a brief information about bricks and their applications

1. Bricks
Presented by: Group 08

2. Bricks?
• A brick is building material used to make walls, pavements and other
elements in masonry construction.
• Traditionally, the term brick referred to a unit composed of clay, but it
is now used to denote any rectangular units laid in mortar.
• A brick can be composed of clay-bearing soil, sand, and lime, or
concrete materials.
• Bricks are produced in numerous classes, types, materials, and sizes
which vary with region and time period, and are produced in bulk
quantities.
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3. Brief history of Bricks…
• They were formed from clay-bearing earth or
mud and dried (usually in the sun) until they
were strong enough for use.
• The oldest discovered bricks, originally made
from shaped mud and dating before 7500 BC.
• Evidence for some of the first fired bricks ever
produced has been discovered in ruins dating
back to the 3,000 years from now In China.
• Early civilizations around the Roman Empire
adopted the use of fired bricks, including the
Ancient Greeks and Romans. The Roman legions
operated mobile kilns, and built large brick
structures throughout the Roman Empire
• The first successful brick-making machine was
patented by Henry Clayton
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4. Types of Bricks
• Two basic Types
• Fired • Non Fired
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5. Non Fired Bricks
• Also known as “Mud Bricks”
• They are made from a wet, clay-
containing soil mixed with straw or
similar binders.
• They are air-dried until ready for
use.
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6. Fired Bricks
• Fired bricks are burned in a kiln which makes them durable.
• Modern, fired, clay bricks are formed in one of three processes
-Soft Mud
-Dry pressed
-Extruded
• Depending on the place and the material availability the most
economical type can be varied.
• But the most common economical types are soft mud and extruded.
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7. Ingredients of fired bricks
• Normally, bricks contain the following ingredients:
• Silica (sand) – 50% to 60% by weight
• Alumina (clay) – 20% to 30% by weight
• Lime – 2 to 5% by weight
• Iron oxide – ≤ 7% by weight
• Magnesia – less than 1% by weight
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8. Manufacturing of Fired Bricks
• There are 4 stages in manufacturing bricks
Material
Preparation
Moulding
Drying
Firing
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9. Types of Bricks
• Common Bricks –
brick is made of ordinary clays or
shale and burned in the usual manner in the
kilns. These bricks do not have special
scorings or markings and are not produced
in any special color or surface texture.
Common brick is also known as hard- and
kiln-run brick. It is used generally for backing
courses in solid or cavity brick walls. The
harder and more durable kinds are
preferred for this purpose.
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10. • Face Bricks –
bricks are used in the
exposed face of a wall and are
higher quality units than backup
brick. They have better durability
and appearance. The most
common colors of face brick are
various shades of brown, red, gray,
yellow, and white.
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11. • Engineering Bricks –
These are designed
primarily for strength and
durability. They are usually of
high density and well fired.
Min. Compressive
Strength
Max. water
absorption
Class A 70 N/mm2 4.5%
Class B 50 N/mm2 7.0%
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12. • Clinker Bricks –
bricks that have been
over burned in the kilns. This
type of brick is usually hard
and durable and may be
irregular in shape. Rough hard
corresponds to the clinker
classification.
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13. • Glazed Bricks –
bricks have one surface
of each brick glazed in white or
other colors. The ceramic
glazing consists of mineral
ingredients that fuse together
in a glass-like coating during
burning. This type of brick is
particularly suited for walls or
partitions in hospitals, dairies,
laboratories, or other buildings
where cleanliness and ease of
cleaning are necessary.
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14. • Fire Bricks –
made of a special
type of fire clay that will
withstand the high
temperatures of
fireplaces, boilers, and
similar usages without
cracking or
decomposing. Firebrick
is larger than regular
structural brick, and
often, it is hand
molded.
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15. • Cored / Hollow Bricks –
made with rows of holes
extending through their beds to
reduce weight. (about one-third
the weight of the ordinary brick of
the same Size). They are prepared
from special homogeneous clay.
