from different brick machine, they contain from 7-50%
moisture depend on molding process.

• Most of the free water is removed in the drying process and the remaining moisture
during the burning process.

• It is desirable to dry clay with moist air, reducing the drying rate to the point where
diffusion of water to the surface can keep up with the vaporization at the surface.

• The average time necessary for drying clay brick is about 3 days, and the temperature
required is from 38 ºC to 149 ºC.

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1.4.4 Burning:

• The burning of clay in a kiln requires an average time of 3 to 4 days. The process of
burning may be divided into the following stages:

a. Water smoking:

• During this period which remove most of the water in the clay under temperature ranging
from 125 ºC to 175 ºC.

• b. Dehydration:

• Dehydration consists of expelling chemically combined water by breaking down the clay
molecules. It begins at about 425 ºC and complete at about 750 ºC.

c. Oxidation:

• Oxidation begins during the dehydration stage. All combustible matter is consumed,
carbon is eliminated, the fluxing materials are changed to oxides, and sulfur is removed.
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1.5 .Classification of clay bricks in accordance with Iraqi standard No. 25 / 1988:

 Bricks used in construction works are classified into three grades:

• Grade A: Intended for use in building construction and footing subjected to loads
and exposed to sever abrasion by weathering action.

• Grade B: Intended for use in building construction subjected to loads and not
exposed to sever abrasion by weathering action, such as exterior walls not exposed
to penetration of water.

• Grade C: Intended for use in building construction not subjected to loading such as
interior masonry walls and partitions, not exposed to sever abrasion by weathering
action.

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 Appearance:

• A good brick should be rectangular in shape with smooth and even surfaces. They shall be
free from cracks and flows and nodules of free lime.

 Dimensions:

• A good brick shall have standard dimensions as shown below:

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1.6 Properties of bricks:

• The raw materials, the manner and degree of burning influence the physical properties
greatly and therefore wide ranges in values are to be expected for each property.

1.6.1 Compressive strength:

• The test is carried out in accordance with Iraqi standard No. 24. The brick placed between
two plywood sheets and carefully centered between plates of the compression testing
machine. The load shall be applied at a uniform rate until failure occurs.

• Compressive strength = Load at failure/ Cross sectional area subjected to load

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• 1.6.2. Water absorption:

• The absorption of water by brick is often considered to be indicative of its probable

durability. The test also provides a means of checking on the consistency of the bricks
produced by one factory. In this test the specimen shall be dried to constant weight in a
ventilated oven at 110 ºC to 115 ºC for about 48 hours. Next the specimen shall be
completely immersed in clean water for 24 hours. Each specimen shall then be removed, the
surface water wiped off with a damp cloth and the specimen weight.

Water absorption = {(W2-W1)/W1} *100%

Where :

W2: weight of brick after 24 hours in water

W1: weight of dry brick

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1.6.3 . Efflorescence:

• Soluble salts, if present in bricks, will cause efflorescence on the surface of bricks.

• Efflorescence test is carried out in accordance with Iraqi standard No. 24.

• The test is very useful for comparing samples of bricks from different sources, such as
when we want to test bricks from several different factories at one time.

• In this test take a representative sample of 10 bricks and place them on end in the pan
containing distilled water to a depth of 2.5 cm for 7 days. Allow the bricks to dry for 3 more
days in similar pan not containing water.

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Nil – No efflorescence visible.

Slight- A thin deposit of salts on less than 10% of the area of the brick.

Moderate- A heavier deposit of salts covering between 10-50% of the area of the brick,
but no powdering or flaking of the surface.

Heavy – A heavy deposit of salts covering more than 50% of the area, but no
powdering or flaking of the surface.

Serious – A heavy deposit of salts and some powdering and flaking of the surface.

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 Compressive strength, water absorption and efflorescence according to Iraqi standard
No. 25/1988:

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2. Sand – Lime bricks:

2.1 Raw materials:
The raw materials required for manufacture of sand – lime bricks are as follow:
2.1.1 Sand
The sand used in sand – lime brick should meet the physical and chemical requirements of
Iraqi standard No. 572:
a. Contain not less than 70% silica.
b. Well graded between 0.005 – 0.5 mm.
c. Free from impurities such as organic matter, rock, minerals and soluble salts.
d. The percentage of clay not more than 10%
e. Iron compounds not more than 1.5%.
f. Gypsum content not more than 1%.
g. ( CaO + MgO ) not more than 5%.

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2.1.2 Lime:
The lime used in sand lime brick should meet the requirements of Iraqi standard No. 572:
a. Activity of lime shall not be less than 83%.
b. The percentage of lime retaining on 75 μm sieves should not be greater than 2%.
2.1.3 Water:
Water used in sand lime brick should be fit for drinking.
2.1.4 Pigment:
To make colored sand lime bricks, suitable coloring pigment should be added in the mixture
of sand and lime. The quantity of pigment varies from o.2 to 3% of the total weight of the
brick.

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2.2. Mix proportion:

The percentage of lime should be between 9-15% of the weight of sand.
2.3. Manufacture:
A. Sand, lime and pigment are taken in suitable proportions and they are thoroughly mixed
with a required quantity of water.
B. The material is then molded in the shape of the bricks under mechanical pressure
(150-200 kg/cm2 ).
C. Bricks are then placed in closed chamber and subjected to saturated steam pressure of
about 8.5-16 kg/cm2 for 6-12 hours to speed up the interaction between lime and sand. The
process is known as autoclaving.

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Properties of lime sand brick:

A. The raw materials of these bricks do not contain any soluble salt. Hence the trouble of
efflorescence does not arise.
B. If plaster is to be provided on sand lime bricks, the quantity of mortar required will be less
as bricks are uniform in size and shape.
C. These bricks are hard and strong.
D. These bricks are uniform in colure and texture.
E. Sand lime bricks are used for ornamental work.

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3. Concrete bricks:
 These bricks are manufactured from a mixture of Portland cement and aggregate for use
in brick masonry.
 Typical aggregate include sand, gravel, crushed stone and blast furnace slag.
 Mix proportion varies from 1:2:4 to 1:8:16 according to the required bearing capacity.
 These bricks are often made hollow for economical purposes and to reduce the weight of
the brick. The dimensions of the brick are as follow:

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3.1 Uses:
Concrete bricks are widely used for construction purposes especially in areas where soils
are not suitable for manufacture of clay bricks and may be used in the construction of
bricks panels for light weight structures and multistory formed structures.
3.2 Properties of concrete bricks:
a. The using of these bricks save time and effort as brick are light in weight and big in size.
b. These bricks give good bonding with plastering materials used in their construction.
c. These bricks have accurate size and shape.
d. These bricks can produced with various bearing capacity according to the cement content
used in their production.
e. The weight of bricks can be controlled by varying the size of openings.

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Thank you

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