These bricks can be laid almost
about four times as fast as ordinary
bricks and they also reduce the
transmission of heat, sound and
damp. They are used in the
construction of brick partitioning.
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16. Characteristics of the Bricks
• Appearance and colour – A good brick should have a uniform rectangular
shape with even surfaces and sharp corners. It should be free from
cracks. It should have a uniform brick-red colour.
• Hardness and soundness – Good bricks should be hard and should not be
scratched by fingernail. Also, should give a metallic sound when two brick
are struck to each other.
• Durability – A good brick should be able to withstand weathering actions of
Sun, rain wind etc.
• Fire resistance – A good brick should be able to withstand a temperature
up to 1500˚ F or 816˚ C.
• Strength – A good brick is strong enough to not to break, when dropped on
another brick from a height of about 1.25 Meters.
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17. Characteristics of the Bricks
• Water absorption – A good brick should not absorb more than 20% of
water by weight, when placed in water for 24 hours.
• Efflorescence – It should not contain much alkaline salts which causes
efflorescence on the surface and decays the brick.
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18. Problems with existing materials and methods
• The soil containing Alkalis can deform the brick and can cause melting
in lower temperature.
• If the Iron Pyrites are within the bricks, they can oxidize in higher
temperatures and it will decompose or disintegrate the brick into
pieces.
• Time consuming construction
• Cannot be used in high seismic zones
• Very less tensile strength
• Since bricks absorbs water easily, therefore it causes fluorescence
when not exposed to air
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19. Sustainability of Bricks
• Brick is a beautiful, durable material that lasts
for a very long time , with respect green building
design and sustainability. For example, it takes
almost 70% less energy to make brick today than
it did in 1970.
• More than 80% of brick kilns are fired with
natural gas, and many facilities use fuels from
bio-based materials from other applications,
such as methane gas and sawdust.
• Brick is also made from naturally abundant
materials, and is one of the very few materials
allowed by the building codes to be reused in
new building applications.
• Brick’s raw materials can include the addition of
materials like sawdust, which burns in the firing
process, lowers weight and reduces the use of
fossil fuels.
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20. What’s New with Bricks?
• Project EELA
The Program on Energy Efficiency in small
brick enterprises in Latin America (EELA)
has helped to mitigate climate change
and improve the quality of life for brick
makers, largely by encouraging the use of
appropriate, energy-efficient technology
in brick kilns.
Improved kilns, air injection systems and machinery, along with better production
practices have helped to reduce greenhouse gas (GG) emissions. This reduced the
fuel requirement thereby also reducing deforestation and air pollution.
Because of cleaner air, the working conditions for the brick makers and their
families have improved. On top of this, the reduction of fuel expenses have
allowed the brick producers to increase their incomes.
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21. • Vertical shaft brick kiln (VSBK) –
-This is a continuous, updraft, moving ware
kiln in which the fire remains stationary
while there is counter current heat exchange
between air (moving upward) and bricks
(moving downward).
-This technology was proved the ability of
reducing the specific energy consumption
from almost 2MJ/kg brick in traditional
vertical kiln to about 1 MJ/kg brick.
-However, the original VSBK can only
produce low capacity of brick with quite high
breakage. Brick quality is also not so good in
surface and not suitable for the clay with
high shrinkage.
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22. Economic Sustainability
• Improved Profit Margin
• Reduced Firing Fuel Required &
Emissions Tax
• Lower Fired Waste & Improved Yield
• Improved Productivity
• Higher Quality
• Greater Product Flexibility
• Favourable Production Cycle
Social Responsibility
• Improved working conditions
• Reduced exposure to particulates
• Skills Development & Improved Job
Security
Environmental Sustainability
• Reduced GHG Emissions
• Contributes to Resource efficiency
• Reduced operational footprint
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23. REFERENCE
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brick
• www.vsbk.co.za
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